73^w ^*' sT^pjw •%4 /x ( ( U / f f . SCHOOL ECONOMY. A TREATISE PREPARATION, ORGANIZAnON, EMPLOYMENTS, GOVERN- MENT, AND AUTHORITIES OF SCHOOLS. BY JAMES PYLE WICKEESHAM, A.M. PP.INCIPAL OF THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, MILLERSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA. " Doce ut discas." — Schoolmen. "All who have medit»ted on the art of governing mankind, have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth." — Aristotle. PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 1867. V ^' Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the yeax 1864, by JAMES PYLE WICKERSHAM, in the Clerk's OflSce of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Ua tftj ittpMiJ, who have so eagerly treasured up his words in the leoture-rooTYif and so faithfully followed his precepts in the practice of their profession; whose gratitude has been his richest reward in the past, and whose kind re- memhrance he is most anxious to secure for the future; in which they will not fail to find much that will remind them of old classmates and hy-gone times, is respectfully dedi- oated by their teacher and friend, THE AUTHOR. 54! 878 PEEFACE. All that relates to the Theory of Teaching or to its Prac- tice may be embraced under the four following heads : — 1. School Economy. 2. Methods of Instruction. 3. Methods of Culture. 4. The History of Education. Under the head of School Economy could be considered the preparation for, and the organization of, the school, and the conditions of its efficient working ; under that of Methods of Instruction, an investigation could be made into the nature of knowledge and the methods of imparting it ; under that of Methods of Culture, the physical and mental constitution of man could be examined, and an effort could be made to arrive at the best means of developing and strengthening it; and under that of the History of Education, there could be related the success or the failure, the causes and effects, of the various educational systems and efforts which have characterized the past. The preceding classification of the object-matter of Teach- ing was made after several years of careful study, and an experience in teaching of almost a quarter of a century. In the summer of 1855, about one hundred and fifty teachers, of the county of Lancaster, in the State of Pennsylvania, assem- bled to receive professional instruction, during three months, at the little town of- Millers ville. The author was then Super- l^J V VJ PREFACE. intendent of Common Schools for the county, and became ex officio Principal of the school thus established. In the discharge of his duty as Professor of the Theory and Practice of Teaching, he delivered a series of lectures ; and these form the nucleus about which he has continued to collect additional matter, as diligently as his other duties would permit, until the present time. Elected Principal of the Normal School in 1856, he has delivered twice a year, in the form of lectures to his classes in Teaching, the matter thus collected ; and he has allowed no such opportunities to pass without turning them to advantage by reviewing opinions and testing theories. That. his views now approximate the truth appears from the skilful school- work of several thousand of his pupils who have become teachers. When the idea of publishing a book was first entertained, only one volume was contemplated; afterwards, two; then, three; and now the material on hand has taken shape as indicated on the preceding page. The printing of this volume will be ventured upon as an experiment, and its reception by the Profession may determine the fate of the rest. At the best, some years must elapse before all of them can be pre- pared. The matter intended for the volume on ** Methods of Instruction" is now almost ready for the press ; but that in- tended for the volume on "Methods of Culture^' exists only in the form of outlines of lectures, and that intended for the volume on the "History of Education" lies scattered about in notes, references, and fragmentary remarks. In preparing the lectures which constitute the ground-work of the present volume, use was made of all the books relating to Education and Teaching that could be procured in this coun- try, and numerous English, French, and German works were consulted. The names of very few authors, however, will be found in this volume ; and it is much regretted that the credit due him cannot now be given to each. The lectures were at first arranged without any reference to their publication ; they were delivered many times, with additions and amendments, until the whole became so connected together that it has been found impossible to unravel the web thus woven and point out the place whence each thread was taken. - But, though many PREFACE. Vll marks of quotation are not used, it must not be supposed that the author desires to erect a superstructure for himself by taking forcible possession of the materials prepared by others ; and, in order to avoid all controversy, if indeed any one should care to dispute about the matter, he is willing that every thing contained in this book which was published prior to its date may be considered as borrowed ; but to claimants is left the difficult task of dividing the allotment for them- selves. This is the more readily done, because little is cared as to who first stated an isolated fact or discovered a discon- nected principle. This work aims to embody what is known in the department of education of which it treats, into a system ; it professes to be a practical treatise based on scien- tific principles ; and as such its merit must be judged. It would have been easy to fill the book with accounts of par- ticular methods and special cases, — ^with descriptions of funny school-scenes and relations of amusing anecdotes; but it is thought that the time has gone by when it was proper to in- troduce such things into our graver professional literature. No work upon Teaching can now be welcomed by the think- ing teacher whose methods of treating the subject are not scientific in their nature. So much that is superficial has been spoken and written upon Education, that it has almost come to be doubted by some, whether there can be found concerning it any broad, general principles that may be used to unite its facts into a coherent whole. As treated of in the present volume, Teaching is more an art than a science ; but it is an art based either upon the observation of facts or the apprehension of principles. The second and third volumes of the series will treat more strictly of Teaching as a science. Headers of this book, it is hoped, will be found not only among teachers and school-officers, but among the unpro- fessional friends of education. Every parent will find matter in it with which he ought to acquaint himself. But the author has no disposition to conceal the fact that he has written mainly for teachers. His own class of student-teachers has been constantly before his mind, and he has earnestly endea- vored to supply their wants and the wants of others situated like them. It is thought that the matter of the book is so Vlll PREFACE. arranged that it may be profitably used in the regular recita- tions of the Normal School and the Teachers' Institute. Finally, if his book fail to accomplish its purpose, the author will not consider his time misspent if what he has written shall aid in opening the way for another to perfect the work he has labored to begin. Education has its prin- ciples, and is a science. These principles can be arranged into a system. Teaching will be recognized as a learned pro- fession, and Teacher will, become an honored title among men : to wish to be remembered as one who contributed to these ends is, surely, not an unworthy ambition. J. P. W. Statis Nosmal School, October, 1863. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. PAOX I. School-Sites 1 1. Convenience op Access 2 2. Suitability op Grounds and Sureoundings 3 3. Healthiness op the Neighborhood 4 4. Beauty of Location 4 II. School-Grounds 5 1. The Arrangement OP School-Grounds 6 1st. Size 6 2d. Shape 6 3d. Plan 7 4th. Apparatus 8 6th. Care-taking 9 2. The Advantages op School-Grounds 9 1st. The Invigoration of the Health of the Pupils 10 2d. The Removal of particular Causes of Disorder from the School 10 3d. The Promotion of Study 12 4th. The Cultivation of Taste 13 6th. The Furnishing of Occasions for imparting certain Kinds of Instruction 13 6th. The Presentation of Opportunities for studying the Disposition of Pupils 15 ix X CONTENTS. PAOB III. School-Grades 15 1. The Plans op Graded Schools 15 1st. The Number of Grades 16 2d. The Manner of Grading 19 2. The Objects of Graded Schools 24 1st. They economize the Labor of Instruction ■» 24 2d. They lessen the Cost of Teaching 24 8d. They make Teaching more eflFective 24 4th. They promote good Order in School 25 6th. They prompt the Ambition of Pupils 25 6th. They provide Instruction in the higher Branches of Learning 26 7th. They remove the Necessity of Children's leaving Home to obtain a good Education 26 IV. SclLOol-Studies 27 1. Studies for Primary Schools 27 2. Studies for Grammar-Schools 29 3. Studies for High Schools 80 4. Studies for Colleges 81 V. School-Houses 83 1. Size 83 2. Form 84 8. Internal Arrangement 84 4. Recitation-Rooms 88 5. The Cellar 89 6. Lighting 89 7. Heating 40 8. Ventilation 41 VI. School-rurnittire 42 1. Desks and Seats 42 2. Platform 43 8. Blackboard 43 4. Miscellaneous Articles op Furniture 46 VII. School- Apparatus 46 VIII. Scliool-Kecords 48 1. The Forms of School-Records 48 CONTENTS. Xi VAGI 1st. A Register of Admission and Withdrawal 50 2d. A Register of Attendance and Deportment 51 3d. A Class-Register 54 4th. A Summary Register 56 2. The Objects of School-Records 55 1st. To aid the Teacher in his Work 57 2d. To give Information to Parents and School-Ofl&cers 57 8d. To furnish educational Statistics 67 4th. To exert a beneficial Influence upon the Pupils ... 58 CHAPTER II. THE ORGANIZATION OP THE SCHOOL. I. The Temporary Organization of the School 60 1. The Seating 66 2. The Times op Opening and Closing the School 66 3. The Hours of Recesses and Intermissions 66 4. Leaving Seats and asking Questions 66 5. Whispering... 66 6. General Deportment 67 7. Work 68 II. The Permanent Organization of the School 70 1. Provisions Relating to Study 70 1st. The Branches to be taught in the School 71 2d. The Branches to be studied by each Pupil 73 8d. The Text-Books to be used 76 4th. The Formation of the Pupils into Classes 83 5th, The Distribution of the Classes among the Teachers 92 6th. The Arrangement of Times for Study and Recita- tion 94 2. Provisions relating to Order 99 1st. The Conditions upon which Pupils may be admitted into the School 100 2d. The School-Limits 101 3d. The Length of the School-Day 102 4th. The Time and Length of Intermissions 106 5th. The Opening and Closing Exercises of the School IOC 6th. The Calling out and Dismissing of Classes 109 Xll CONTENTS. PAOE lih. The granting of Special Privileges 110 8th. The Transaction of General Business 114 9th. The Administration of Discipline 116 CHAPTER III. THE EMPLOYMENTS OE THE SCHOOL. 1. Study 119 1. The Objects op Study 119 1st. Knowledge 120 2d. Discipline 121 8d. Aspiration 123 4th. Efficiency .. 124 2. The Incentives to Study 125 1st. Incentives of doubtful Fropriety 127 Prizes 127 Merit-Marks 135 Emulation 138 Fear of Punishment , 145 Shame 147 Ridicule 148 2d. Proper Incentives to Study 149 The Approbation of the Teacher 150 The Approbation of the Parents and Friends of the Pupil 151 The Approbation of Society 152 The Attainment of an honorable Position in the School 153 The Pleasure of overcoming Difficulties 153 The Gratification of Curiosity 155 The Desire of Knowledge 156 The Hope of Success in Life 157 The Enjoyment of purer ideal Creations * 159 The Duty of Self- Perfection 161 The Satisfaction of doing Right 161 The Prospect of Heavenly Reward 162 3. The Modes of Study 163 1st. Modes of Study in the Attainment of original Know- ledge 164 Empirical Knowledge H4 CONTENTS. xiii PAQB Pure Knowledge 166 2d. Modes of Study in the Attainment of scholastic Know- ledge 167 4. The Characteristics of the Student 167 1st. Health 170 2d. Natural Ability 170 3d. Love of Learning 171 4th. An elevated Ideal 171 6th. Self-Reliance 172 6th. Perseverance 172 7th. The Power of Concentration 173 8th. Enthusiasm 173 9th. Patience 174 10th. Humility 176 11. Eecitation 175 1. The Objects op the Recitation 176 1st. To enable the Teacher to estimate the daily Progress of his Pupils 176 2d. To enable the Pupils to tell what they know 177 8d. To enable the Pupils to acquire well-founded Self- Confidence 178 4th. To enable the Pupils to fix in their Minds what they learn 178 6th. To enable the Teacher to explain and illustrate the Lesson and add new Matter to it 179 6th. To enable the Teacher to keep before his Pupils proper Incentives to Study 179 7th. To enable the Teacher to impart Moral Instruction to his Pupils 180 2. The Requisites of the Recitation 181 1st. A proper Place 181 2d. Suitable Apparatus 182 3d. Quiet , 183 4th. Sufficient Time 183 3. The Methods of Conducting the Recitation 184 1st. Imparting Knowledge 184 Lectures 184 Text-Books 186 Dialogues * 187 Catechization ,... 188 2 XIV CONTENTS. PAQl 2d. Testing Knowledge 189 The Matter of the Questions 190 The Form of the Questions 191 The Mode of Questioning 193 The Teacher in Questioning 196 3d. Proving Knowledge 198 The Matter of the Answers 198 The Form of the Answers 200 The Mode of Answering 201 The Pupil in Answering 208 4th. Correcting Errors 209 The Correction of Errors by the Pupils 209 The Correction of Errors by the Teacher 210 4. The Preparation for the Eecitation 211 1st. The Preparation the Pupil needs for the Recitatiop 211 2d. The Preparation the Teacher needs for the Re- citation 214 III. Exercise 216 1. Unregulated Exercise 218 1st. The Place for Play 219 2d. The Times for Play 219 3d. The Manner of Play 220 4th. The Teacher at Play-Time 221 2. Regulated Exercise 222 1st. The Place for Exercising 223 2d. The Times for Exercising 225 3d. The Manner of Exercising 225 4th. The Teacher at the Exercises 227 CHAPTER IV. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SCHOOL. I. School-Etliics 281 The Classification of Persons engaged in the School... 231 The Duties of Pupils 233 The Offences of Pupils 235 CONTENTS. xy PAaB II. Scliool-Eetributioiis 237 1. Rewards for Good Conduct 238 2. Punishments for Bad Conduct 241 III. School-Legislation 245 1. Means of preventing Disorder 246 1st. Accommodations 246 2d. Teachers 247 3d. Management 249 2. Means of Correcting Disord-er 250 1st. The Punishment of those who offend. 251 The Principles according to which all Punishments should take place 253 Punishments for Offences against Themselves 264 Punishments for Offences against One Another 266 Punishments for Offences against the School-Property 269 Punishments for Offences against the Teacher and School-Officers 269 Punishments for Offences against the School as a Whole 272 Punishments for Offences against Visitors at the School 275 Punishments for Offences against Society 276 Punishments for Offences against God 278 2d. The Pardon of those who repent 279 The Conditions on which Pardon may be granted 281 3. Means of inducing Pupils to discharge their Du- ties OF their own Accord 283 let. Moral Knowing 284 2d. Moral Feeling 285 3d. Moral Willing 289 IV. Soliool-Admiiiistratioii 290 1. The Detection of Offenders 291 2. The Selection of the Punishment for Offenders.. 298 8. The Manner of inflicting Punishment upon Of- fenders c 300 XVl CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. THE AUTHORITIES OF THE SCHOOL. TAQM I. The Teacher 305 1. The Teacher's Motives 306 2. The Teacher's Qualifications 309 1st. Physical Qualifications 309 2d. Intellectual Qualifications 312 3d. Moral Qualifications 314 4th. Professional Qualifications 322 3. The Teacher's Duties i-o his Pupils 326 1st. To supply their physical Wants 327 2d. To supply their intellectual Wants 328 3d. To supply their aesthetic Wants 329 4th. To supply their moral Wants 329 4. The Teacher's Duties to his Profession 331 1st. To adorn it by his Skill and Scholarship 333 2d. To dignify it by his personal Worth 334 8d. To elevate it, by encouraging all Means of profes- sional Improvement 335 4th. To render it more united, by showing Respect to his Fellow-Teachers 338 5. A Teacher's Life 339 1st. Disadvantages 339 2d. Advantages 345 II. The General School-Officers 351 III. The People in Kespect to Schools 355 1. The Relations of Education in Society 356 1st. The Relations of Education to Labor 356 2d. The Relations of Education to Wealth 360 3d. The Relations of Education to Crime 361 4th. The Relation of Education to Happiness 364 5th. The Relations of Education to Government 369 CONTENTS. XVII PAGE The Agencies bt which an Education can be ob- tained 371 1st. The Family School 371 2d. The Church School 373 3d. The Private School 374 4th. The State School 375 6th. The People's School 377 17* SCHOOL ECONOMY. By School Economy are meant all those arrange- ments that tend to make the school a fit place in which to impart instruction, and all those conditions that render teaching eflective. That schools may- be badly arranged, and that certain conditions may exist which are unfavorable to success in teaching, are unquestionable facts; and hence the teacher should understand School Economy. Without this knowledge, his labors must be ill directed and may be fruitless. The whole subject will be divided into five chap- ters, as follows: — Chapter I. — The Preparation for the School. Chapter II. — The Organization of the School. Chapter III. — The Employments of the School. Chapter IV. — The Government of the School. Chapter V. — The Authorities of the School. This classification explains itself, and is wellnigh exhaustive. xviU SCHOOL ECONOMY. CHAPTER I. THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. Preparation is required for every important un- dertaking. Preparation must be made for building a bouse, for constructing a railroad, for taking a journey, for painting pictures, for growing fruit, for rearing animals; and so for tbe Scbool. Tbe nature of tbis preparation will depend, in eacb par- ticular case, upon tbe end intended to be accom- plisbed, and tbe means wbicb can be used in its accomplisbment. In making preparation for tbe Scbool, tbe following particulars must be regarded : I. School-Sites. II. School-Grounds. m. School-Grades. IV. School-Studies. V. School-Houses. VI. School-Furniture. VII. School-Apparatus, Vni. School-Records. I. School-Sites. — Too little attention bas been paid to tbe location of scbool-bouses. Not unfre- 2 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. queiitly z school-houBe is located along some dark alley or noisy street, half in a road and half in an adjacent field, at an angle of a cross-road, or upon a narrow strip of land where two roads fork. All have seen it placed upon ground low and marshy ; on a common, rocky and exposed ; or high up on a bank by the roadside. In such locations, — dis- turbed by noises; attracted by passing vehicles; suffering from heat, cold, dampness, want of light, or miasmatic exhalations; blunted in taste and, perhaps, corrupted in morals, — pupils cannot pur- sue the work of education with full profit to them- selves or full satisfaction to their teachers. Several things must be taken into consideration in selecting a site for a school-house. The most important of them are : — 1. Convenience of Access. ^ 2. Suitability of the Grounds and Surround- ings. 3. Healthiness of the JS^eighborhood. 4. Beauty of the Location. 1. Convenience of Access. — ^Each Common School house is designed to accommodate with school fa- cilities the people who inhabit a certain district of territory, and should therefore be so located as to furnish the best accommodations to the greatest number without doing injustice to any. Theoreti- cally, taking distance alone into consideration, the place for the location of the school-house is that to reach which the least possible distance must be travelled by all the children who attend the school. This will not often be the centre of the district; fv)r SCHOOL-SITES. 3 the distribution of the population, the direction of the roads, and the intervention of obstacles, as moun- tains and streams, will nearly always render it best to choose a different location. All that is insisted upon here is that those whose duty it may be to locate school-houses should do it with reference to their convenience of access, but by no means with reference to this consideration alone. In towns, especially, it is often best to increase the distance of the school-house from the population to be ac- commodated, for the purpose of securing a more eligible location for it. 2. Suitability of the Grounds and Surround- ings. — 'So school-house should have attached to it less than a half an acre of ground ; and a lot larger in extent should be procured whenever possible. The best shape for a school-yard is rectangular, the length extending north and south, and bearing the ratio to the breadth of about three to two. The ground selected for a school-yard should be level or slope gently toward the south ; it should be dry, free from obstacles that would interfere with the children's play, and susceptible of a reasonable degree of or- nament. The air ought to be allowed to circulate freely about the school-house and the school-grounds, and the sunlight to baptize them with its health- giving beams. The surroundings of a school are to be considered of almost as much importance in locating it as its grounds. The work of the school cannot be well done amidst noise and confusion. The clatter of a mill or a factory, the sounds which come from a smith or a carpenter shop, the noises of the busy 4 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. street or the thronged highway, — all are apt to divert the mind from study. Still worse is the near prox- imity to the school of a store, a railroad station, a butcher shop, or a tavern ; as occurrences at such places are sometimes calculated not only to distract the attention of pupils, but to vitiate their taste or corrupt their morals. It is best to locate a school- house a little distance from the street or the public road, and away from other buildings. It may be sheltered on the north side by a wood, but the other sides should present an unobstructed view in all directions. 3. Healthiness of the I^eighborhood. — This point needs only to be stated to secure assent; and yet it is not uncommon to find school-houses located amid the dense population of a city, where children are compelled to breathe the impure exhalations arising from streets, stables, sewers, and thousands of lungs; near marshes, stagnant bodies of water, or rivers whose subsiding waters leave vast accumulations of vegetable matter to decay in the autumn sun ; or in low, damp situations, where heavy vapors hang about them in the morning long after the glad sunshine has begun to play all over the neighboring hill-sides, or the chill night-dews fall before the day's work is done. Of doubtful benefit is that benevolence which provides for the education of the mind at the sacrifice of the health of the body. 4. Beauty of Location. — ^Very seldom in the past have those who selected sites for our school-houses allowed themselves to be influenced by beauty of location ; and yet it is a very important considera- tion. A school-house so situated that the children SCHOOL-GROUNDS. 6 who frequent it can look out in all directions upon scenes of romantic wildness or quiet beauty will teach, many lessons better than they can be learned from books. We are taught unconsciously by the objects that surround us; and towering mountains and peaceful valleys, golden grain and shaded forests, rough wild rocks and pleasant gardens, villages dotting the neighboring plains, and vessels gliding along the distant river, — all have truth for the in- tellect and beauty for the heart, Scenes like these leave upon the susceptible mind of a child a deep impression. Accustomed to look upon the beautiful in nature, he will learn to appreciate the beautiful in life. Thus instructed, he will be more apt to shun the low and the grovelling, the profane and the vulgar, and to exemplify the sentiment, "How near to what is good is what is fair !" II. School- Grounds. — It is not less important that a school should have connected with it appro- priate grounds than that the school-house itself should be well built or properly furnished. But to such an extent have those whose duty it is to pro- vide these grounds neglected it, that in many cases schools have no grounds at all, and in others they are much too small to subserve the purposes for which they should be designed. Where they do exist, they are often found uncared for, and without good fences, shade -trees, walks, or flowers, and, not unfrequently, covered with heaps of stone and rubbish, overgrown with briers and brushwood, or made unhealthy by stagnant pools of water, and 6 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. useless for the purposes of play by rocks and stumps and tlie unevenness of the ground. Upon this subject it is proposed to consider — 1. The Arrangements of School-Grounds. 2. The Advantages of School-Grounds. 1. The Arrangements of School-Grounds. — The principal arrangements necessary to be made respecting school-grounds will have reference to their size, shape, plan, apparatus, and care-taking. Size. — In cities and towns where ground cannot conveniently be procured, or where the means of a district will not justify the outlay, the school- authorities must be content with small play-grounds well used. A play-ground of a half an acre in ex- tent may be made to subserve many of the purposes of an ungraded school in a rural district, provided that but a small part of it be appropriated to orna- ment, and that the children be restricted to certain kinds of games, plays, and gymnastic exercises. It is far better, however, wherever suitable ground can be obtained at any thing like a reasonable cost, to procure a whole acre, or even two or three acres. Academies, Normal Schools, and Colleges, espe- cially such as furnish boarding accommodations to their students, should have, according to their cir- cumstances, from five to fifty acres attached to them and properly laid out in botanic gardens and play and pleasure grounds. Shape. — The shape of school-grounds containing a half an acre or an acre should be rectangular, as before stated. The length should extend north and south, and the school-house should front toward the SCHOOL-GROUNDS. 7 south. Witli larger grounds the shape is not so im- portant; but they should always form a compact body. Plan, — Supposing that the front of the grounds will border on a street or a highway, it is best, when the grounds are not more than an acre in extent, to place the school-house at about the distance of one- third their length from the front, and on a line ex- tending lengthwise through the middle of the grounds. A neat and strong fence should enclose the grounds. A walk should extend from the front entrance to the house, and walks should also ex- tend to both sides on a line with the front of the house. A close and high board fence should ex- tend from the centre of the house behind to the centre of the fence at the back end of the grounds. This arrangement will divide the grounds into three divisions. The two spaces behind the house should be used for play-grounds, in mixed schools, one for each sex. A shed placed immediately behind the house and extending into both play-grounds would furnish shelter in wet weather. The space in front should be laid out in grass-plots with shrubbery and beds for flowers, and a few rustic seats for the stu- dious or those seeking rest from play might be placed under its shade-trees. The engraving of a school- house, designed for a common, ungraded school, which is inserted as a frontispiece to this work, will convey a better idea of what is meant than a de- scription. Plans for designing extensive school-grounds must be left to the taste of school-authorities, or to be determined by their means of gratifying it. They 8 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. may embrace only the grading of a place for play, the planting of a few trees, the laying out of a few walks, and the arranging of a few beds of flowers ; or they may comprehend all the arts known to the landscape gardener, l^o place can be named where these arts could be turned to better account. Bless- ings upon the benefactors who shall connect with our higher institutions of learning, grounds diver- sified by hill and valley, by grove and copse and cluster, by lawn and nook and glen ; who shall make walks and drives wind about them ; build here and there arbors, retreats, and summer-houses; cause streams to meander through them, and, now and then, swell into little lakes; place fishes in their ponds, waterfowl upon their lakes, and fawn in their groves; erect fountains where best the leap- ing of their diamond jets could charm the eye; and set up statues of the good and great whose mute but eloquent voices might speak to the young of learning and of virtue. Apparatus. — Such apparatus for play as is used in the games of ball, foot-ball, base-ball, cricket, marbles, &c., the pupils will furnish for themselves: they will also procure stones, and sticks, and sand, and clay, and find use for them ; but there are other kinds of apparatus for the play-ground which the school-authorities should furnish. Among the most useful of these, for boys, are a ball-alley, a rotary swing, a climbing-stand, a balancing-bar, and a vaulting-horse. Girls will use swings, jumping- ropes, brick-blocks, and bows and arrows. Such apparatus as that now mentioned "will answer the purposes of play and exercise in a day-school ; but SCHOOL-GROUNDS. 9 all boarding-scliools should liave a room set apart for gymnastics and supplied with the most approved apparatus. Here the pupils should receive regular and systematic training from a competent teacher. Care-taking, — School -Directors or School- Com- mittees should first put the school-grounds in order; but, after he comes into possession, the teacher ought to be held responsible for their care-taking. It is his duty to keep a clean and tidy school-room, and it is equally his duty to keep the grounds in good condition. It is true that the destructive propen- sities of children, uncontrolled, often lead them to do mischief, — to throw down fences, to cut and bark trees, to cover doors and furniture with uncouth and obscene figures ; but it is emphatically the teacher's duty to prevent these acts, and no better proof of a teacher's want of qualifications need be asked than his inability to do so. This propensity of the young to cut, scratch, deface, and destroy school-property should be corrected. They do not thus misuse the property of their parents; and good management in school will prevent it there. Teachers may create such a spirit among their pupils as not only to pre- vent them from doing harm to the school-property, but to render them willing and ready to assist in protecting it from the trespasses of others. They can be taught to love neatness and order, to guard affectionately the trees and flowers about the school- grounds, and to take pride in protecting and pre- serving then 2. The Advantages of School-Grounds. — The following advantages may be expected to result from school-grounds well arranged and well provided with 10 THE PREPAEATION FOR THE SCHOOL. apparatus: the invigoration of the health of the pupils; the removal of particular causes of disorder from the school; the promotion of study; the caliivation of taste; the furnishing of occasions for imparting certain kinds of instruction; and the presentation of opportunities for studying the disposition of pupils. The Invigoration of 'the Health of the Pupils. — Chil- dren require free, exciting bodily exercise. They cannot be healthy without it. When confined for a long time, they become restless and unable to study. They need pure, fresh air, which is seldom found except out-of-doors. Nature thus indicates that periods of exercise should alternate with periods of study. The bones must be strengthened, the muscles toughened, the blood made to circulate briskly, and the whole organism of the body made to perform its functions healthfully, in order that a sure basis be had upon which to erect the super- structure of mental education. There must be a healthy bodily organization to insure a healthy mental organization ; and, while a school-room is necessary to induce the latter, a well-arranged play- ground is the best means of promoting the former. No gymnastic exercises can be contrived equal in value to jumping-the-rope, rolling hoops, ball, or cricket. The Removal of particular Causes of Disorder from the School. — The exercises of a school situated upon a street or by the side of a highway must suiFer great interruption from noise, and be considerably disturbed by the curiosity pupils evince to see every passing object. At play, in such circumstances, without a play-ground, the pupils are themselves in I SCHOOL-GROUNDS. 11 constant danger from "horses and passing vehicles, and sometimes give much annoyance to travellers. In situations removed from such thoroughfares, but in which no school-grounds are attached to the school, pupils are apt to trespass upon the neigh- boring fields, sometimes to the damage of fences and growing crops ; or to play in the house, thereby injuring the furniture, and producing scenes of uproar and confusion. Play, fun, and frolic, most children will have. It is natural to them ; and I have no feeling in common with that pedagogical asceticism which laments this disposition in the young, or chides children for its reasonable indulgence. An active, wide-awake child is less likely to throw his life away to no purpose, than a moping, dull one. School-children should neither sit listlessly about the school-house during intermission and noon-time, nor should they be allowed to run up and down the highway, to the neighboring creek or wood, through the village, over the adjoining fields, — anywhere and every- where their fickle fancies may prompt. Both are extremes, and both are wrong. Praise given to the hard-working student who does not rise from his desk at play-time, is injudicious praise ; and the teacher whose care does not follow his pupils while engaged in play, neglects a very important part of his duty. To avoid these causes of disorder in the school- house and out of the school-house, a good play- ground well provided with appropriate apparatus is absolutely indispensable. Here, within the hearing of the teacher and under his eye, with no danger 3* 12 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. to tliemselves and little opportunity of disturbing others or trespassing upon their rights, pupils could take the liveliest exercise and enjoy the merriest games unmolesting and unmolested. Quarrels would be few where the teacher's eye might witness them, and vulgar or profane language would be seldom heard where the teacher's ear might catch the un- pleasant sound. The hour of play over, the pupils would return to the duties of the school-room, fresh, vigorous, and ready for work. The propensity for fun and mischief would have exhausted itself, and most, if not all, would be willing to submit quietly to the necessary restraints of study-hours. The Promotion of Study, — It cannot be doubted, from what has already been said, that children would attend school more regularly, be more attentive to their studies, learn more and learn it better, if school -houses were pleasantly situated, school- grounds properly arranged, and school-plays pro- perly conducted. Our ability to study is greatly influenced by sur- rounding circumstances. No one can sit down in a cold, dark, gloomy, uninviting room and study well ; at least persons whose interest has not become completely absorbed in study cannot do so ; and this fact has as much significance in reference to school- grounds as to school-houses. Let children have suitable opportunities for play, for working off their animal energy, and their pro- gress in study will be greatly accelerated. If this be done, they will work more industriously, and be able to endure, without loss of health, much more mental labor. SCHOOL-GEOUNDS. 13 llie Cultivation of the Taste, — We have around ua silent teachers. Mountains and valleys, lakes and rivers, green fields and clustering villages, the set- ting sun, the clouds of heaven, the grand old ocean, — all that is beautiful or sublime in the works of nature and art, elevates the mind and cultivates the taste; while, on the other hand, disproportioned, inharmonious, deformed, or neglected objects excite no train of pleasurable emotions, and familiarity with such tends to lower the standard by which we judge of the beautiful. The youthful mind is pecu- liarly susceptible to influences of this kind, and it cannot be doubted that the unimproved and unin- viting grounds about our school-houses tend to deaden the natural sense of beauty and refinement instead of quickening it. If school-grounds were as we have shown they should be, their silent teachings would ever tend to the culture of the noblest feel- ings of the human heart ; and, instead of that ruth- less disposition to destroy, that rough, rude conduct, and those careless habits, which so often characterize the pupils of our schools, all might have their taste elevated, refined, and purified. The Furnishing of Occasiojis for imparting certain Kinds of Instruction, — The most prominent use of a play-ground is to enable the pupils to obtain con- veniently relaxation and exercise. When systematic gymnastic training is required, the teacher must conduct the exercises. The games and plays of children must be allowed to proceed without unne- cessary interference on the part of the teacher; but he can sometimes, if in sympathy with children, make suggestions respecting old plays, or propose 14 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. new ones, that will mucli increase the interest taken in them. Children may be taught how to play. Occasions will present themselves, too, when the teacher can find in the play-ground attentive lis- teners to the relation of an anecdote or story, or the reading of some interesting book. If a teacher will take a seat under a shade-tree near the school, and offer to tell his pupils their names and something concerning all the flowers, minerals, fossils, shells, or insects they will bring to him, he will need con- siderable knowledge of ISTatural History if he is able to keep his bargain. Let it be remembered that the greatest of the ancient philosophers taught in groves and gardens. The circumstances of the play-ground may be used to impart important moral lessons. On the play-ground the real character of pupils shows itself; and the quick judgment of the true teacher will tell him when he may give a hint that will awaken attention to the right and the wrong, or plant the seed of a moral truth that will grow up in the heart, and produce fruit a hundredfold. Even the presence of the teacher on the play-ground, while it need detract nothing from the fun or frolic, will be beneficial in elevating the general tone of enjoyment. Unkind words will not be spoken, nor selfish deeds be done, when he is by; and good qualities soon grow habitual. Instances, indeed, are not wanting in which, when rebellious natures had stirred up discontent among the pupils, and appear- ances indicated the subversion of the teacher's au- thority, he was able, by judicious managenxent on I SCHOOL-GRADES. 15 the play-ground, to arrest the rising tumult and win all back to obedience and respect. The Presentation of Opportunities for studying the- Disposition of Pupils, — The success of school-govern- ment, anH even of teaching, depends very much upon the knowledge the teacher possesses of his pupils' dispositions. It is on the play-ground that pupils first encounter opposing desires and clashing wills, and the teacher can see manifested there, much better than in the school-room, all that play of passion and all those springs of action and diver- sities of character incident to social life. Each in- dividual is himself on the play-ground; and the teacher, if he freely mingles with his pupils while at play, can scarcely fail to gather information that will aid him in his school-room duties and prove beneficial to the school. III. School- Grades. — Pupils can be classed ac- cording to the studies which it is thought best they should pursue. A system of graded schools pro- vides a separate school or a separate room for each class, or for as many classes with slightly diff*erent attainments as can be conveniently accommodated in the same room. Without some system of this kind, the education that could be furnished by a Common School system would be very imperfect. What is designed to be said on the subject of school-grades will have reference — 1. To THE Plans of Graded Schools. 2. To THE Objects of Graded Schools. 1. Plans of Graded Schools. — Plans of graded 16 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. scliools involve considerations respecting, first, the number of grades^ and, second, the manner of grading. The Number of Grades. — ^o principle can be found tliat may be used to determine the number of grades in a system of graded scliools. Pupils cannot be classed according to age, and studies admit divisions in a hundred places as well as in ten. The grada- tion of schools is, therefore, a matter of convenience, and its nature must be determined by circumstances. Custom, however, seems to have fixed three general grades, called, respectively. Primary Schools, Gram- mar Schools, and High Schools. The rudiments of an education are imparted in the Primary School, the Grammar School carries on the work, and the High School completes it. Where no Grammar Schools or High Schools exist, or where it is incon- venient to patronize them, the Academy and the Seminary take their place ; and those who wish to pursue their studies beyond the course contemplated by these classes of institutions resort to the College or the University. In large cities or towns. Primary Schools are divided into several grades, very frequently into six or eight, and Grammar Schools are likewise divided into several grades, mostly into three or four. It is very evident that, in fixing the number of grades for a particular locality, certain knowledge may be agreed upon as proper to be imparted in the Pri- mary Schools, certain other knowledge as proper to be imparted in the Grammar Schools, and the remaining branches of the course may be reserved to be taught in the High School ; but in th^s divi- sion of a course of study, as well as in all subdivi- SCHOOL-GRADES 17 sions of it, the arrangement must be arbitrary The grades of the schools might be used to deter- mine the studies, just as well as the studies to deter- mine the grades. Both studies and grades must be adjusted to one another and to the circumstances of the locality. Some help to those needing it, however, may be rendered by the following statements, which are in- ferences drawn from the results of the systems of grading schools, adopted in many places. They are intended to apply only to our present social con- dition. There ought to be a school for every fifty pupils who are accustomed to attend school in a district. In thinly populated neighborhoods there may be a school for a less number. One teacher is wanted for such a school ; and he must classify his pupils as best he can. Wherever from fifty to eighty pupils can con- veniently attend a school, it should have a recitation- room attached to the school-room, and an assistant teacher should be employed. Such a school can be divided into two divisions, a Primary division and a Grammar division, although both divisions would occupy the same room except when reciting. When the number of pupils attending one school is increased to from eighty to one hundred and twenty, there should be a school-room and two recitation -rooms, a Principal and two assistant teachers. Such an arrangement will be open to the objection that it brings older and younger pupils together and subjects them in some respects to the same discipline ; but on the whole it will be found 18 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. the cheapest and best mode (ff grading — if grading it can be called — for the stated number of pupils. In a rural neighborhood or a village where from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty pupils can be conveniently collected into one place, the school-house should have three apartments, two for Primary Schools and one for a Grammar School; or, if preferred, there can be three houses, two for the Primary Schools and one for the Grammar School. The pupils in the Grammar School w^ill be to those in the Primary Schools in about the ratio of one to three. Provision must be made for pupils in Grammar and Primary Schools in about the same ratio until their number reaches six hundred, when . — and not safely before — a High School can be established. "With High, Grammar, and Primary Schools the ratios of pupils in the difi*erent grades respectively, will stand about one, three, and eight; and, consequently, of the six hundred pupils fifty will be found in the High School, one hundred and fifty in the Grammar School or Schools, and four hundred in the Primary Schools. If but one Gram- mar School be provided, there should be three dis- tinct classes, with three teachers; if three such schools be provided, each school can be occupied by pupils of one grade. The pupils attending the Pri- mary Schools can be divided into eight grades, if so many be desirable, and they can either be accom- modated in one large school-building or in separate schools. From six hundred up to any higher number, the relative number of pupils attending each grade of schools will not be much changed, and school-ac- SCHOOL-GRADES. 19 commodations can be made accordingly. It ought to be remarked, however, that it has been found best in large cities to raise the grade of a High School somewhat above that now contemplated, thus necessitating a rise in the grades of the schools below it. The Manner of Grading, — Incidentally, in speak- ing of the number of grades, something has been said in regard to manner of grading; but it is deemed best to make the subject as clear as possi- ble by presenting it under a distinct head. The first system of graded schools that will be j noticed may be called the Union Graded System. | This system consists in bringing all the pupils of the several grades to one building designed for the purpose, and uniting them under one Principal or Superintendent. Of course, separate apartments are appropriated to the Primary, Grammar, and High Schools, and to as many subdivisions of these as may be deemed expedient. A Union School with an attendance of six hundred pupils would require about twelve teachers and a general Superintendent. Eight teachers should be employed in the Primary department, three in the Grammar department, and one, with such help as could be rendered in this de- partment by the Superintendent, would be sufficient for the High School. If the grades of pupils be made to correspond with the number of teachers, — as they should be, — it becomes an interesting question as to whether it is best to assign a separate loom to each grade and each teacher and let each teacher hear his pupils in all their studies, or whether it 18 best to provide rooms large enough to seat the 20 THE PREPARATION POR THE SCHOOL. pupils belonging to several grades, have recitation- rooms, a Principal, and the needed number of as- sistants. My own well-matured conviction is that in a Union School having an attendance of six hundred pupils, which we are taking as the type of this class of schools, the best manner of grading is to provide four apartments, — the first two each large enough to seat two hundred Primary pupils, the second designed to accommodate the one hundred and fifty pupils who would attend the Grammar School, and the third arranged for the pupils of the High School. Each of the first should have con- nected with it three recitation-rooms ; the second, two ; and the third, one. One Principal and three assistants should be employed in each of the Pri- mary Schools, one Principal and two assistants in the Grammar School, and one teacher and the general Superintendent could do the work of the High School. I cannot give at length here my reasons for this opinion ; but it will be found to secure better system in the general working of the school, better discipline among the pupils, and more effective teaching, — better system and discipline because the Principals would be chosen with refer- ence to their executive abilities and disciplinary qualifications, and more effective teaching because each teacher could be engaged in teaching those branches in which he took most delight or was most successful. The time the pupils spend in passing in good order from one class-room to another, or from study-hall to class-room, need occupy but a few moments, and the movement will relieve them from the weariness of sitting. All the teachers in such a SCHOOL-GRADES. 21 school must, of course, unite tlieir efforts in caring for the moral and spiritual welfare of the pupils under their charge, who, it seems to me, must be greatly benefited by the varied instruction of this kind which they would then receive. Separate Graded Schools differ from Union Graded Schools in this : in Union Schools, the pupils are all brought to one school-house and graded there ; while in separate schools, a school-house is provided for each grade of pupils, and a teacher employed to take charge of them. The school-houses designed to accommodate the Primary pupils may be placed in different parts of the district ; but the location of Grammar and High Schools must be more central. A system of Graded Schools for a city or town may consist partly of Union Schools and partly of Separate Schools. Local circumstances sometimes render it inconvenient for young children to walk the distance necessary to reach a Union School; and in such cases it is wise to provide separate Primary Schools for them. In regard to the relative advantages of the Union and Separate Graded Systems, it might be remarked that the Separate Graded System places the schools at a less distance from the pupils, avoids sudden dangers as from fright or fire, and lessens the evils of noise, confusion, and evil association, which, unless the school-grounds be very commodious and the school-discipline very exact, will prevail where hundreds of children are brought promiscuously together. On the other hand, it should be stated that Union Schools can be managed more cheaplj^ they admit better gradation, and can be subjected 22 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. to a much more complete supervision. In good hands, as a working machine, Union Schools have decided advantage over any other system. / What has been said has reference to schools in yAycities and towns. Something must be added concern- ing the manner of grading schools in the country. Of course, grading schools in country districts is only practicable in thickly settled neighborhoods. Here it is practicable ; and the schools will never produce their full fruits without it. If the old school -houses were out of the way, the best manner of grading schools in rural districts would perhaps be to divide a township into districts containing each a school -going population of from one hundred and twenty to two hundred, and then build two or three Primary Schools at convenient places, and locate a Grammar School somewhere near the centre of the district. The younger pupils would thus enjoy school privileges by walking a short distance, and the older pupils could obtain a better education by going a little longer distance. If people really felt the value of a graded school, a near approximation to this result could often be obtained without much change in existing arrange- ments as to school-houses. Another mode of securing the advantages of graded schools in rural districts will be named, — not so complete as the preceding, perhaps, but against which much less opposition would be made. This plan consists in bringing together wherever practi- cable — and it is practicable in every thickly settled rural district — from fifty to eighty pupils of all grades, and providing seats for them in the same SCHOOL-GRADES. 28 school-room, but to which a recitation-room should be attached. The teachers should consist of a Prin- cipal and one assistant, and the pupils should be divided into two grades and subdivided into classes. One of the teachers should remain in the school- room all the time, while the other could hear classes, uninterrupted, in the recitation-room. Some classes that could best be heard in the school-room, might be; though this would not very often be necessary. Where from eighty to one hundred and twenty pupils could conveniently assemble at one house, there should be two recitation-rooms and two teachers. The advantages of such a system are very great. It enables the older children in a family to lend their protection to the younger ones in going to and coming from school. It enables the school-authori- ties to accommodate the increasing number of school- children without building new school-houses. All that is necessary is to enlarge the old ones, where they are sufficiently good to warrant it. It enables these same authorities to procure the services of the very best teachers as Principals, since they could pay them good salaries. The assistants could in many cases be chosen from among the oldest and best-qualified pupils; they might not be needed all the time, and would not expect large compensation. Under the direction of a competent Principal, they would do their work well. If selected because they desired to become teachers, the system might do much to provide its own teachers. With such a large number of children from whom to gather pupils, the Principal of each of the schools graded upon this plan could find employment for ten 24 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. months in the year; for should the public schools be open a less length of time, a private school would be well patronized. In this way, teaching would become a permanent business, and a long step would be taken towards constituting it a profession. 2. The Objects of Graded Schools. — Some of the most prominent objects the friends of education have had in view, in advocating a system of graded schools, are the following : they economize the labor of instruction; lessen its cost; make teaching more effect- ive ; ^promote good order in school ; prompt the ambition of pupils ; p>'^^ovide instruction in the higher branches of learning; and remove the necessity of children' s leaving home to obtain a good education. They economize the Labor of Instruction, — In un- graded schools there is much unnecessary expendi- ture of time and labor. Several teachers may each have a small class in a branch of learning, whose recitations require about as much time as if all the classes were combined. Less interest, too, is always taken, both by pupils and teachers, in small classes than in those which are larger. Graded schools diminish the number of classes, and thus economize the labor of instruction. They lessen the Cost of Teaching, — If graded schools decrease the number of classes, they likewise de- crease the number of teachers required to conduct them, and in this way lessen the cost of teaching. They make Teaching more effective, — As has already been said, ten or fifteen pupils will make more rapid progress in a class than two or three. But the chief reason why teaching is more eftective in graded than in ungraded schools is because in the former no SCHOOL-GRADES. 25 advantage can "be taken of the teacher's special tastes or special talents. When a teacher is compelled to teach ten or a dozen dilSerent branches, as must be the case not unfrequently in ungraded schools, he can make but little special preparation for teaching any of them; and if he is more fond of some branches than of others, has a better knowledge of them, or succeeds better in teaching them, — and this will always be the fact, — ^he has no alternative but to do his best in the unfavorable circumstances in which he finds himself. A well-managed graded school has its teaching-forces so distributed as to do the most effective work. They promote good Order, — Graded schools admit, from the very nature of their organization, better system and better discipline than would be possible if the same number of pupils were distributed in ungraded schools. The government of a school is not so easy where large and small pupils prepare and recite their lessons in the same apartment, as many sources of disturbance arise which their sepa- ration would remove. The easiest school to govern, other things being equal, is one in which all the pupils in the school-room prepare their lessons at the same time and recite them at the same time. They prompt the Ambition of Pupils. — A pupil who enters a graded school has something in addition to the usual motives to prompt his ambition. He knows that there are higher schools, he sees his companions transferred to them, and he naturally works harder to hasten his own going. If judi- ciously managed, the constant spur of such a motive may be made to do much good. 26 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. They provide Instruction in the higher Branches of Learning. — Respecting the value of what are called the higher branches of an education, there is but one opinion among those who are competent to judge; and that is, that no one can be able to appre- ciate the true worth of knowledge who neglects the study of them. To avoid distinctions in society, to bring out all the talent a people may possess, as well as to allow the privileges of liberal learning to be enjoyed, wherever possible, by the poor and the rich alike, the course of study in our Common Schools ought to be so extended as to embrace a number of the higher branches of learning. For one teacher to give instruction in an ungraded school, in more branches than Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Geography, and Grammar, is wellnigh an impossibility. Either our schools must be graded, or the education of the great majority of our people must stop at this point. Theg remove the Necessity of leaving Home to obtain a good Educaiioyu — It has been shown that the schools even in most of our rural districts can be graded, and, when graded, that the higher branches of learning can be taught in them ; and this removes all necessity of leaving home to obtain a good edu- cation. Some writer upon the subject of education says, "All schools are a necessary evil.'* Wliat he^ means is that, if education could be obtained in the family, it would be much better than in a school of any kind. Whether this is true or not, it is cer- tainly true that the dangers of school-life — and they are neither few nor trifling — increase in proportion to the distance the child is removed from the farailv. SCHOOL-STUDIES. 2*1 "When children can be with their parents all tho time except the six or eight hours they spend at the District School in company with other children of the neighborhood, they are comparatively safe ; but the moral danger becomes very great when young persons are placed at even the best-regulated board- ing-schools, where the watchful eyes and constant promptings of loving parents cannot follow to shield them from harm. If parents rightly appreciated this one view of the matter, the earnest educator would not have long to wait for the establishment of graded schools. IV. School-Studies. — The thoughtful educator finds no more difiicult problem than that which is to determine the branches of knowledge which should be embraced in a course of school-studies, and arrange the order in which they should be pursued. The performance of this task will not be attempted in this volume, as the discussion of the subject would involve principles which do not come within its scope. But, in order to render as much help as possible to the teacher, some practical suggestions will be made in regard to studies for Primary Schools^ Grammar Schools^ High Schools and Academies^ and Col- leges. Details must be left to those who write spe- cially upon this subject. 1. Studies for Primary Schools. — Children enter our Primary Schools at the age of five or six years. They already possess considerable know- ledge, and the teacher should begin his instruction where that knowledge ends, and follow as closely as 28 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. possible the methods — nature's methods — ^by which it was acquired. The most prominent kind of instruction that should be imparted in our Primary Schools is Les- sons on Objects. A better name would perhaps be Intuitive Exercises. These lessons are adapted to the mental condition of young children, and in- tended to gratify their curiosity, discipline their senses and their powers of observation, develop their thinking faculties, and improve their language. The matter of such lessons consists of the most important qualities and phenomena of objects; and, to make the instruction effective, each class should receive two lessons daily. Some well-arranged sys- tem should be followed in selecting objects for lessons, and in conducting the recitations. Suitable apparatus is an indispensable auxiliary to success in Object Teaching. Books treating of this subject must be referred to for further information. Children in Primary Schools ought to be taught the names and the sounds of the letters of the Al- phabet; and they ought also to receive careful instruction in Pronouncing, Spelling, Defining, Ele- mentary Reading, and Oral Composition. They may write, as soon as they are able, accounts of things seen or heard of by them. The committing and speaking of pieces is an old exercise, but by no means a useless one. Appropriate narratives, de- scriptions, and stories may be read to such children with great profit to them. The studies of Drawing and Writing must claim a large share of attention in the Primary School. Pupils in Primary Schools will take great delig^it SCHOOL-STUDIES. 29 in performing elementary Arithmetical Exercises, and may be shown some of the simplest Geomet- rical truths. Little songs and hymns should be committed and sung. Both teacher and pupils will be the better for it. 2. Studies for Grammar Schools. — Object Les- sons must be continued in the Grammar Schools, the objects chosen for lessons and the manner of imparting the instruction concerning them being adapted to the age and acquirements of the pupils. In this manner, much knowledge of such sciences as Botany, Mineralogy, Geology, Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, and Physiology can be profitably im- parted. No instruction that could possibly be given in a Grammar School can exceed this in value. A list of Grammar School studies must embrace Spelling, Defining, Reading, Composition, and the Elements of Grammar. One year is quite long enough for pupils to spend in the study of Grammar before entering the High School. They can gene- rally learn all of it they can comprehend in that time, and the remaining time usually wasted upon this study can be much better employed in studying the Elements of the Natural Sciences, tis before sug- gested. Geography may be studied from a text-book, and likewise the History of the United States. Instruction in Drawing and Writing must con- tinue in all the grades. Elementary Arithmetic, both Written and Oral, can be completed in the Grammar School. If de- sirable, considerable progress might be made in the 30 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. studies of Elementary Geometry and Elementary Algebra. Better these than Higher Arithmetic. Pupils in Grammar Schools should be taught to sing by note. Vocal Music is very appropriate, both at the opening and the closing of the school. 3. Studies for High Schools. — The principal studies embraced in a High School Course are in- cluded in the following classification: — Language, Inductive Sciences, Deductive Sciences, and His- tory; and the teacher will not make any great mistake if he require his pupils to devote about an equal length of time to each class. In Language, Grammar, Khetoric, Composition, Elocution, and English Literature must be carefully studied ; and if the study of any of the modern or ancient languages be contemplated, and no progress have been previously made in them, it must be now commenced, and pushed forward as far as time and other circumstances will admit. From the many Inductive Sciences, it may be a somewhat difficult task for the High School autho- rities to select such as should be embraced in the High School curriculum. The following branches, however, cannot well be omitted: — Geography, Bo- tany, Zoology, Geology, Astronomy, Natural Phi- losophy, Chemistry, Physiology, and Psychology. The most prominent place among the Deductive Sciences is generally given to Mathematics. Of Mathematical branches, there should be studied in the High School, Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and their various applications. The elements of Logic, Ethics, ^Esthetics, and Political Science, or Metaphysics generally, may be studied SCHOOL-STUDIES. 31 with great profit by those whose minds are suffi- ciently matured. History, as studied in a High School, should con- sist of a Compend of Universal History, together with Detailed Histories of the most noted nations of ancient and modern times. The history of the several sciences and arts should be included in this course. What has now been said in reference to a course of study for High Schools, it is conceived, will apply, with slight modifications, to the courses of study designed for Academies and Seminaries. 4. Studies for Colleges. — ^Language, Inductive Science, Deductive Science, and History, constitute the chief studies of Colleges, as of High Schools and Academies. The relative values of these several classes of studies are differently estimated in dif- ferent institutions; but the application of a true standard would probably reveal the fact that no one class, either on account of the truths it embodies or on account of the discipline it furnishes, can esta- blish any stronger claims upon the pupil's time than the others. Too much time, probably, is now devoted in our colleges to the study of Language, and, it may be, to Mathematics, in proportion to the time devoted to other studies. If students in college can make four recitations daily, I would have them recite once in a branch of study belonging respectively to each of the classes above named. This conclusion is not stated hastily, but only after mature deliberation. Language, as studied in a College, should embrace English Literature, Composition, and Elocution. The classic languages of Greece and Rome should 82 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. be thoroughly mastered. If the student has time, he should add to his other acquirements a knowledge of French and Grerman, or other modern languages. Some investigation into the science of language itself may crown the work of this department. The popular knowledge of the Inductive Sciences which students may have obtained in High Schools and Academies must be made precise and systematic in the College. Students must be taught to look deeper down into nature, and to take broader views of the facts and laws which they witness. It is un- necessary to name particular studies, for all seem equally valuable ; and fresh truths may still be gathered from the great store-house in which they were placed by God himself. The Deductive Sciences start out with universal principles which are revealed by the reason, and are completed by the addition of the new truths which are found contained in these principles, by a process of logical evolution. It is in this field that nearly all the great philosophers have labored, and the results of these labors constitute the proudest monu- ments of the human intellect. In this department, the students in our Colleges should study the Higher Mathematics, Rational Physics, and several branches of Metaphysics, as Rational Psychology, Logic, Ethics, and Esthetics. The course of reading in Histor^^- maybe extended in the College to embrace the History of Science, the History of Art, the History of God's dealings with men, the Bible, and the most difficult of all studies, the Philosophy of History. Professors in a College are supposed to be ac- SCHOOL-HOUSES. 88 quainted with all that is known respecting the branches they teach, and to be able to conduct the student in making original investigations. Teaching in the lower schools must consist, in good measure, in making pupils acquainted with text-books ; but in College they should be taken beyond text-books and made to gather the fruit of knowledge fresh from the garden of nature. V. School -Houses. — It is not within the design of this volume to treat at length of the construction and arrangement of school-houses. To practice teaching successfully requires a suitable place and proper means to carry on the work. It is for this reason that any thing is now said in reference to the subject, and most that will be said will be confined to suggestions in regard to Common School houses in rural districts, where such information is so much needed. The particulars respecting school-houses which require notice are — 1. Size. — The size of a school -house should depend mainly upon the number of pupils it is in- tended to accommodate. A house designed for an ungraded school to be taught by a single teacher should not contain less than nine hundred square feet. Such a house will furnish room for vestibules, closets, platform, &c., and leave suflSlcient to seat about fifty pupils and to hear their recitations. A house built to accommodate from fifty to eighty pupils, and provide them with a recitation-room, should contain not less than fifteen hundred square feet ; and one to accommodate from eighty to one 34 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. hundred and twenty pupils, with two recitation- rooms, should have an area of something like two thousand square feet. 2. Form. — The best form lor school-houses in rural districts is rectangular, the door entering at the south end, and the north end being without windows. The dimensions of the three kinds of school-houses contemplated in the preceding paragraph may be, respectively, the first thirty-eight feet by twenty-five, the second fifty-two feet by thirty, and the third fifty-six feet by thirty-two. The ceiling in all cases must be from twelve to sixteen feet high, as it will add to the beauty of the room and to the health and comfort of its occupants. 3. Internal Arrangements. — All school-houses should possess rooms for hats, bonnets, shawls, over- coats, umbrellas, dinner-baskets, &c. ; recitation- rooms, or convenient spaces for pupils during reci- tation ; a large platform for the teacher, and for use at examinations and exhibitions ; places for book- cases and apparatus-closets; a large surface of blank wall for blackboards ; and seats for all the pupils, with aisles between them for ingress and egress. The diagram on page 35 will indicate better than any description the manner of making provisions for all these desiderata in an ungraded Common School. SCHOOL-HOUSES. 35 w A W n B w E A. Clothes-room for boys, 8 ft. by 9. B. Clothes-room for girls, 8 ft. by 9. \V W W W. Windows. D D D D. Doors. E E. Portico, 6 ft. wide, columns sanded. E F. Platform, 15 in. high, in two risers. L. Passage, 6 ft. wide, lighted by a window placed above the door. S. Heat Register: if a stove is used, it mnst be placed near the centre of the room. X Y X Y. Smoke-flue and ventiduct the Matter in front. G Teacher's desk or table. H H. Cases for books and apparatus. K K K K. Blackboard-surface. I III. Recitation -benches, those back, when not in use, to be placed on the platform, and those in front against the partitions. C C C C. Desks, 4 ft. long, \\ ft. wide, and from 25 to 29 in. high. M M M M. Seats, from 12 in. to 16 in. high. N N N N. Aisles, 1^ ft. wide. 0. Main aisle, 3 ft. wide. Q Q Q Q. Space back of seats, 3 ft. wide. P P. Space front of platform, 3 ft. wide. 86 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. In connection with, the foregoing plan of an un- graded Common School, it may be useful also to present the design of one with a recitation-room at- tached to the school-room and calculated to accom- modate pupils sufficient to employ two teachers. It is not deemed necessary to explain the several parts of this design, as the letters are used in the same way as in the preceding diagram. The re- citation-room is made ten feet wide, and supplied with seats and plenty of blackboard-surface. The book and apparatus cases are placed in the recita- tion-room, as more convenient. One good furnace will heat both rooms. The school-room has been furnished with seats for eighty pupils : by making it somewhat larger, if would seat one hundred and twenty pupils, in which case the recitation-room could be enlarged and divided, and two assistant teachers should be employed, as elsewhere stated. Space is economized by having double desks; but single desks are better than double ones in several respects. Each pupil likes to have his own desk; and he will take more care of it than if he possesses it in partnership witb another. It promotes order, too, by separating the pupils. The aisles between the desks ought, if practicable, to be wider than one and a half feet, as this width will scarcely admit of quick passage between them, and entirely precludes certain gymnastic movements which are quite essential to the health of pupils and ought not to be overlooked. The partitions between the school-room and the clothes-rooms should be made movable. The walls of a school- house should be painted stone-color, or a lightish SCHOOL-HOUSES. w ^/r 37 w Q o o ©ikZ© a Q © © 7^ Q n X w^ Z)- J o w JS o © 38 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. brown ; and clierry or walnut is the best color for scbool-furniture. For plans of larger school-bouses than these, as well as for full details in reference to the subject, the inquirer must resort to some work on School Architecture. 4. Eecitation-Rooms. — The shape generally most convenient for a recitation-room is rectangular; and one in which the work of the recitation is mostly writ- ten out upon blackboards should be about twice as long as wide. Schools requiring several recitation- rooms may appropriate one to the hearing of classes in each study or each class of studies taught in the institution, and adapt the room, its furniture and apparatus, to the end it is intended to subserve. For example, one room might be appropriated to Mathe- matics, and be supplied with tables, blocks, models, diagrams, mathematical instruments, and books for reference ; another, to Geography and History, and be supplied with Tellurians, globes, maps, charts, gazetteers, stereoscopes, pictures, antiquities; an- other, to Natural Science, whose cases should contain a full supply of apparatus, and whose shelves should be filled with choice specimens from every depart- ment of nature ; and still another, to Art, around whose walls should hang specimens of writing and drawing, engravings, paintings, and in whose niches might be placed a few pieces of statuary. A hint is all that is here intended; and school-authorities must make the application for themselves. That something of the kind might be done in every Union School, Academy, or College, does not admit of a doubt, and, if done, there is just as little doubt ot its benefits. A recitation-room, arranged with taste in SCHOOL-HOUSES. 39 the spirit of these suggestions, would of itself he a silent but most effectual teacher, and pleasant asso- ciations would ever cluster about it. 5. The Cellar. — The uses of a school-house cellar are, to keep the floor dry, to store away fuel, and to furnish a suitable place for locating the stove or furnace. The cellar can also be used, when pro- perly lighted and ventilated, as a place for play in unpleasant weather ; and it ought to be constructed with reference to that end. When thus used, the ceiling should not be less than eight feet in height, and extend at least two feet above the surface of the ground. The inside walls should be roughly plas- tered. An entrance must be provided, at some con- venient place, from the school-room to the cellar. 6. Lighting. — Light is necessary to health. Facts show that people who live in well-lighted houses suffer less from disease than those who are sur- rounded by circumstances which either in whole or in part exclude the light. Plenty of light, too, renders a room more cheerful and inviting. The best place, probably, of admitting the light is from the roof by a sky-light. In that case it would be steady, equally distributed about the room, and free from shadow. As such an arrangement is not often practicable, the next best mode of admit- ting light is from rows of windows placed on each side of the school-house. Light coming from behind casts shadows in front, which render the light un- equal, and when it comes towards the eyes it is apt to injure them by its glare. All school-house- windows ought to be provided with shutters, but curtains at least are indispensable. 40 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. 7. Heating. — The common mode in whicli our school-liouses are heated is very objectionable. A stove is generally placed near the centre of the room, and in cold weather those pupils who sit close to it often suffer from the heat, while those who sit at some distance from it as frequently suffer from the cold. The temperature of the several parts of a school -room heated in this manner differs many degrees. The locality of the stove, too, is generally covered with dust and dirt, or cumbered with fuel; and sometimes it becomes the point where the idle gather to put in their time and the mischievous col- lect to carry on their tricks. The noise made in keeping up fires, and the smoke arising from them, are sources of annoyance. To avoid these disagreeable effects, the heating apparatus should be located in the cellar. A small part of the cellar would answer for heater and fuel. Only a small heater would be needed to heat a single room, and such can be had at a price little above that of a large stove; or a stove may be used, if surrounded with a tin casing so as to force all the heat through the register into the room above, in- stead of distributing it about the cellar. If only so much cellar be excavated as to allow space for the location of a heater and for the storing of fuel, en- trance may be had to it from the school-room by means of a trap-door placed where it will be least in the way. Care must be taken that the air which feeds the heater be pure and fresh. Heated air thrown into a room at any point will diffuse itself quite equally throughout the room. If a stove must be placed in the room, it should SCHOOL-HOUSES. 41 be surrounded witli a tin casing made to extend from the floor to about one foot above the top of the stove. There should be a door in the casing for putting in fuel; and a trunk for the conveyance of fresh air should start outside of the building, run under the floor, and communicate directly with the stove. This arrangement will distribute the heat much better about the room, and avoid those cold currents of air which always, in a room heated by an ordinary stove, sweep along the floor from the bottom of doors and windows, and openings in the floor or walls. Large school-buildings are generally kept warm by furnaces which heat the air, or an apparatus which generates steam ; but no description of these can be given here. 8. Ventilation. — All the windows of a school- room should be hung with pulleys, in order that they may be easily raised or lowered. If windows and doors are skilfully used, a tolerably good degree of ventilation can be secured. The ventilation will be much more perfect if the arrangement be adopted which is indicated in the designs representing the internal arrangements of a school-house. In this arrangement, the smoke-flue starts from the cellar and runs out at the roof; and, starting at the floor of the school-room, a ventiduct is carried up in front of it, and separated from it by a sheet-iron partition. In this way the smoke in the flue will heat, and of course expand, the air in the ventiduct, and make it rise in a strong current, while the air in the ventiduct will not interfere with the draft in the flue. The smoke-flue should be about twenty-four 42 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. iiiclies by nine inches, and the ventiduct the same. The stove or furnace may have two pipes, one run- ning to each smoke-flue. The ventiduct should have two registers, one at the ceiling and the other at the floor, though during the school sessions — unless the room be too warm — the upper one should be closed. Impure air is heavier than other air, and will generally flnd egress from near the floor. Nothing can be said in a work like this of the complicated arrangements necessary for ventilating large buildings; and those who want information must seek for it elsewhere. VI. School-Furniture. — Some suggestions are deemed appropriate in respect to school-furniture. They will be made under the following heads. 1. Desks and Seats. — Pupils in a school-room should sit facing the teacher, and all should have assigned them seats and desks adapted to their height, neatly constructed, and so designed as to place the occupants in comfortable positions. The seats may be from twelve inches to sixteen inches in height, and the desks, if intended for two pupils each, may be from twenty-five inches to twenty-nine inches in height, eighteen inches wide, and four feet long; and if for one, two feet long, the other dimensions remaining the same. A desk and seat will occupy a space upon the floor of nearly or quite three feet in length. If seats could be so contrived as to remain firm when placed horizontally to allow the pupil to lean forward easily to write upon his desk, and then could be made to have an inclination backwards when the pupil desires to read or study, SCHOOL-FURNITURE. 43 it would add much to his comfort in sitting, and something, perhaps, to the comeliness of his figure. Both desks and seats should be firmly fastened to the floor. Inkstands should never be set in the desks, because their lids are apt to be left open or broken off, and the desks around them are almost always stained with ink. The teacher will find a table placed near the centre of the platform more convenient than a desk, especially if there be cases for books and apparatus; and these seem indispensable. The teacher's table should not be stationary. Sacks ought to be provided for the recitation-seats, and these seats should generally be movable. A seat might be placed in front of each of the desks next to the platform, and others, attached to these with hinges, might, when needed, make the con- nections across the aisles, and, when not needed, rest upon the top of those in front of the desks. 2. Platform. — A platform a few feet square might be sufficiently large for the teacher's table ; but there are numerous occasions in every school when the pupils are required to recite before spectators, and at such times classes appearto much better advantage on a platform facing the audience. For this reason, the platform should extend the whole width of the school-room, and be at least six feet wide. Its height ought to be about fifteen inches, with two risers. The proper place in ungraded schools for book and apparatus cases is at the ends of the platform. 3. Blackboard. — The blackboard is an indispen- sable article of school-furniture ; as much so as the plough to the farmer, the plane to the carpenter, or 44 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. the scalpel to the surgeon. It can be used to ad- vantage in all recitations in all studies. A blackboard should be placed immediately be- nind the platform and extend its whole length, and elsewhere all around the school-room wherever suit- able blank wall can be taken advantage of. I never heard a good teacher complain that he had more blackboard-surface than he could use. The teacher will want blackboards for his classes while engaged in reciting, and also for others who are preparing to recite. Young pupils can be profitably employed in drawing or writing on blackboards while the teacher is hearing the lessons of older pupils. The blackboard may be five feet wide, and extend to within two feet of the floor. The best kind of blackboards are made of slate. They can be had four or five feet square; but they are too costly for general use. If wood is used, it must be well-seasoned pine or poplar, of fine quality, and the blackboards must be well made and care- fully painted. A cheap and serviceable black-surface for walls may be made by the following recipe : — 4 pecks of white finish, or white coating. 4 pecks of beach or other fine sharp sand. 4 pecks of ground plaster. 4 pounds of lampblack. 4 gallons of alcohol or good whiskey. This quantity will make a mixture sufiicient to cover twenty square yards of surface. A little flour of emery will prevent the mixture from '^set- ting" immediately, thus giving time to put it on the wall with the necessary care. If emery be not used. SCHOOL-FURNITURE. 45 only a small quantity of the mixture can be put on at a time; and this is perhaps, on the whole, the best plan. The wall which is intended to be covered with the black-surface should be plastered like the rest of the room, with the exception that the black mix- ture takes the place of the white coating and is put on in the same manner. After the black-surface is on the wall, it must be carefully dampened and rubbed, in order to fill up all the pores and make the surface hard and smooth. If the old surface be well moistened, a new surface, composed of the same mixture, can be applied. The slate-surface now 'prepared by manufacturers in Philadelphia, IsTew York, Boston, and other places, is in some respects superior to any blackboard-surface known, except the real slate. The Eeport of the Board of Educa- tion of Chicago for 1862 contains the following re- cipe for making blackboard-paint: To make one gallon of the paint, take 10 oz. pulverized pumice stone, 6 oz. pulverized rotten-stone, f lb. of lamp- black, and mix them with alcohol enough to make a thick paste. Grind the mixture very thoroughly in a paint-mill, and then dissolve about 14 oz. of shellac in the remainder of the gallon of alcohol. Stir the whole together, and the paint is ready for use. This paint, if well applied, will make a good surface. A frame should be placed around all blackboards, with a trough at the under side to catch the dust. Hooks should be attached to them on which to hang pointers and rubbers. Prepared chalk and talc are used for blackboard-pencils. 46 THE PREPARATION TOR THE SCHOOL. 4. Miscellaneous Articles op Furniture. — The operations of the school can hardly proceed with the necessary regularity and system without a clock. It is a silent monitor, ever reminding both pupils and teacher that time is passing. The constant lesson it teaches is, "Be ready.'' A little sweet-toned bell, to be used in calling out and dismissing classes, and, now and then, to arrest the attention of those who are disturbing the order of the school, must be found among the articles of school-furniture. If the school-house have no belfry, the teacher must have a large hand-bell to call the pupils from the play-ground. A couple of settees or a few chairs, for visitors, cannot well be dispensed with. Pointers, rubbers, brooms, mats, scrapers, wash- basins, buckets, umbrella-stands, &c. need be no more than named. Vn. School-Apparatus. — It has not always nor everywhere been considered necessary for the school to be furnished with apparatus of any kind. This was a mistake. The teacher can be greatly aided in his work by having at his command appropriate apparatus. The eye seems to be the most open inlet to the mind ; and when a child sees a thing, it is more effectually impressed upon his memory than if it had been described to him many times. Among the articles of apparatus which should be found in all schools are the following: — a set of cards for teaching the Alphabet, Pronunciation, Spelling, and Elementary Reading, with a stand to hang them upon; several sets of Letter-Blocks, SCHOOL-APPARATUS. 47 and a chart of Elementary Sounds ; "Writing-Cliarts; cards for Drawing, both large and small, to suit classes or individuals, and a set of objects for Drawing; a N'umeral Frame, and sets of Square and Cube Eoot Blocks ; a Globe, a set of Outline Maps, and a Tellurian ; charts of History ; a case of min- erals and curiosities, a large collection of objects for Object Lessons, some pictures and engravings intended for the same purpose ; a Thermometer ; a Dictionary, a Gazetteer, and a few other well-selected books for reference in the several studies. All these articles of apparatus can be obtained or made with- out much difficulty or expense. Ko Common School should be without them. High Schools, Academies, and Colleges should be well provided with Philosophical apparatus, and be made rich in cabinets, libraries, collections of maps and charts ; and even paintings and statuary are not out of place. School-apparatus, if well cared for, will last a long- time; but if roughly handled, it may be destroyed almost as soon as procured. To keep it safe, it must be used carefully and skilfully, and, when not in use, every article should have its place in the proper case or closet, where close doors, well locked, will keep dust, insects, and rude hands away from it. In our Common Schools the teacher should be held responsible for the safe-keeping of the school- apparatus, as well as for the taking care of the school-grounds, school-house, and school-furniture. The defacement and destruction of school-property by the hands of pupils will not occur under the superintendence of a well-qualified teacher; and one 48 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. who neglects Ms duty in this respect should be held to a strict account by his employers. For me, it is a sad sight to see the enclosure of a school-ground broken down, the grounds themselves filled with rubbish, the walls of the school-house, both inside and outside, covered with uncouth figures, the doors and furniture cut almost to pieces by generation after generation of ruthless whittlers, the apparatus lost or out of order; and in seeing such sights I have almost ceased to wonder at the hesitation of School-Directors and School-Committees to improve the school-property. It is for teachers to apply the remedy. In rural districts, when the school is not in ses- sion, the apparatus should be removed to some private dwelling where it will be cared for, and the house itself should be placed in charge of the nearest neighbor who will guard the property from abuse. Vlll. School-Records. — In discussing the subject of School-Eecords, it will be convenient to speak — 1. Of the Forms of School-Records. 2. Of the Objects of School-Records. 1. The Forms of School -Records. — School-re- cords, to be most useful, must be adapted to difterent kinds of schools, and to schools under different cir- cumstances; and for this reason I have doubted whether it was best to present any forms of them in this book. The importance of the subject to teachers and school-officers decided the question in the affirmative; and it is hoped the forms pre- SCHOOL-RECORDS. 49 sented will be valuable to some for what they are, and to others for what they suggest. I do not see how the work of registration can be simplified and made complete in any school without using the whole set, or others which answer the same ends. Four forms will be presented, — viz. : A Register of Admission and Withdrawal, a Ebgister of At- tendance AND Deportment, a Class Register, and A Summary Register. Of course, any of the forms can be dispensed with if it is desirable, or a blank book can be readily ruled for the forms "A*' and ^^D." Books for the forms "B" and " C" should be printed, as they require considerable ruling, &c. The form of Register on page 50 explains itself. It may not always be necessary to make a record of all the items indicated in it, and, if not, any of them can be omitted. Such a Register will be more convenient if accompanied with an Alphabetical Index. The Index can be made by numbering the names in the Register, 1, 2, 3, &c., and attaching the same numbers to the names arranged alphabetically. The names in the Register on page 61 constitute the roll of the school which should be called imme- diately after the opening exercises in the morning, and again just before dismissing in the afternoon. All pupils answering to their names at the morning roll-call may be marked /, those answering to their names at the evening roll-call may be marked \, and those present at both roll-calls A- Any one who is absent at the calling of the roll in the morning should have a . placed opposite his name, which, if he be present in the evening, and be able to give a satisfactory explanation of his tardiness, .50 THE PKEPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. o o a o m O ^ 1 II o ti 1^ III 14 i 1 ■Si 1 SCHOOL-RECORDS. 61 j— 1 1 1 > g 1 _ w 1 _i 1 1 > H3 1 1 1 w ] 1 1 1 > ^ L_ tt > -g 1 t) f 1 > hd ~~ _ i_ w — — ~ 1 > g <; 1 o 1 >■ •^ 1 o 1 > :^ 1 1 w 1 — — 1 >• g « >■ t^ 1 « -, — ~ — "~ — r [_ > g 1 1 « i > H 1 1 1 ® 1 1 > ^ 1 1 ^ 1 1 1 1 >■ g 1 1 1 1 » j 1 1 1 1 ^ >^ 1 1 1 1 L_ 1 1 •=* j — 1 — j — — r" j — r 1 1 1 1 ^ g j— 1 1 1 1 1 [- 1 ^ 1 1 1 1 ^ H 1 1 r 1 1 ^ j — — 1 i~ j~~ 1 1 > :^ l- 1 1 [- - - 1 ^ r 1 1 ^ !- L 1 1 1 ^ 1 1 r 1 >■ t=?J 1 1 \.. 1 1 1 « r > 1 1 w fe t8 A, I' g W o w Q w W hd O w 62 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. the teacher can change into a figure denoting his partial presence. If no such explanation be given, the teacher must, in addition, express the fact by giving him a low mark in the deportment column. If the pupil be absent altogether, he should receive a in the attendance column, and the space oppo- site his name in the deportment column be left blank, until it is seen whether he will bring a satis- factory excuse for his absence; when, if so, he should receive the same number as if present, and if not, a 0. The deportment should be marked at the evening roll-call. When several teachers are engaged in the same school, it is their duty to report promptly to the Principal all improper conduct which they may have noticed, in order that it may be noted at the proper time in the Register. Ha- bitual tardiness, repeated truancy, and incorrigible bad conduct, should be punished by dismission from school. The most convenient scale of marks which I have been able to find is the following: — 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, meaning, respectively, very good, good, middling, rather bad, bad, and very bad; or, as applied to attendance and study, the last three degrees should read, rather poor, poor, and very poor. By very good attendance, very good deportment, and very good study, a pupil should receive the number 5 for each, daily; which, for a week, would be 25 for each, and for a month, 100 for each. This is the highest number attain- able. As regards attendance, tardiness, whether excused or not, necessitates a deduction from the full number accorded to punctual presence ; and no credit can be given, in the attendance column, for SCHOOL-KECORDS. 63 absence, no matter from what cause it occurs. As regards deportment, unexcused tardiness should be marked as low as 2 or 3, unexcused absence can right- fully claim nothing more than a 0, and all other conduct and deportment must be estimated fairly by the teacher and marked accordingly. The sum of the numbers attained by each pupil for the month is designed to be placed in the last column of the Register of Attendance and Deportment, for easy transfer to the Summary Register. The Class-Register is designed to record the names of the pupils in the several classes of a school, and to mark the degrees of excellence in their recita- tions. As many Class-Registers will be needed as there are teachers in a school. The same figures are used as in the Register of Attendance and Deport- ment, and with the same significance. The space opposite the name of a pupil who is absent from any cause is left blank, as the question of the absence itself is to be settled under the head of deportment ; and all others are to be carefully marked according to the knowledge of the lesson which they evince. The sum of the numbers received for all the days of a week will give the number for that week, and the sum of the numbers received for four weeks will give the number for a month. The highest number for a month, as in attendance and deport- ment, is 100. In the column designated Relative Standing^ it is in- tended to mark the members of the class, first^ second^ thirds fourth^ ffth^ &c., according to their relative scholarship. The column headed Marks of Transfer is designed 64 THE PEEPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. JO s^iai^K JOJ -SOM •iiaaAV 911% JOJ -SOX Pm g : ^ H S JOJ -so^i f^ g ^ ^ 1 H >^" s •1108AV aqj JOJ -so^ ^ g ^ H S 'Sj •5[98AV Oq:j JOJ -soxE ^ ^ B ^ &H ^ ^ SCHOOL-EECORDS. 55 to aid tlie school-authorities, especially when the schools are graded, in making promotions from a lower class to a higher one, or from one grade to another. If, in the opinion of the teacher of a class, a pupil should remain where he is, the space in this column opposite his name should remain a blank; but if he thinks he should be advanced, he fills it with a +j or if placed in a lower class, with a — . At the end of every month, the teacher should add together the numbers each pupil has received in his different studies, and divide their sum by the number of studies: the quotient will be his general number for study ^ which should be transferred to the Summary Register. Where several teachers are engaged in the same school, each teacher monthly should arrange the members of his several classes alphabetically, place opposite each name the proper number, so far as attainable from the data in his possession, and hand his report to the Principal, to be modified by the reports of the other teachers and then transferred to the Summary Register. In this Register the names of the pupils ought to be arranged alphabetically. The Summary Register itself, when carefully filled up, will be a synopsis of all that is done in the school. The numbers for the term are obtained by adding together the several numbers for the differ- ent months contained in it. He who has the high- est number for attendance will stand first in this respect; and so in regard to deportment and study. 2. The Objects of School-Records. — Some of the objects of school-records might be inferred from 7 56 PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. §1 m ft < m ft : < 4 DQ P < ^4 CQ ^ P < ^ 4 ^1 m P <^ ^1 ii CO P 1 '^^ < i fed m P ^ •^ < 4 m ^ P <1 SCHOOL-RECORDS. 67 the forms already presented ; but it will be proper to make a more dejB.nite statement of tliem. To aid the Teacher in his Work. — The great economist of time and labor is system. A loose organization is never an effective one, in a factory, in an army, or in a school. With such a set of school-records as has just been described, the little trouble it takes to keep them will be ten times more than compen- sated for l:^y the increased efficiency of the school, and the pleasure that arises from contemplating the results of nicely adjusted machinery. Without them, the teacher's rewards and punishments, praises and rebukes, promotions and degradations, must necessarily be ofttimes inconsiderately made. He will have no substantial foundation upon which to base his administration of the affairs of the school. To give Information to Parents and School-Officers, — The Registers, if carefully kept, will contain an abstract of the history of the school, and of each pupil in it. It can there be learned when every pupil entered school, how long he continued his attendance, and why he withdrew ; how many days he was absent or tardy, how well he conducted him- self, what branches he studied, and what progress he made in them ; and these and other things recorded in the Registers are just the information parents and school-officers desire most to obtain. Besides, the Registers furnish the means of com- paring one school with another, in the same district, and the schools of one year with those of preceding years. To furnish Educational Statistics. — Our educational statistics are extremely unreliable, and inferences 63 THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL. based upon them are, therefore, apt to be fallacious. This arises from imperfect school-records or an imperfect manner of keeping them. Our State au- thorities whose duty it is to make school-laws and administer them need accurate information con- cerning the condition of the schools ; and to furnish such information is one of the objects of school- records. They ought to furnish particularly, every year, the whole number of children of school-age in each school-district, the whole number that attended each school, the average number that attended each school, the expense per scholar, the number of grades into which the schools are divided and the number of pupils in each grade, and what branches are studied in each school and each grade ; and, although all of these statistics cannot be gathered wholly from the school-records, they cannot be ob- tained without these records. Questions relating to the higher interests of edu- cation, too, can only be determined at last by a resort to the unequivocal truths unfolded by sta- tistics : I mean questions concerning the relations of education to the value of property, to labor, to crime, to government, and to religion. The simple facts recorded by careful teachers may one day solve the great problem of human civilization. To exert a beneficial Influence upon the Pupils. — I speak from a large experience when I say that school-records judiciously used are among the most potent means open to the teacher of securing re- gular attendance, correct deportment, and attention to study among the pupils in a school. Many do not regard a rebuke that passes away with the SCHOOL-RECOEDS. 59 utterance of it, or a pnnisliment that will be soon forgotten, who will be averse to seeing their dere- lictions of duty placed permanently upon a record. In the system of school-records previously explained, it will be observed that care is taken to sum up the numbers obtained by each pupil for each week, each month, and each term, that every pupil may observe what kind of a history of himself there is being recorded. The teacher will do well sometimes to read the numbers for a month, or the relative stand- ing of the members in a class ; or he may send abstracts of each pupil's record in attendance, de- portment, scholarship, and average standing, to his parents. While school-records may exert all the beneficial influence upon the pupils in a school that is claimed in the preceding paragraphs, an injudicious teacher may do his school more harm than good by using them in the way suggested ; and even in the hands of one who is most careful, there is danger that the nobler motives to study, such as the love of truth and the conviction of duty, will be subordinated to a desire for honor, or be lost sight of in the struggle for success. If properly used, however, school- records will always prove a valuable auxiliary in the management of a school. 9* CHAPTER n. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. The organization of the scliool is tlie part of school-economy which treats of the adjustment of the school-machinery, the assignment of positions and duties to pupils, and the adoption of regulations necessary to control the school-operations. A good school-organization enables the teacher to do the greatest amount of work in the least amount of time, and to do it most efficiently; it makes the govern- ment of the school more easy and more effectual ; and it places pupils in circumstances most favorable to their advancement in learning. In the discussion that is to follow, chief reference will be had to the organization of Common un- graded schools ; but, as occasion offers, hints will be given as to the manner of organizing other kinds of schools. The subject can be more conveniently treated of in two sections, as follows : — I. The Temporary Organization of the School. II. The Permanent Organization of the School. I. The Temporary Organization of the School. — The most skilful teacher, in taking charge of a new school, will be unable to foresee all the circum- stances that may tend to modify the arrangements 60 THE TEMPORARY ORGANIZATIOISr. 61 which ought to be made for its w ell- working ; and this creates a necessity of a temporary organization, to last until experience furnishes data for making it permanent. As the success of such an organiza- tion will depend upon the principles involved in its formation, some suggestions respecting them are deemed appropriate. It is important to make a good beginning in teach- ing. If the teacher exhibit want of skill the first day in school, it may create a prejudice against him in the minds of his pupils that cannot for a long time be removed. A teacher can hardly be placed in a more awkward position than to have many in- quisitive, sharp-eyed children gazing at him, and not know what to do with them. Many children are good judges of character. Their quick instincts soon inform them whether their teachers possess the necessary qualifications for their position. They hasten to school the first day, watch eagerly every word and motion of the new teacher, form an esti- mate of his character and ability, and hurry home to relate their impressions of him. They are good critics, too ; and that teacher will be fortunate with respect to whom, on this first day of school, their criticisms are favorable. System in any kind of business is necessary to success. A captain could not command a vessel, a superintendent manage a factory, or a general marshal an army, without a systematic plan of operations. The same truth applies to the organi- zation of a school. Teachers have commenced the work of teaching w^ithout knowing what to do or how to do it; but, although practice made some 62 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. skilful, it was always at the expense of the best interests of their pupils, while others met with such poor success, and were so conscious of it, that they took the earliest opportunity to escape from a posi- tion which, with more preparation, they might have adorned. It is generally a good plan for a teacher to visit a neighborhood in which he is unacquainted before taking charge of a school in it. 'No necessity will exist for visiting all the patrons of the school, as the most essential information can be had from such school-officers as may live in the district, or from those citizens who take the deepest interest in the school. The information most necessary to the teacher in organizing his school will relate — First, to the views of the neighborhood respecting schools. — The people of different neighborhoods differ in their views of education and the methods of obtaining it, as they do with respect to other things ; and, whether these views be enlightened and liberal or otherwise, it is very important that the teacher should be acquainted with them. It is not meant that a teacher should always conform to the wishes of his patrons in adjusting the affairs of his school, for by pursuing a different course he can frequently convince them of their error; but he should always treat these views with becoming deference, and to do so he must know what they are. Young teachers often lose much by their injudicious disregard of public opinion. Eeforms in school affairs, as well as in all else, can only become per- manently established by being made gradually. THE TBMPOKARY ORGANIZATION. 63 Second, to the methods of managing the school and im- parting instruction pursued, by his predecessor, — Not that these should be closely imitated on the one hand, or severely criticized on the other; but the teacher should acquaint himself with them as thoroughly as his opportunities will permit, for the purpose of making a safe connection between the instruction the pupils have received and that which he intends to impart to them, and to avoid a violent transition from one mode of governing to another. This in- formation can perhaps be better obtained from some intelligent friend of education in the neighborhood than from any other source, though many facts can be gathered from the pupils. A conversation with his predecessor would enable a teacher to learn much, both with respect to the school and its patrons. The great object of the teacher's first day's work in school is to make a favorable impression upon the pupils by winning their confidence and respect. To this end, the teacher should be at the school- house early the first morning. J?he house itself should be pleasantly arranged, and the teacher should await the new-comers. Busy hands in cot- tage, farm-house, and mansion, soon make ready the children of the neighborhood, and, almost with- out breakfast, they hurry away to school, for the news has spread that they are to have a new teacher. They come ! The teacher need have no fear for the first comers ; they will give him little trouble. But by ones, twos, and threes the children flock towards the school, and among them it is not difiicultto point out some who are rude and rough ; others, polished 64 THE OEGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. and polite ; some, gay and lively; others, sliy and re- served; some, bold and mischievous; others, modest and respectful : — in short, the teacher has about him a miniature world. He will act wisely if he meet them as they come, talk with them, ask their opinions respecting the arrangement of the furniture, and inquire of them concerning the previous manage- ment of the school. Dr. Franklin said, ''It is a good way to make your enemy your friend to ask him to do you a favor." The teacher will find that even bad boys, bent upon mischief, will be made better by consulting them or asking their help. Besides, something may be done in this way to awaken a feeling of school-patriotism. If parents come to the school with their children, they should be welcomed and consulted. It may be well to state to some of the pupils in- formally at what time school will open : they will spread the information ; and precisely at the hour named, order may be readily secured by ringing a small bell. The pupils will be likely to take the seats they formerly occupied ; near friends will seat themselves together; or, if the desks are of diiferent heights, they may arrange themselves somewhat according to size or age. The selection of seats will have been generally made before the opening of the school. The teacher may watch the choosers, and learn the reasons for their choices; but he should not authoritatively interfere. K asked, he may point out suitable seats, but should make no permanent arrangements. As soon as the pupils have taken their seats, a teacher who understands the nature of his work THE TEMPORARY ORGANIZATION". 65 will commence tlie organization of the school, knowing what to do and how to do it. No position, however, can be more embarrassing to one who has made no preparation for teaching, who has provided no plan of operations, than to have a houseful of children before him, looking at him, criticizing every movement he makes, and not know how to proceed with his work. What seems most necessary to be done first, is to make some needful general regula- tions. This course is best, because it will be calcu- lated to prevent the formation of bad habits which subsequent effort may not easily correct, and also habituate the pupils at the start to conform to a system. Loose arrangement in the beginning will eventually prove a fruitful source of trouble. The regulations thus instituted should be tern- jporary^ and the pupils should so understand them. Many of them, doubtless, will become permanent, — the more of them the better; but, since some of them may be changed, it is the best policy to consider all of them as in force only for the present. Frequent changes in laws beget a want of confidence in the lawmaker; and school-regulations are not an excep- tion to the general rule. I do not know which plan would be productive of the most evil, — to adopt at first a permanent set of rules for the management of the school, or to allow the pupils to do as they please without any rules at all ; but I am certain that both will prove, in a very large majority of cases, un- satisfactory. Of course, this does not apply to schools whose objects are fixed, or w^hose teachers do not change. 66 THE ORaANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. The most important of these regulations will con- cern — 1. The Seating. — It will often be well for the teacher to state that the pupils may occupy the seats they have chosen, or which have been assigned to them, for the present, but that they are not yet theirs permanently, and, if good order requires it, changes will be made. It may be well for him to remark, further, that in some schools pupils desire to sit near together for the purpose of talking or play- ing, and that, though he hopes such may not be the case with them, he thinks it best to be prepared to protect those who wish to study from disturbance by making arrangements, without seeming to trespass upon the rights of any, to prevent it. 2. The Times of Opening and Closing the School.— ^his information is necessary both to the pupils and their parents. Punctuality can be best secured by being exact in the beginning. 3. The Hours of Recesses or Intermissions. — These will depend upon the circumstances of the school ; but some hours should be temporarily fixed upon at once. They can be easily changed if it become necessary. 4. Leaving Seats and asking Questions of the Teacher. — The best temporary arrangement, pro- bably, that can be made in these respects, is to require every one who wishes to leave his seat or ask a question of his teacher to hold up his hand, and the teacher, noticing it, will grant or withhold liberty to do so, as he deems best. 5. "Whispering. — Whispering is a very difficult thing to control, either under a temporary or a per- THE TEMPOEARY ORGANIZATION. 67 manent scliool-organization. The practice I recom- mend is for the teacher to say to the pupils that the school-room must be still in order to study and recite well, that low talking is apt to become loud, and that those who talk much will most likely waste time by it ; but for him then to add that, since it happens sometimes that one pupil may have a proper communication to make to another, or a proper question to ask him, the privilege of whispering will be allowed, provided it be done in such a way as to disturb no one. Such a regulation will be satisfac- tory to pupils, and no opposition will be manifested to the additional provision that, in case whispering become a source of disturbance in the school, it will be prohibited. This plan will enable the teacher when he comes to prohibit whispering entirely — and this will be found in most schools to be the best policy — to throw the responsibility upon the pupils, where it justly belongs, instead of seeming to act in an arbitrary manner. I know no better plan than this ; and some plan should be adopted the first day. 6. General Deportment. — A detailed system of school-rules enforced the first day will not affect pupils favorably. They may not be well adapted to the circumstances of the school, and thus may seem to imply a want of skill on the part of the teacher, and the pupils, unable to appreciate their necessity, will consider them arbitrary. The most effective rules relating to deportment are those which are forced upon the teacher by the circumstances of the school and in full view of the pupils. Such rules can be justified by what has happened, not by what might happen On the first day, therefore, I recommend 68 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. the making of but one rule in reference to deport- ment, — ''Do right,'' This rule embraces all cases, and the appeal for its justice is made directly to con- science. 7. Work. — It will be well to assign work at once, more for the sake of giving the pupils something to do, than for the sake of what will be done by them. In graded schools, when teachers know what studies are to be pursued, and where the lessons are to be commenced,' no delay for the purpose of ascertain- ing these things will be necessary ; but it will fre- quently happen that a teacher cannot know how to form his classes, what branches are to be studied, nor at w^hat points the several studies should be commenced, without special inquiry and examina- tion. Such inquiries and examinations require some time ; and, while the teacher is engaged with them, how are the pupils to be employed ? Miscellaneous lessons, which are reviews of what they have pre- viously studied or which furnish good tests of their present knowledge, may be assigned ; but perhaps it is just as well to ask all to prepare the next lessons in their several studies to those they pre- viously studied when last at school. All these arrangements need require but a few moments of time ; and while the pupils commence their work, knowing what is expected of them, the teacher can take pencil and paper, and pass around among them, taking down their names, ascertaining whether they have complied with the conditions of admission, and, if so, the kind of books they have, the branches they have pursued in the past, and those they desire to engage in at the present. This done, a short THE TEMPORARY ORGANIZATION. 69 time will suffice to make a temporaiy arrangement of classes, and to commence recitations. The even- ing of his first day in school the teacher can most profitably spend in registering the names of his pupils, and adapting his regulations to the circum- stances of his school as" ascertained from the expe- rience of the day. The pupils must recite the first day more in groups than in classes ; and the recitations must be general in their character, and conducted in reference to the end of obtaining exact information in regard to the attainments the pupils have made in the several branches they have previously studied. Several days must sometimes be spent in these experimental recitations or examinations, before the teacher can bring order out of the confusion, by forming classes and commencing the new instruction at the point where the knowledge of his pupils ends. In managing the school and conducting the recita- tions under his temporary organization, the teacher will need to call into requisition all his tact and talent. Many can keep machinery in operation which they could not contrive ; and young teachers will find it more difficult to organize a school than to manage it when organized. Several days, and m some cases a week, may be allowed to elapse before the teacher should venture to give his pupils per- manent seats, make permanent regulations for the school, or arrange a permanent programme of study and recitation. Some approach, however, may be made daily to this desirable end. 70 THE ORaANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. II. The Permanent Organization of the School. — 1^0 organization of a scliooi, however well con- sidered, can be permanent in tlie common accepta- tion of the word. A teacher can never foresee all the elements which should enter into the calculation in the arrangement of his plans. The word permanent^ then, as used here, must not be understood to mean unalterably fixed, but only that degree of perma- nency possible under the circumstances. As no professional skill can devise plans that will be adapted to all kinds and grades of schools, what is intended to be said will have reference to the leading principles which must be observed in per- manently organizing a school ; and each teacher is expected to possess the ingenuity necessary to apply them so as to meet the peculiar requirements of the state of things by which he is surrounded. In organizing a school permanently, the teacher must make — 1. General Provisions in Eegard to Study. 2. General Provisions in Eegard to Order. 1. Provisions relating to Study. — Provisions relating to study must be made with reference to the following circumstances : — 1st. The Branches to be taught in the School. 2d. The Branches to be studied by each Pupil. 3d. The Text-Books to be used. 4th. The Formation of the Pupils into Classes. 5th. The Distribution of the Classes among the Teachers. 6th. The Arrangement of Times for Study and Peci- iation. THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 71 1st. The Branches to he taught in the School. — In a pre- ceding section, some remarks were made with respect to a general course of study for schools; here it is proposed to make some suggestions concerning the selection of branches of learning to be taught in a particular school. In making such a selection, the teacher must regard the object of the school, its grade, the requirements of school-officers, and his own time and ability. If the object of the school be a special one, its course of study must be arranged with reference to a special end. Some schools aim to prepare pupils for higher schools, and others have in view prepara- tion for a particular kind of business : all such must so direct the studies of their pupils as to secure most effectually their special object. If a general educa- tion is contemplated, such an arrangement of studies must be made as will be best calculated to attain it. A general education has four objects: to obtain truth, to promote discipline, to elevate ideals, and to impart skill. Truth is desirable for its own sake ; and education strengthens the body and the mind, expands our aspirations, and renders men more fit to perform the work of life. All of these objects must be considered in arranging a course of study ; and, when well understood, there is no antagonism in the efforts necessary to be made for their attainment. A teacher may be making his pupils active business- men and good citizens at the same time that he is enriching their minds with stores of the noblest truth, holding up for their contemplation the purest ideals of perfection, and enlarging their powers by free, strength-giving exercise. With these objects il THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. in view, the teacher must select such studies, subject to other conditions, as will be best calculated to promote them. "What it is thought these should be under the most favorable circumstances, has already been stated; what they must be under particular circumstances, can only be left to the teacher's judg- ment. In an ungraded school, the course of study is completed within itself; but in a system of graded schools, each school or grade has its particular stu- dies, the general course of study extending through all the grades of the system. The studies of a par- ticular school in such a system, depending upon its grade, can only be determined in connection with the studies of the other schools of the system of which it is a part. Sometimes school-officers. Directors or Control- lers, assume the duty of arranging courses of study for the schools under their charge; but, if so, they must do it subject to the general principles already indicated for the guidance of the teacher. Such arrangements are binding upon teachers who remain in the employ of those who make them It is not to be expected that a teacher can find time, or that he will possess the ability, to teach every thing; and this may have something to do in fixing upon the studies for a school. It is the teacher's duty to spend his school-time most profitably for the whole school. If he has a large school and devotes much time to a few pupils who are engaged in the study of some special branch of learning, he may do injustice to other members of the school. It is not meant by this that he ought not to devote more time THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 73 to pupils in the higher classes than to those in the lower classes, for he may do this without encroach- ing upon the rights of any, since the members of the lower classes will soon enter the higher ones ; but it is meant that the teacher's time during school- hours is not his own, and each pupil is entitled to a proper share of attention; and no studies should be introduced into a school that will necessitate a violation of this principle. It seems scarcely worth while to add that a teacher ought not to undertake to teach to others what he does not know himself. By hard study a teacher may prepare lessons in advance of a class; but the experiment is a dan- gerous one. 2d. The Branches to be studied by each Pupil — Two modes of fixing the number and kind of studies to be pursued by each pupil in a school are practised in institutions of learning. By the first, a general course and a general order of studies are prearranged, each pupil is examined upon entering, and such stu- dies are assigned him as it is deemed best he should acquaint himself with in the beginning, and such an order is followed in his course as his progress may justify. By the second, the course and order of studies are determined by the teacher's judgment formed from the circumstances that surround him, the interests of the school, the wishes of parents, and the tastes or talents of pupils. These modes differ in this : in the former, the controlling con- sideration is the nature of the branches to be taught, and the general ends of study ; while in the latter, more influence is allowed to particular circum- stances. When pupils enjoy the liberty of either 74 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. attending a school or not, the scliool-autliorities have an undoubted right to adopt a course of study and compel all members of the school to pursue it ; and this plan is more systematic, and probably, on the whole, in institutions designed to impart a gene- ral education, is productive of more good than any other. 'No complete gradation of schools or arrange- ment of classes would be possible without it. Many schools have been crippled in their working by an effort to conform to individual wants. Still, the particular interests of a school, the wishes of parents, and the tastes or talents of pupils, cannot be wholly overlooked; and the question becomes an important one as to the influence which ought to be allowed to them. It can easily be conceived that a school with a fixed course of study may find that its interest de- mands at times a departure from it. It may be done to take advantage of some unforeseen circumstance or to accomplish some special end, to accommodate the course of study to the length of time pupils can attend school, or to the nature or amount of their home-work; but in so doing the teacher must be careful that the school as a whole suff'ers no detriment. Parents have a deep interest in their children, and some deference should be paid to their wishes re- specting the branches of study which they are made to pursue. A school should remove children as little as possible from the influences of home, and, as school-authorities derive all their powers primarily from parents, their wishes should never be disregarded unless the general good demands it. No parent, however, can reasonably expect that hia THE PEEMANENT OEGANIZATION. 70 child should receive more than a just proportion of the teacher's attention, or that the general interest of the school should be sacrificed to secure for him some special favor. If a parent insist that his child should study some branch of learning for which he is found not to be prepared, his demand ought to be kindly but firmly refused ; but if he is prepared, and the general good of the school suff*er no detri- ment from it, the parent's wish should be complied with, though the teacher may think some other branch more suitable. Tastes in regard to particular studies are often the effect of habit. Most pupils may be brought to like any branch of learning; and there are branches upon the study of which it is worth while for the teacher to insist, even against his pupil's antipathies. But pupils study more devotedly, make better pro- gress, are more contented, when engaged in learning those branches for which they have a taste. Talents are not alike in kind or quality as exhibited by the human family. All persons cannot succeed in all things equally well; and it is right that each should have a chance to succeed in that in which he may succeed the best. The teacher may, therefore, when the general good of the school permits it, allow in- dividual pupils to exercise their peculiar tastes in the selection of studies, or to use their peculiar talents in the acquirement of some special science or art. Not that he can heed every individual whim with regard to study ; but he may watch the deve- lopment of real tastes and real talents for particular lines of pursuit, and give them such encouragement as circumstances permit. In the economy of mind, 76 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. something is lost to the world by a fixed routine of study. In arranging studies for individuals, care must be taken to &k upon a proper number. It is easy to induce pupils to undertake too much, and it engen- ders bad habits to allow them to undertake too little. They should engage in the study of just as many branches as they can study well, and no more. Pupils now generally engage in too many studies at a time. It not unfrequently happens that pupils have on hand ten or fifteen branches in which they are required to recite daily lessons. This practice defeats the end of study, and should be everywhere abandoned. It does not seem best to confine a pupil to one kind of studies. A proper variety imparts more general culture, and gives more zest to study. The mind, too, becomes less easily fatigued when it can change from one study to another than if it is engaged all the time in the same kind of work, as weights can be carried farthest by changing hands. Not only is it important to assign proper studies to each pupil, but to select for him the right place to commence his work. In finding this, the teacher should carefully inquire as to what knowledge the pupil already possesses concerning the subject, and begin his instruction where that knowledge ends. No one can ever thoroughly master a subject who does not first study its elements, and afterwards ascend to its more difiicult principles. 3d. The Text-Books to be used. — Text-books are used in all kinds of schools, and some arrangement must be made respecting them before classification THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 77 can take place or recitations commence. Some sug gestions will be made with respect to the use of text- books, directions for selecting them, and the import- ance of their being uniform in the same schooL Text-books cannot well be dispensed with. They aid both the teacher and pupil. It is freely ad- mitted, however, that a school might be taught without the use of text-books. Teachers in ancient times taught almost altogether by conversations and lectures ; but this mode of teaching was, before the invention of the art of printing, in great part a matter of necessity. At the present day, in our higher institutions of learning, lectures are delivered to the several classes ; but in such institutions stu- dents are expected to understand the subject-mattei of the text-books and to be prepared for original investigations. It is admitted, likewise, that know- ledge communicated from the lips of a living teacher has a freshness and a vitality that no dead text-book can give it. But, while all this is true, it is still maintained that good text-books may be used with great advantage to a school. They present the ob- j ect-matter of a branch of knowledge in a proper form for study. If no text-books are used, the teacher must communicate orally all the facts and prin- ciples of a subject, and afterwards the pupils must write them out, study and recite them ; and in doing this some discipline may be gained, but much time is lost. The worst result I have known arise from it is, the misconceptions to which pupils are liable from the necessary rapidity of oral expression. An exception must be made in favor of young pupils : with them oral instruction is much more eftective 78 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL, than tlie more formal mode witli text-books. Still, even in their case text-books cannot be wholly dis- pensed with. If the object-matter of a study be furnished in a text-book, pupils can carefully pre- pare it, and the time of the recitation can be occu- pied in reciting what they know, and in hearing what additional matter the teacher may have to pre- sent. A well- written text-book has the subject of which it treats arranged in a proper order; and this is a very important consideration in teaching. Some teachers who dispense with a text-book merely pre- sent a mass of fragments, a rude conglomeration of facts and principles. It is better to have a bad system in teaching than no system at all, — better, even, to have the questions put and answered in the language of the text-book, bad as that is, than to have the memory clogged with disconnected frag- ments of knowledge without language to make it known or power to use it for the accomplishment of any important practical end. Text-books, how- ever, must be used, not abused. A teacher should know all that is contained in the text-book, and more. While he may exact a close study of it, re- quiring his pupils to commit its definitions and rules, he should merely make it serve the purpose of a text to his own instruction, and be able at any time to lay it down and proceed with the recitation without it. In this manner the object-matter of a study can be concisely and systematically presented; the pupil may have before him, for careful investi- gation, correct definitions, well-expressed rules, exact arguments, apt illustrations, and appropriate exam- ples, and the teacher can have a text for such fur- THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 79 ther comment as lie may deem necessary. These advantages are as ejffectually lost without the use of a text-book as by a slavish dependence upon one. Some directions may aid in the selection of text- books. A text-book should exhaust the subject of which it treats, or present a complete outline of it from the point of view from which it is considered. Not that any one book can contain all that is known concerning a branch of knowledge ; but, without at- tempting this, a text-book may present all its leading facts and principles arranged into a system. A book of science may be a statement of facts, an enume- ration of experiments, a series of speculations, an exposition of theories ; but a text-book is unlike such a work, and contains a systematic arrangement of the known definitions, axioms, facts, and truths of a science, with such a number of examples as may be deemed necessary to impress them upon the mind of the learner. Ifo man can write a good text-book upon a subject until he has looked all through it and about it and has a clear knowledge of the whole. A text-book is rather the history of a science than an exposition of a science. Writers of text-books should leave much for the teacher to add and for the pupil to find out. They should present an exhaustive series of texts, and leave the details to be mainly supplied by teachers and books of reference. Our text-books have converted a large number of teachers into mere machines ; and it is time it was understood that they are not in- tended to relieve teachers from the trouble of think- ing. When a branch of study is treated of in a series of books, what is here said applies to the 9 80 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. whole series, and not to any one of tlie books of which the series is composed. Text-books ought to present a logical arrange- ment of the several divisions of the subject upon which they treat. This truth has already been stated, but its importance demands a stronger pre- sentation of it. Some of our popular text-books are very much at fault in their arrangement. Their authors seem to have thrown the different parts to- gether disjointed and disconnected, and filled up the hiterstices with such loose details as first presented themselves. A proper arrangement would furnish a reason for the place of each division, chapter, sec- tion, and paragraph. A text-book, in fact, ought to be a rigid piece of practical logic. Text-books should be interesting in matter. The authors of text-books should incorporate into them the most important principles, the most suggestive facts, the most striking phenomena, that belong to the subject written upon. They should have in mind before them the class of pupils for whom they are writing, and write as they would talk to them. With the whole material of the subject before them, they should select only that which is most valuable and most interesting. Ifo temptation to appear learned, to dwell upon favorite theories, to use fine language, should divert them from the purpose of presenting the most important truths in the most agreeable manner. Nor is it necessary, to make a text-book interesting, that every thing in it should be explained or simplified. A healthy mind always feels the deepest interest in that which it has worked hardest to obtain. Idle students may be THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 81 found in great numbers ; but an author of a text- book should not presuppose them, lest he encourage habits which he should strive to prevent. Text-books should be appropriate in style. Avoid- • ing the extremes of the dry style on the one hand, and the florid style on the other, text-books that are not simply formal — as works on Mathematics or Grammar — should be written in a style plain and simple. An apt figure introduced now and then may reveal some hidden beauty, or a single glance of the imagination may open up to the astonished student the glories of the ideal world ; but a text- book full of fancy-flights, however it might intoxi- cate its readers, could scarcely serve to instruct them. Students may read, in connection with the study of text-books, works beautified with all the refinements of thought and language, may follow the imagination of some Milton or Goethe, some Hugh Miller or Louis Agassiz, in its sublimest flights, and be the better for it ; but the works of such writers are seldom well suited for text-books. We want clearness, precision, and strength in a) text-book, and all ornament should be a subordinate | consideration. Firm foundations and substantial walls are wanted for a building, before carving, gilding, or fresco-work can adorn it, or painting or statuary find a place within its halls. Text-books should be adapted to the capacity of the class for which they are intended. In many schools the text-books are too difl3.cult for the pupils who use them. Parents are many times ambitious to have their children study branches of learning with high-sounding names and use books with 82 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. high-sounding titles, and teacliers sometimes, at least, do little to check this dangerous ambition. No plan could be better calculated than this to destroy all interest in study. It imprisons thought; and the blank, impenetrable darkness, into which the pupil is compelled always to look, soon creates despair in seeking light. A child may learn what- ever he can learn; but it is worse than folly to attempt to teach him what he cannot understand. Hence text-books should be written and used adapted to his capacity. One of the most serious errors in text-books is the placing of the higher and more difficult parts of branches of learning in such close proximity to the elementary parts. Quite young pupils can learn the elements of Gramniar or Arithmetic ; but when advanced beyond them they soon begin to lose interest in study, and conse- quently make little progress. The fault is in the text-book, or the teacher who follows it, and not in the children. They cannot be expected to take much interest in what they are unable to under- stand. An immense amount of time is squan- dered every year in this fruitless labor, and tens of thousands of promising children are made to contract thereby habits of idleness, if not of vice. Text-books for Primary Schools should contain the elements of several branches of learning, instead of both the elements and higher parts of one branch, and text-books for advanced pupils might then omit the elements altogether. A series of text-books ought to be adopted in every school, and the use of all other kinds should be prohibited. In favor of such a uniformity of THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 83 text-books it needs not that a long argument be presented. If not absolutely necessary to classifi- cation, it aids very greatly that work; it makes teaching more effective, and avoids that confusion of definitions and rules which must arise in a school where the books of several authors upon the same subject are in use. The cost of text-books is a small loss, compared with the gain of having them uniform. 4th. The Formation of the Pupils into Classes, — Two principles are recognized in the formation of classes in our American schools. The first requires all the members of a class to study the same branches; the second permits pupils to recite difterent studies in different classes. The classification of a school ac- cording to the first principle can be made much more complete than when done according to the second, and the stimulus to exertion is much greater in a fixed class than it can be when pupils recite one subject in one class and another subject in another. A teacher who adopts the second prin- ciple, however, can better accommodate his classes to the unequal attainments of his pupils, and, probably, better satisfy the wishes of pupils and parents. On the whole, I prefer a classification based upon the first principle — a close classifica- tion — to one based upon the second, a loose classifi- cation ; and if pupils are better versed in some stu- dies, and less advanced in others, they can equalize their attainments by devoting more attention to the latter, and, if circumstances render it necessary, some special classes can be formed to meet the views of parents or the tastes of pupils. I recom- 84 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. mend in our Common Scliools, therefore, a close classification, with such departures from it as over- ruling circumstances may make expedient. Data for the formation of classes must be obtained by a formal examination or by experimental recita- tions, as previously described. With accurate data, the work of classification will present little difii- culty in a school where the number of classes is fixed, and where such pupils only are admitted as can enter the classes ; but in schools where the classes must be formed to suit the multifarious at- tainments of the pupils, this work requires careful management. It seems appropriate to speak of the advantages of classification, the impediments in the way of classification, and the manner of forming classes. Classification economizes time. The teacher can do much more work when he need only listen to the recitations of whole classes, instead of the reci- tations of individuals ; when he need not repeat to each pupil explanations or illustrations of the lesson or additions to it. The time thus saved by the teacher can be used greatly to the profit of the pupils. Classification enables the teacher to make special preparation for hearing the recitations of his classes. If a teacher has pupils engaged in many different studies and in all parts of the same study, it is ob- viously impossible for him to make the necessary special preparation for his work; and his teaching is, consequently, less effective than it would other- wise be. Classification stimulates pupils to more diligent THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 85 study. The common experience of teachers reveals the fact that pupils will study more diligently to make preparation for a class-recitation than for a recitation by themselves. The presence of numbers in the class-room, and the competition of classmates, will sometimes prompt even dull minds to activity. There is such a thing, too, as a class esimt du corps^ the advantage of which is lost when each pupil recites by himself or in a small class. Classification tends to increase the teacher's in- terest in the instruction he imparts. Animation on the part of a teacher is essential to good teaching. A dull teacher will make a dull class. A clergy- man would hardly take a very warm interest in preaching if he had but a single listener. The delivery of the best oration would be spoiled with- out an audience. The same principle is applicable to teaching. A teacher is roused up to earnest effort when a large plass awaits his instruction. Classification enables pupils to help one another. The members of a class help one another by their silent presence, but still more by proper criticism. If the teacher is compelled to correct all mistakes, the recitation is apt to grow monotonous; w^hile class-criticism renders it lively, and is advantageous both for the critics and the criticized. Certain impediments lie in the way of securing a complete classification in schools; and these must now be considered. Diversity of text-books is such an impediment. When the pupils in a school, of equal attainments, have been furnished with the same kind of books, their formation into classes is comparatively easy. S6 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. If there is a want of uniformity in the text-bookg of a school, the teacher should apply for a remedy to the proper school-officers ; or, failing here, he may apply to parents, either directly or through their children. If this application is made in a proper manner, in most cases it will result favorably to the teacher's wishes. Should it not, the case is still not a hopeless one, for the teacher can form his classes just as if the books were uniform, and modify his teaching to suit the circumstances. Nearly the same subjects are treated of in all text-books; and the teacher can assign some topic for a lesson, and the pupils can each use his own book in preparing for the recitation. A recitation can take place with respect to a rule in Arithmetic, a part of speech in Grammar, a country in Geography, a division in Natural Science, a period in History, even if the subject-matter be learned from different books. It is acknowledged that such a mode of reciting would add very much to the teacher's labor, confuse the pupils, and clog the recitation; but it is thought to be a less evil than an excessive multiplication of classes ; and sometimes even good may result from it. Irregular attendance of pupils is such an impedi- ment. Public school-authorities everywhere com- plain that pupils attend school irregularly. Private schools are patronized by classes of people who, as a general thing, more highly appreciate education, whose circumstances enable them better to dispense with the services of their children at home, or whom, perhaps, a pecuniary motive prompts, and hence equally loud complaints are not made by them. Ir- regularity of attendance, wherever it occurs, inter- THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. S7 feres greatly with tlie classification of a school; but, at the worst, the teacher can classify such pupils as do attend regularly, and proceed to instruct them. He can permit irregular pupils to enter the classes, and perhaps they may be made to feel the want of a knowledge of the lessons recited during theii absence, and can thus be induced to be more punc- tual in their attendance. If pupils attend so irre- gularly that they can derive no profit from the in- struction given to the classes of which they ought to be members, the teacher may devote to them the few minutes which would be their share of time in an equal division of it among the pupils. They can justly claim no more. But, while this would probably be the best mode of procedure under the most unfavorable circumstances, the teacher may many times do something to correct the evil. There are numerous instances in which irregular attend- ance has been almost wholly corrected under the judicious management of a skilful teacher. Irre- gular attendance is either the fault of the teacher, the parent, or the pupil. If it is the fault of the teacher, he should correct it by teaching and man- aging better, — by making the school attractive, pre- senting strong motives to punctuality, interesting the pupils in their studies, and inducing them to love school and teacher. To tell how to do this is the great purpose of this book. That it may be done, is attested by multitudes of facts. If the irregular attendance is the fault of the parent, the teacher ought to seek an opportunity of pointing out to him its disadvantage to the pupil as an individual and to the school as a whole. One visit of the 88 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. teacher to the parent or of the parent to the school has frequently brought about a right understanding of the matter, and secured the application of the proper corrective. The pupils may be the most blameworthy parties. The parent may send them to school, the teacher may be ready to receive and in- struct them, but they find attractions by the way, and become truants. If parents and teachers co-operate, truancy cannot be of frequent occurrence. An arrangement may be readily made by which the parent can inform the teacher whenever his children have been detained at home, and by which the teacher can inform the parent whenever they do not attend school. As many parents will object to writ- ing excuses for the absences of their children, the teacher may supply himself with a few hundred excuse-cards, upon which is simply printed, '^Excuse the bearer." These may be distributed to the patrons of the school, and one of them should be returned to the teacher by each pupil who has been necessarily absent. At the end of a term, all the cards should be returned to the teacher, preparatory to the arrangements for a new term. Laws have been made in some foreign countries, and in some localities in this country, punishing tru- ancy, and punishing parents for not sending their children to school. In favor of such laws, it is argued that if the state has a right to educate the children of the state and deem this work to be to its interest, it would follow that no parent can deny his child this education without violating his duty as a citizen, and no child can habitually absent himself without endan- gering the state's interests and thus making himself THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 89 liable to punishment. On the other hand, it is main- tained that the legitimate function of the state in reference to schools is ended when it generalizes into laws the wishes of majorities of citizens and aids good citizens in the enforcement of these laws, and that it transcends its right when it undertakes to force unwilling parents to send their children to school, or to punish children for their non-attend- ance. In all a state can do respecting the establish- ment of systems of education, it must have in view the end of public order ; and, while the state may be convinced that education tends to promote public order, it can in no rightful way punish until some overt act of crime or disorder has been committed; and it is evident that the mere refusal of a parent to send a child to school, or for a child to refuse to attend school, is not such an act. The state may adopt systems of education, may hold out induce- ments to secure regular attendance ; but, if any do not attend, the state must wait, before inflicting punishment for non-attendance, until its bad conse- quences manifest themselves by open acts of wrong. Laws designed to compel the attendance of children at school are contrary to the spirit of our American institutions ; and, if not, such laws are extremely impolitic, owing to the difficulties that must arise in enforcing them. Teachers, therefore, should look to other means as a remedy for irregular attendance ; and if no help come thence, they must philosophically do the best they can, consoling themselves with the reflection that their successors may be privileged to teach among a wiser generation of people. Having pointed out the advantages of school- 90 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. classification, and having shown how impediments which lie in the way of such a classification can be removed, supposing that the teacher has in his pos- session the necessary data concerning his pupils* attainments, something must now be said in refer- ence to the manner in which classes may be formed. No two pupils can be found in a school who are exactly alike in scholarship ; and if the teacher forms his classes by putting only those in one class whose attainments are precisely alike, he will have each of his classes composed of a single pupil. The best he can do is to carefully survey his material, calculate the amount of school-time, decide upon the number of classes he can hear recite, and then classify his pupils by putting those in one class who are most nearly alike in scholarship and ability. If pupils fall behind their class during a term, or gain a position in advance of it, it is the teacher's duty to make the proper transfers ; and it might be added that a faithful discharge of this duty greatly pro- motes the good of a school. Large schools can be classed much better than small ones, because there are in them more pupils of nearly the same qualifi- cation. In assigning lessons to classes whose mem- bers differ in ability, the teacher must adapt the lesson to the pupils who represent the average capa- city of the class ; because in this way only can he avoid discouraging the poorest scholars in the class by assigning lessons that are much too hard, or creating habits of idleness on the part of the best by giving work which costs them little effort. If the lessons are assigned in this way, the teacher can so manage the recitation that the honest, hard-working THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 91 pupils may accomplisli something every day and be stimulated by success to further exertion, the smart, active pupils find something in the lesson worthy of study and quite equal to their ability, and the idle of both classes incur, by frequent failures, the just consequences of their misspent time. By judicious management, the members of a class who are quite unequal in ability can be gradually brought to work more evenly in practice. The size of classes must depend upon the age of pupils, the kind of study in which they are engaged, the form of the recitation, the skill of the teacher, and the amount of work the teacher has to do. Young pupils recite better in small classes than in larger ones. Their attention can be better retained, and frequent questions will excite greater interest in the lesson. It is possible for a skilful teacher to amuse a class of fifty young pupils and to mingle some instruction with the amusement; but his teaching would be much more effective with a class one-fifth as large. Advanced pupils may with less loss than beginners be formed into large classes; but, even with such, the class should not be so large that the teacher cannot ask at least one leading question of each of its members during a recitation. Some members of a class may be required to recite a greater part of the lesson one day than others; but if many are repeatedly overlooked, and allowed to pass away often from the recitation without being noticed or called upon, there will soon be some who will calculate the chances of escaping the responsi- bility of answering any questions at all, and will pre- pare themselves accordingly. This result is not un- 10 92 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. common even in College classes. It is more con- venient to liave large classes in some studies than in others. Classes in Spelling, Writing, Drawing, Vocal Music, &c., may be larger than those in Arithmetic, Grammar, &c. ; because in the former class of studies all the pupils can recite simultaneously. If a class meet a teacher to hear a lecture from him, to receive instruction which he is to impart himself without asking any or many questions of the pupils, it may be much larger than if the purpose of meeting be a drill, an examination, or a close and careful in- spection of what each pupil has learned and the manner in which he has learned it and can repro- duce it. In other words, the form of recitation may modify the size of a class. A skilful teacher can manage a large class without the same disadvantages resulting to it as if managed by one who has had little experience. This is self-evident. "With a large school, and a great variety of studies in which to hear recita- tions, a teacher may be compelled, as the choice of evils, to form larger classes than he would deem politic under more favorable circumstances. 5th. The Distribution of the Classes among the Teachers. — ^What is said in reference to the distribu- tion of the classes of a school among its teachers can only be applicable to schools in which more than one teacher is employed ; but in such schools it is a matter deserving consideration. The several teachers in a school ought to be em- ployed with reference to the qualifications which fit them to perform the work desired to be done. No teacher can impart instruction in all branches equally well; and school- work should be divided THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 93 into several departments, and each, department be assigned to the teacher who can perform its duties to the best advantage. A wise economy of the teaching-force of a school would direct that each teacher should teach those branches which he can teach bestj and undertake to teach no more of them than he can teach well. Teachers sometimes at- tempt to listen to recitations in twelve or fifteen different branches in a day. In such cases they must try to teach some branches for which they are badly qualified, they can make but little prepara- tion for the recitations, and they must be unable either to satisfy themselves or do justice to their pupils. If due regard be paid to these principles, large schools may be organized with an efliciency impossible of attainment in any other way. By this arrangement, too, each teacher may be made responsible for a department of study, and, as he feels a special interest in it, he will naturally strive to make it successful. It needs scarcely be added that the work of the school should be equally dis- tributed among the teachers, and if one branch of instruction does not furnish a suflSLcient amount of work for a teacher, his department may be made to include several kindred branches. It must be taken into consideration, however, that some branches are more difficult to teach, and, conse- quently, require more preparation on the part of the teacher, than others. If the principle, that it is best to assign to each teacher those branches which he is best qualified to teach, be observed, each class may have a difierent teacher in each different study. This is no small 94 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. advantage to a pupil. If he recite always to tlie same teacher, he may become familiar with certain lines of thought, but he will most likely be confined to them. lie might be trained by a more unvaried discipline, but it is a discipline in one direction. He becomes imbued with his teacher's peculiar opinions, acquires his manners, and is apt to create a little w^orld in which his teacher is the reigning sove- reign and himself the most conspicuous citizen of the realm. It is much better for all pupils to have different teachers, with different tastes, talents, and opinions ; but it is very important that this should be the case with advanced pupils. In speaking of graded schools, such arrangements of school-build- ings were provided for as would admit the carrying out in practice of the principles now stated; and I am well satisfied that a school so organized will work much more efliciently than one in which the pupils of each grade recite all their lessons to a single teacher. 6th. The Arrangement of Times for Study and Reci- tation, — Classes should receive general directions as to the time of preparing their lessons. It is the misfortune of many, that when they have several things to do, and have adopted no particular order of doing them, in their doubt as to which they ought to begin first, they neglect the whole. Sys- tem, rigid system, is as valuable in its results, when conformed to in preparing lessons, as it is in other things. These general directions may have refer- ence, first, to the advantage that will arise from having times for study, and, afterwards, it may be proper to suggest that certain studies might be best prepared during school-hours and certain others THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 95 out of school-hours. A more particular arrange- ment of the order to be observed in preparing the several studies in which a pupil may be engaged, ought to be left mainly to the pupil himself It is perhaps impolitic generally to insist upon the mem- bers of a whole class attending to the same studies at the same time, though this may be done with young pupil s and with classes whose members possess equal attainments, with good results; but, when pupils have made out their own programmes of study- time, it will be well for the teacher to make himself acquainted with them, because, in calling pupils' attention to their work, a command direct- ing them to the performance of a particular duty is much more effective than one directing them to the performance of a general duty. Whenever a teacher deems it expedient to assign the same time to all the members of a class for the preparation of a lesson, it may with propriety be stated in the school- programme. In institutions where boarding and lodging are furnished to pupils, regular times must be appointed for retiring, for rising, for devotional exercises, and for recreation, as well as for preparing lessons and reciting them. The following outline of a Student's Programme may aid in systematizing the student's work. It will only be filled up so far as to illustrate the man- ner of doing it. Each student should fill up one for himself, and hang it near his desk or study- taole. Once adopted, he should suffer no ordinary circumstance to prevent him from working in exact accordance with it. In a short time habit will render 10* &6 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. a compliance with its requirements more easy, and the good results will soon more than compensate for the trifling inconvenience which may at first be experienced from the fixed line of duties that it enjoins. STUDENTS' PROGEAMME. (Name of School.) (Date.) TIME. GENERAL DAILY DUTIES. SPECIAL DUTIES. 5 A.M. Rise. Sabbath. — Read 6.20 A.M. Study Grammar. Scriptures from 6 A.M. Take a walk. 8 to 9 A.M.; at- 6.30 A.M. Breakfast. tend Church at 7 A.M. Study Latin. 10; and Bible- 8 A.M. Attend Opening Exercises of the Class at 2 P.M. School. Saturday Evening. 8.30 A.M. Recite Arithmetic. —Attend Meet- 9.30 A.M. Recite Botany. ing of Society at 7 P.M. The time and length of each recitation must be fixed. "Without this the work of the school would go on very irregularly, and with little satisfaction to the teacher and little profit to the pupils. The principal data for determining the time and length of recitations are the length of the school-day, the number and kind of recitations to be heard daily, and, when several teachers are employed in the same school, the number of teachers and the amount of work to be performed by them, and the rooms in which the recitations are heard. These differ in different schools ; and the only comprehen- sive principle that can be stated concerning the matter is, that the time and length of recitations in THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 97 all schools should be such as to insure justice to all classes and all individuals, and to secure the greatest possible efficiency in the school. A few particular suggestions, however, may be of service to young teachers. With advanced pupils, one recitation daily in each regular branch studied will be sufficient. Ee- citations may take place on alternate days, or less frequently; but it will be found everywhere that, while pupils can study more branches at a time in this way, their interest in study will not be so great, nor will their work be so thoroughly done. The best plan is to assign a daily lesson in each branch studied, and make it of such a length that it can be well prepared, and have a daily recitation in it. This is not intended to discourage teachers from having special exercises on miscellaneous subjects at any time they may deem them advantageous to the interests of the school. With young pupils in ungraded or Primary schools, the recitations should be frequent and short. Children of six or eight years of age have difficulty in attending closely to a recitation for a long time, and yet they will be pleased with the variety of exercises brought about by frequent reci- tations. Besides, they cannot be expected to study much apart from the recitation. Theory would demand the hearing daily of all the lessons that the pupils in a school can prepare, and the setting apart of a sufficient time to attend to all the requirements of the recitation. Theory would also demand the recitations to take place at hours when the pupils are best prepared to recite, or at 98 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. which the teacher can best impart his instruction or they can best profit by it. Practice must conform to the theory as nearly as circumstances will admit. In ungraded schools, the younger pupils might recite first after the opening of the school, both in the morning and the afternoon. They are supposed to be ready at any time, inasmuch as they have little preparation to make. Older pupils may recite, first, those lessons which it was found most convenient to prepare out of school. The most severe studies should not be recited near the close of the school day. Recitations in Reading, Writing, Spelling, or Vocal Music, would be best calculated for the last hour of the day. "Writing and Drawing Lessons should not imme- diately follow active physical exercise. In all schools there are certain general exercises that cannot well be dispensed with. Of this cha- racter are moral lessons, lectures upon subjects not regularly studied, or special instruction in certain branches which an economy of time will demand should be given to the whole school. Frequent reviews of the subjects studied will tend to deepen the impression upon the minds of pupils, promote a clearer understanding of what is studied, and do much to connect the fragmentary daily lessons into a connected whole. For these reasons they are valuable, and a place must be pro- vided for them in making general arrangements in regard to study. A programme of the operations of a school will be presented on a subsequent page ; and all that is intended here is to inform the teacher as fully as THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 99 possible in regard to the principles wMcli concern its construction, so far as that is related to times and lengths of recitations. It needs only to be re- marked, further, that Superintendents or Principals of schools with a number of teachers working under their direction, should frequently visit all the classes while reciting, should require at least weekly reports from all the teachers as to their condition; and when they find that some change in their Pro- gramme will make their schools work more effi- ciently, and only then, they should change it. 2. Provisions relating to Order. — Provisions relating to order must embrace the following par- ticulars : — 1st. The Conditions upon which Pupils may be ad- mitted into the School, 2d. The School-Limits. 8d. The Length of the School-Lay, 4th. The Time and Length of Intermissions. 5th. The Opening and Closing Exercises of the School, 6th. The Calling out and Dismissing of Classes. A. Leaving Seats. B. Speaking to one another. c. Asking Questions of the 7th. The Granting of I Teacher. Special Privileges. \ n. Making Complaints to the Teacher, E. Receiving Help from the \ Teacher. 8th. The Transaction of General Business. 9th. The Administration of Discipline, 100 THE ORGANIZATION OP THE SCHOOL. 1st. Tlie Conditions upon v)hich Fupils may be ad- milted into the School, — These conditions generally have respect to locality, age, and scholarship. In the case of our Common Schools, the State laws, and the authorities properly authorized by them, impose the conditions. Each town or township is divided into convenient school-districts, which are about equal in population, and the children of such districts are required to attend their proper school. This arrangement causes all the schools to be nearly equal in size, and, when fully carried out, effectually prevents the evil of having some schools too large, while others are too small. The age at which pupils may attend school depends wholly upon circumstances. Schools have been so con- ducted as to be proper places for children three or four years old, although our school-laws do not often admit them before the age of five or six; and, if a person has been deprived of the opportunity of learning previously, it is praiseworthy for him to make the effort at twenty-one, or beyond that age. It is not unusual to see in the ISTight Schools of our cities, men who have reached the age of fifty years. The qualifications necessary to admit a pupil into a particular school depend upon the grade of school and the course of study adopted in the system of schools of w^hich it is a part. In schools managed by individuals or corpora- tions, the locality from which pupils must come, the age, and the degree of scholarship required for entering, are determined by private considerations. The ends for which schools are established are so various, and the circumstances that surround them THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 101^ SO unlike, that even with those that are called by the same name there is little uniformity in any thing. 2d. Tlie School-Limits. — ^By school-limits are meant the grounds connected with the school-house, upon which the pupils have a right to play, and to the extent of which they have a right to go without obtaining the special consent of the teacher. Teachers of schools with play-grounds attached to them sufficiently large, need have little trouble in fixing the school-limits, as the boundaries of the grounds themselves should limit the distance the pupils may go away from the school-house during intermissions. More difficulty, however, will be experienced in keeping pupils within proper bounds when the place for play must be the highway, a neighboring wood, a wide-extended common, or when the privilege of play in some adjoining field is granted by its owner. In such cases the distance from the school-house the pupils may be allowed to go may be made to depend upon the teacher's means of communicating with them, and the time that might be lost in collecting them from play. In no case should pupils be suffered to trespass on the neighboring property without the owner's consent. It looks badly for the teacher, and pro- mises unfavorably for his pupils, when the trees near a school are stripped of their bark or their foliage, when fences are thrown down or destroyed, or when growing crops are injured, or fruit stolen. A distinct understanding should be had between teacher and pupils as to the school-limits and tres- passes upon surrounding property. 102 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. 8d. The Length of the School-Day, — It is quite easy to adopt extreme views in regard to the proper length of the school-day. The sight of feeble chil- dren, who are confined seven or eight hours a day in school, who recite one or two lessons every hour, which have to be prepared out of school-hours, who have no time to play, and soon lose all taste for it, is enough to warrant the conclusion that less study and more exercise would be beneficial. A few sights of this kind, accompanied with rumors that death or insanity has somewhere occurred from too hard study, are sufficient to excite public attention and to set the newspapers to talking about the matter. The cry is, " The Innocents are murdered !'* and excitable school-authorities hasten to forbid study out of school-hours, restrict the number of studies in the schools, and reduce to three hours the length of the school-day. This is one extreme. A teacher takes charge of a school in a neighbor- hood in which the people work hard but do not think much. He finds his pupils strong, but dull. They can lift, and^ run, and labor, but can scarcely be induced to study. He calls into requisition all the motives that can arouse their mental energies. The ordinary school-days are too short for his work. He meets his pupils in the morning, in the evening, during noontime, on Saturdays, and visits them at their homes ; and, with all this exertion, they do not make very rapid progress. Under these circum- stances, it is not to be wondered at that the conclu- sion is reached, that ten hours are not too long a period for the length of a school-day. This is the other extreme. THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 103 It is true tliat some pupils study too mucli and are confined too closely; and it is equally true that others study too little, and work until their brain seems hardened into muscle. It is clear, therefore, that the induction of a general rule from one class of circumstances would lead to error. The age of pupils, their occupation, the locality in which they live, the constancy of their attendance at school, their state of health, their temperament, must all be considered in determining the length of the school-day. In a Primary or Infant School, the children ought not to be confined in the school-room more than a half or three-quarters of an hour at a time. The length of the school-day may be five or six hours, but periods of study should alternate very fre- quently with periods of play. In an ungraded school in which there are young pupils, they must be allowed to spend much of their time upon the play-ground. They can be taught to go out and come in at stated periods without troubling any one or interrupting in any way the rest of the school. I think this arrangement is better than that which permits young pupils to attend a school in the morning and older ones in the afternoon, or opens a summer school for one class and a winter school for the other. A farmer's son, who works hard for eight months in the year, and who walks a mile to school after having spent an hour or two in cutting wood or foddering cattle, and returns home again at the close of the school-day to engage in similar tasks, will not sufier from close confinement in school for 11 104 THE OROANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. a length of time that might endanger the health of a delicate city girl, who rides to school, never works, seldom breathes fresh air, and whose diet is often highly stimulating. The length of the school-day in the country may generally be longer than in cities; and two sessions a day are better everywhere than one. Those who attend school constantly require more exercise daily while at school than others who attend school but a few months in the year. Parents must take proper care of their children who are delicate. School is not the place to nurse sick people. They require special attention, which no teacher who does his duty to his whole school can render. Precocious children, or those whose temperament leads them to study too closely, must be watched and warned. K no injustice be done to others, some special privileges may be allowed them, which may be calculated to restore to their mental nature its equilibrium. Weighing all the circumstances as best I can, I give it as my opinion that in country schools a ses- sion of three or three and a half hours in the fore- noon, and one of the same length in the afternoon, for five days in the week, with proper intermissions and proper attention to exceptional cases, will not injure any one or prove too long for the work to be done. In city schools, two hours and a half or three liours for each of the two daily sessions will be quite long enough. In all these estimates it is understood that proper attention is paid to ventilation and to certain simple hygienic rules in regard to sitting and standing. THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 105 The singing of a song at intervals will quicken tlie life of the school-room, and tend to promote health. Short gymnastic exercises, too, may be given, either with some simple apparatus, as dumb-bells, wands, or rings, or without it. Hard and prolonged study is not injurious to health, if proper exercise is regularly taken and proper attention is paid to diet. On the contrary, it is only in this way that good scholars can be made. Those who expect to become good scholars by attending school three hours a day and pre- paring no lessons out of school-hours will, most likely, be disappointed. Ripe culture and rich scholarship are attained only by long and hard work. If evils have arisen from too much study, — and no doubt such is the fact, — it is more owing to the weak, sickly bodies children bring with them to school, and to the unnatural mode of life which so many lead, than to any injury the work of the school is calculated in itself to produce. The evils have a seat nearer the heart of society, and the school merely manifests them. Let children have a strong natural constitution, be trained to work, eat proper food, dress in a healthy manner, sleep well, breathe pure air, shun all luxuries, and, my word for it, neither six nor ten hours a day of hard study will do them injury. But if they are permitted, from the age of five upwards, to attend parties at night, sip wine, smoke cigars, indulge in confections, make love to babies like themselves, eat what they please, sleep when they please, and go where they please, all expense for true educational purposes might as well be saved ; for under such management the 106 THE ORGAKIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. shattered constitution cannot endure study for three hours a day, even if the race itself does not become extinct or helpless. 4th. The Time and Length of Iniermissions. — No intermissions are needed in schools where the pupils are required to be present only at recitation-time. They can take exercise during the intervals between the recitations. In other schools the number of intermissions will depend upon the age of the pupils and the length of the school-day. Primary Schools ought to have an intermission at least every hour. Children in such schools may very profitably spend one-half of their time on the play-ground. Schools composed of pupils over fourteen years of age should have an intermission of an hour or an hour and a half at noon, and one of fifteen or twenty minutes in the middle of both the forenoon and the afternoon sessions. The intermission at noon is designed for a dining-hour and for relaxation, and the others may be used for the purposes of play, gymnastic exercises, or conversation. 5th. The Opening and Closing of the School — It will promote general good order, as well as be beneficial in itself, to have a proper mode of opening and closing schools. To commence a day's work in school abruptly, or to close it in confusion, is neither in accordance with good taste or good judgment. An appropriate way of opening a school is as follows. A few minutes — always a fixed time — after the pupils have been called to assemble, may be allowed them to get seated; and then the roll may be called. If all are not present, the exercises should proceed without them, during which no one THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 107 Bhould be permitted to enter the school -room. "When all are quietly seated, the teacher may read a hymn, and invite the pupils to join him in singing it. He may then read a selected chapter from the Bible, or have the pupils all engage in reading a Bible-lesson. When agreeable to the patrons of the school, a few brief comments upon the text may convey valuable information, as well as direct the spirit of inquiry towards the investigation of religious subjects. A short, simple prayer may follow, the pupils bending forward their heads in token of humility, and the teacher, returning for himself and for them thanks to the Good Giver for all blessings received, and petitioning Him for blessings coveted. If the form of oral prayer should be objectionable, especially with pupils old enough to appreciate it, silent prayer may be adopted. In this mode of prayer, both teacher and pupils bow their heads and for a few minutes hold silent communion with their Maker. The ceremony is very impressive. Each one is taught to turn his own heart to God, and thus devotional feeling is cultivated in a way with which the strictest sectarian can find no objection. The Bible should be used as a text-book on reli- gion in all schools. It is considered as the word of God by all denominations. There are serious objections to its use as a text-book in Reading; but the reading of it at a special time by teacher or pupils, as previously indicated, both creates respect for the Book and love for the truth j+ inculcates. The afternoon session may be opened with a cheerful song. If deemed expedient, the roll may be called, as at the opening of the morning session. 108 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. To save the time required to call the roll twice every day, an arrangement may be made by which pupils can report their own attendance. For this purpose let a board of suitable size be procured, and prepared as described in the following dia- gram : — THE EEPOETEE. NAMES. ATTENDANCE. FORENOON. AFTERNOON. A A Present. Tardy. Present. Tardy. ► B B • B • B The board may be painted black, the cross lines white. Small pins or pegs should be made to fit the holes B B B B, and painted green. Boxes to hold them should be placed at the bottom of the board. The words used at the heads of the columns may be written on paper and pasted upon the board. The names of the pupils, plainly written, are intended to be kept in their places by the little morocco slips A A. Thus ready for use, this article of apparatus, which we have called a Reporter, is hung against the wall at some convenient place, and each pupil, at the opening of the school, morning and afternoon, goes to it, takes a pin from the box, and puts it in the designated hole opposite his name. If tardy, he places the pin in the Tardy column ; and, if absent, the holes opposite his name remain vacant. A little care on the part of the teacher will cause the whole to be done quietly, quickly, and accu- rately, and the result will be to secure more regularity of attendance. Where the Bchool is a mixed one, there ought to be two boards : — one for the girls, and one for the boys. After school, the teacher may transfer the report to his Register, and place the pins again in the box for use next morning. THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 109 A school may be nicely closed in the following manner. The school-work and school-business for the day are supposed to be completed. The pupils are ready to depart. All are quiet. The teacher starts an appropriate hymn or song, and all sing it together. I have marked the effect of this parting music hundreds of times, and hundreds of times have my own burdens been made lighter and my own heart been gladdened by it. At the tap of a little bell, one section of pupils rise ; at another, they pass out, and a second rise ; at a third, the second section pass out, and the third rise ; and so on until all are gone. The whole ar- rangement is very simple, and is carried out with little noise or confusion. 6th. The Calling out and Dismissing of Classes, — It is the practice of some teachers to announce the reci- tation of a certain class, and allow its members to take their places with little regard to order, and at the end of the recitation permit them to return to their seats in the same confused manner. Such a practice is apt to create much disturbance in the school-room, and sometimes shakes the desks and diverts the attention of those not members of the class called out. Other teachers call out and dismiss their classes by mentioning the name or number of each member of the class desired ; but this plan, while it avoids the disorder occasioned by the preceding one, gene- rally requires too much time. The method of calling out and dismissing classes with a little bell is probably the best that can be adopted. A single tap of the bell may be used to 110 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. call the attention of tlie class, a second may indi- cate that its members shall rise at their seats, and a third that they shall take their places upon the recitation-seats or repair to the recitation-room. If a class is large or there is any danger of confu- sion, it may be divided into sections, or all those occupying one seat or one row of seats can come and go together. 7th. The Granting of Special Privileges, — Under the head of Special Privileges are classed leaving seats, speaking to one another, asking questions of the teacher, making complaints to the teacher, and re- ceiving help from the teacher. All these things are sometimes necessary to be done ; and, if no time be provided when they may be done lawfully, some of them will be done unlawfully and thus interrupt the regular exercises of the school. In small schools with considerate pupils, these privileges need not be special, but pupils may be permitted to enjoy them whenever they see fit to do so, and the school will be but slightly disturbed thereby. Pupils may not desire to leave their seats or to speak to one another ; or, if they do, they may carry out their desire in such a manner as to disturb no one. They may have no questions to ask of the teacher, no complaints to make to him ; or, if they have, they may seize those opportunities at which he is at liberty to attend to them. But more fre- quently it will be found, if no special arrangement be made concerning such things, trifling as they may seem, that the teacher will be continually inter- rupted by requests to do several things at once, and disorder will arise in the school. THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. Ill The best arrangement I have been able to dis- cover by which to dispose of the granting of these special privileges, is to provide suitable times at which general liberty may be given to enjoy them. At these times the regulations of a school in session need not be suspended, but merely relaxed so far as may be necessary to accomplish the end in view. 'So loud talking or noise can be permitted ; but a few minutes — not more than five— may be granted during which pupils are allowed to leave their seats, talk together, ask questions of the teacher, or receive help from him. If the first intermission be fixed about the middle of the fore- noon session, one of these periods of suspended busi- ness may come about the middle of the time between the opening of the school and the first intermission, another, between the first intermission and the in- termission at noon-time ; and the afternoon session may be divided in the same way. If this arrange- ment be adopted, the school-day will be divided into eight periods of recitation, three of inter- mission, and four of suspension of the regular work. Some additional suggestions are deemed essential to enable the young teacher to operate his school upon the plan now proposed. The granting of these special privileges should be refused, unless under extraordinary circumstances, at all times except during the periods set apart for it. ISTeither should the granting of them at these periods be a matter of course : the pupil must always indicate his want by holding up his hand, and the teacher must judge whether it is proper to grant it. 112 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. Pupils should not be suffered to leave their seats when it is possible for the teacher to wait upon them at their seats. It is better, generally, for the teacher to go to them than for them to come to him. The most difficult thing to regulate among pupils accorditig to the plan now proposed, or, indeed, ac- cording to any other, is their speaking to one an- other, or whispering. The difficulty will be greater if the school-room is not well seated. If the pupils are crowded together on long benches, they will be much more liable to talk than if placed on single seats some distance apart. Loud talking in a school- room during school-hours interrupts the school-work. Low talking is apt to become loud, and, if not, it will most probably lead to a waste of time. It is some- times necessary, however, for pupils to speak to one another ; and the plan just explained seems to afford ample privileges to the pupils and yet protect the interests of the school. If the teacher has reason to think that his pupils do not waste time in talking, or if they do not trespass upon the rights of others in so doing, he need make no regulation concerning the matter. He may even allow whispering at all times if he can succeed in securing less interruption to the school and less trouble to himself by regu- lating it than by totally prohibiting it except at certain stated times. But it is presumed that neither of these contingencies will often happen, and that the wisest plan is to make the provision already in- dicated. I know it is said that, if the teacher allow whispering whenever it is necessary, he will not be bound to notice every supposed violation of the rule ; but if he prohibit it wholly, he must inflict some THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 113 punishment for every violation noticed, and among talkative children this punishment has to be inflicted so often that the task becomes a very unpleasant one for the teacher and produces little good effect upon the pupil. This difficulty is acknowledged, and is best met by inflicting upon offenders those mild punishments which are the simple consequences of their conduct, as the forfeiture of seats, or seats upon a bench provided for the purpose, where they can talk to no one. The difficulty will grow less as good habits are formed. On the other hand, the objection loses much of its force when it is seen that ill consequences of greater magnitude will arise from attempting to regulate whispering, for the teacher is not often able to tell for himself when his rules are violated. He must depend mainly upon the pupil's own confession, and thus may hold out a temptation to falsehood in the first place, and, in the second, risks the danger of punishing only those who are honest, while those who are willing to speak falsely may readily escape. It is not supposed that all whispering can be prevented by any plan ; but that which is here suggested, if carefully fol- lowed, will, it is hoped, prove to be generally a satisfactory mode of disposing of this troublesome subject. Pupils should not be encouraged to make com- plaints against one another ; but still there will be occasions when such complaints ought to be made, and when great injustice would be done were the teacher not to hear them. Pupils, too, have other grievances than those which come from wrongs done to them by their school -fellows. They may 114 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. be unwell, their books may be lost or torn, tbe apparatus they are required to use may be out of repair, their seats may be uncomfortable from heat, or cold, or want of light, and for the removal of these and other like causes of complaint, the pupils ought to be allowed at some time to apply to the teacher. This is not the place to discuss the amount of help a teacher should render his pupils in preparing their lessons. It will be admitted upon all hands that he may render some help ; and, if he occupy all the time during which, four times a day, the regular business of the school is suspended, in doing it, he can hardly exceed in this respect the safe limits of sound policy. 8th. The Transaction of General Business. — More or less general business must be transacted in all schools. E"otices must be given, appointments must be made, regulations must be introduced and ex- plained, classes must be arranged, and various items of miscellaneous business must be attended to, and the question is whether the teacher will have a stated time for doing such work, or whether he will do it whenever it occurs to him, or whenever cir- cumstances suggest it. To have a stated time for doing it is much the best plan, because in that way no class need be disturbed, no pupil need be inter- rupted in his studies, and both teacher and pupils will be more at liberty to attend to the matter in hand. The most appropriate time for transacting general business is immediately preceding the closing of the school. The day's work is then done, all the THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 115 business of the day can then be settled up, the necessary arrangements for the morrow can then be made, and the teacher can rest with no unfinished business on his mind to distract his attention or to absorb his time. The teacher will find it convenient to note during the day such items of business as he desires to bring before the school, and at the appointed time he can attend to the whole at once. 9th. The Administration of Discipline, — ^Elsewhere, under the head of School-Government, will be dis- cussed the subject of School-Ofifences and their punishment. Here it must be taken for granted that there will be offences and that there must be punishments ; and the question to be determined is when the administration of discipline shall take place. Individuals off*ending against the rules of the school may be corrected either privately or publicly. Private correction is very much the best in a vast majority of cases; but very rarely, and with peculiar oflences, the correction must be made before the whole school. If the correction is to be made publicly and the ofi*ence be a trifling one, it may be done during the time appropriated for general business ; but if the offfence be a very grave one, a more suitable time could not be selected than immediately after the completion of the whole day's work. In anticipa- tion of the time that will be taken up in administer- ing the contemplated discipline, the afternoon exer- cises may be somewhat shortened. The reason this hour should be fixed upon is because it is unlikely 12 IIG THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. that after the infliction of punishment or the arous- ing of strong feeling either teacher or pupils will be fit for their usual duties. Some teachers dis- pense with one of the intermissions and occupy the time in the administration of the needed dis- cipline ; but the fact that a privilege is thus taken away from the pupils, may create prejudice against the teacher or his mode of punishment. It is very seldom that a teacher should interrupt his work to correct an offence. An uplifted finger, a shake of the head, a tap of the bell, the quiet re- moval of a pupil to a place where he has less opportunity to do mischief, may indicate to the offender that the teacher notices him; but the dis- cussion of the nature of the offence, and the appli- cation of the punishment for it, should be delayed until an appropriate time is found for attending to the matter. There may occur an open outbreak in the school, as when two pupils quarrel, or some public opposition to the teacher, as when a pupil refuses to obey him ; but even in such cases, while the disturbance must be immediately quieted, and obedience at once enforced, the final settlement of the difficulty should be postponed until all parties have had time for reflection, when it can be made with much more satisfactory results. "When discipline is administered privately, it may be done whenever the teacher has leisure, or whenever there is least danger of being interrupted. It may be done at one of the intermissions, before or after school, in the pupil's room, or at his home in the presence of his parents, or in the office of the teacher. THE PERMANENT ORGANIZATION. 117 It seems proper to conclude this chapter with the presentation of a form for a School-Programme. This form is more simple and more complete than any other with which I am acquainted, and readily admits modification to suit circumstances. After what has been said in the preceding pages, this Programme will not require much further ex- planation. A few observations, however, must still be made. When there are but one room and one teacher, of course the last two columns will be un- necessary. They are intended to exhibit the form of a Programme for a graded school in which several teachers are employed. The selecting of the classes which should recite during each Pecita- tion-Period, and the fixing of the length of each recitation, are left to the teacher, who must be governed by the circumstances of his school. Seve- ral classes may be heard by the teacher during each Period; or, if there are more teachers than one, by each of them. If teachers hear different classes on different days, it can readily be so stated in the Pro- gramme. Special arrangements must be made for such general exercises as reviews, lectures, &c. 118 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL. PROGRAMME. TIME. EXERCISE. BOOM. TEACHER. Opening Exercise. First Recitation-Period. Regular Business Suspended. Second Recitation-Period. Forenoon Intermission. Third Recitation-Period. Regular Business Suspended. Fourth Recitation-Period. Noon Intermission. Fifth Recitation-Period. Regular Business Suspended. Sixth Recitation-Period. Afternoon Intermission. Seventh Recitation-Period. Regular Business Suspended. Eighth Recitation-Period. General Business. Closing Exercises. CHAPTER m. THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOl.. In order to secure an economical expenditure of strength and eflfort, it is necessary for the teacher to understand what constitute the legitimate employ- ments of his pupils while in school, and in what consists the nature of these employments. To the presentation of this important information this chapter will be devoted. The employments of the school may readily be arranged into three classes, and the subject-matter before us will therefore be treated of in three sections, as follows : — L Study. n. Recitation. m. Exercise. I. Study. — Study is the most important employ- ment of the school. "Without it there can be but little progress in learning. The objects of study ard the means of securing them must therefore be carefully investigated by the teacher. The follow- ing arrangement of topics will give method to tho discussion: — 12* 119 120 the employments of the school. 1. The Objects of Study. 2. The Incentives to Study. 3. The Modes of Study. 4. The Characteristics of the Student. 1. The Objects of Study. — The ultimate object of all education is the attainment of the highest possible worth; or, as Kant expressed it, **to develop in each individual all the perfection of which he is susceptible." When God created man in His own image, and gave him powers and capa- bilities but little lower than the angels, He intended that he should live worthy of his high estate ; and the great central end of all education is the attain- ment of that manhood which God designed for man, • and which was the ideal prototype after which He created him. More particularly, the following may be named as the ends of study : — 1st. Knowledge, 2d. Discipline, 3d. Aspiration. 4th. Efficiency. The Accumulation of Knowledge is an End of Study. —Knowledge may be desired for discipline or for the purposes of life; but it should be desired also for its cwn sake. Each individual is conscious of a desire to know; and the mere fact of possessing knowledge, considered independently of any use to which it may be put, furnishes the highest pleasure to the possessor. Nature has everjrwhere truth for the intellect and beauty for the heart. The llTaturalist finds them in rocks, and plants, and insects, and STUDY. 121 animals ; the Linguist finds them in the wondrous powers and wondrous forms of human speech; the Mathematician finds them in the mystic properties of numbers and of forms ; the Metaphysician finds them in those higher laws, pure as they came from the God-mind, which condition all things ; the His- torian finds them in watching the great drama which men are playing upon the world's stage; and all are made nobler and better in their contempla- tion. A true lover of knowledge seeks it for itself, seeks it because God made his soul crave it, seeks it to embalm it in his heart forever. The love of truth, whether found in nature or in the Bible, is a holy love ; and happy the teacher who can implant it in the minds of his pupils. Discipline is an End of Study, — The human body in infancy is weak, it needs to be invigorated and toughened; the human intellect is feeble, it needs to be developed and strengthened; the human pas- sions are wild and rash, they need to be restrained and guided; the human will is fitful and perverse, it needs to be trained to docility and educated to husband and direct its power. This invigorating and toughening of the body, developing and strengthening of the intellect, restraining and guiding the passions, training and educating the will, is discipline; and it is one of the highest aims of study to secure it. The circumstances that surround the race seem wisely designed to promote the ends both of physi- cal and mental discipline. The earth yields her fruits only after hard culture; and her untamed forests, her barren wastes, her high mountains, her 122 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. rapid rivers, her stormy seas, and her rocky shores, present such obstacles to the progress of human civilization, that the hand of man is trained to cunning and his head schooled to reflection in the eftbrt to overcome them. What powerful influences prompt the agriculturist to sow and reap; the manufacturer to fashion the raw materials of nature into forms useful and beautiful; the mechanic to invent things new and strange, and to make them ; the merchant to send his ships forth upon the path- less ocean on the mission of commerce! — and all these influences are educational, toughening muscle and awakening mind. Besides, impelled by curiosity, man looks up to the heavens, down into the earth, within himself, and everywhere he finds his eye dazzled with the grandeur of creation, his head puzzled with the riddles he is asked to read, and his heart warmed with the wisdom and goodness which are displayed in all things, — the little as well as the great. The mother places before her infant child a glittering toy, and her mother's heart is gladdened when he takes his first step towards it. This first step a child takes in learning to walk, exemplifies nature's method of discipline. God has adapted the creation to man, — ^the objective and the subjective correlate, — outer attractions an- swer to inner impulses, — that the end of discipline might be attained. It is for teachers to aid nature's efibrts. Human nature must be made as nearly perfect as possible. "Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect," says Christ; and all created things respond, "Be perfect." Education is desirable to fit us for STUDY. 123 the ordinary business of life; but its aim is higher when it imparts a broad, generous culture to all our powers. We want first to be strong men, and after- wards good citizens. Aspiration is an End of Study, — ^ISTothing tends more to insure the young against the temptations of a low sensualism, to lead them away from an indulgence in debasing pleasures, than an elevated ideal of the purpose of life and of the worth of the human soul. The young should be taught to aim high, to desire to accomplish something noble, to appreciate truly the dignity of the position and the nature of man. The formation of an ideal conception of human perfection, and an earnest longing to realize that conception in life, is what I mean by aspiration ; and surely study is worth much even if it only enable us to triumph over the difliculties of a long journey through this wilderness world, and see the Promised Land from afar off. A person who does not realize the value of a thing will not make the most earnest efforts to ob- tain it ; neither will a coveted prize, if considered beyond his reach, call forth his best exertions. Aspiration must pioneer all noble effort; and study lifts men up to higher, broader views of life, and duty, and God. The scholar may indulge in hopes and anticipations wholly unknown to the ignorant. The tentacula of his mind reach far out and up. His feet may rest upon the earth like those of other men; but his head is up among the clouds, with an ever-widening prospect around him. His ideals lend a charm to life in this world, and light up his bright pathway to another. It is an object 124 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. of study, therefore, to elevate these ideals, and to stir up in the soul higher hopes and nobler aspira- tions. Efficiency is an End of Study. — W"e study to obtain knowledge, to discipline our powers, to elevate our aspirations ; but we can accomplish little for our fellow-men unless we can thereby make ourselves more efficient in the performance of duty. Know- ledge latent in the mind can benefit only the pos- sessor; strong muscles unused will do no work; beautiful ideals unpictured will attract no worship- pers. Study, then, should aim to make all the forces of our nature available for the interests of society. The talent of acquired lore, of muscular or mental discipline, of divine imagination, must not be hidden in a napkin and buried in the earth. The man of science has no right to conceal the truth he knows ; no Hercules can allow himself rest while labors remain to be performed; no artist can refuse to express in stone or on canvas the ideal image born in his own breast; and the world is entitled to all the poetry and music inspired by genius, and to all the revelations from God to man which the holy prophets have ever uttered. Each man, in his sphere, is bound to do what he can. It requires the economical expenditure of all the world's forces to do the world's work. All must hitch themselves to the great car and give their pull, or put their shoulder to the great wheel and give their push. It is one of the objects of study to make us more efficient, — efficient in all we undertake to do. Know- ledge gained should be distributed, the force ac- STUDY. 125 quired by discipline should be judiciously expended, and the ideal pictures of the imagination should be displayed, that all may profit by them. Knowledge should not only be distributed, but used. It may be made to aid in all kinds of business, to prevent the impositions practiced upon the ignorant by the un- principled, to correct the fears and the follies of the superstitious, to assist in the work of morality and religion, to ennoble the pleasures of mankind: these and other such uses has knowledge, and the scholar must so use it, or he fails to appreciate the gift, and wrongs the Giver. "While it is maintained that efficiency is one of the objects of study, it will be noticed that by this is not meant mere efficiency in buying, selling, and managing affairs ; but any efficiency is meant which performs labor, either with head or hand, adds new facts or principles to science, or presents purer ideals for the admiration of mankind, — any efficiency, indeed, which tends to make society better, wiser, or more happy. It must be added that the object of study is some- times an improper one. If an education is sought for the gratification of pride, or with the predomi- nant desire of gaining popularity, reputation, power, or position, it both degrades the seeker and the thing sought. 2. The Incentives to Study. — Taking it for granted that pupils are surrounded with circum- stances favorable to study, such as a convenient time, a proper place, and a suitable opportunity, — taking it for granted, too, that the teacher fully understands what are the objects of study, — an in- 126 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF TUB SCHOOL. quirj is now in place as to the incentives that are best calculated to induce pupils to perform their school-work. We do not exert ourselves without a motive; and just in proportion to the strength of the motive will be the force of the executive effort. A miller might as well expect his mill to run without water or steam, or a sailor his ship to move with- out wind or current, as a teacher to look for his pupils to accomplish any worthy thing in study without being actuated by motives. The teacher who induces his pupils to work diligently must understand human nature, — must be able to analyze the motives that impel mankind to exertion, and call into requisition those which are proper to be employed in the work of education ; and to do this skilfully, no small degree of well-applied effort is necessary. Before proceeding to name the different incentives to study which have been made use of in school, and to criticize them, it is deemed well to state the most important principles by which it is intended to test them. Incentives to study ought to be continuous in their influences. They ought not mei-ely to spur pupils on to the attainment of an object and then lose their potency. Incentives to study ought to arise from the nature of the subject, and the circumstances connected with learning it. They should be natural, not arti- ficial ; real, not fictitious. Incentives to study are best when they are founded upon the positive qualities of each pupil, and are not the result of a comparison of one pupil with another. STUDY. 127 It is unwise to encourage a disposition in pupils which may lead them to rejoice in the ill success of their classmates. All rewards when presented as incentives to study should be given with reference to effort, and not with reference to natural ability. All rewards when given as incentives to study should be calculated to promote the greatest good of the largest number. The great end of all study is human perfection ; and none but noble motives can lead to the attain- ment of so noble an end. In the discussion of Incentives to Study, we will consider — 1st. Incentives of doubtful Propriety. 2d. Proper Incentives, 1st. Incentives of doubtful Propriety, — The principal incentives to study about the use of which a differ- rence of opinion exists are — Prizes; Merit- 31arks ; Eimdation; Fear of Punishment; Shame; and Pidi- cule. Prizes. — Under the general head of Prizes it is intended to include all those material things wh^ch are presented m institutions of learning to such students as are supposed to have made more pro- gress in their studies, or are thought to be more deserving, than their fellow-students. In some schools, medals are used for this purpose ; in others, scholarships, books, pictures, money, and privileges of different kinds. Upon the question as to whether prizes should be used as incentives to study in schools, a warm controversy has been carried on among 13 128 THE EMPLOYMENTS OE THE SCHOOL. teachers and others interested in education ; and it is presumed to be best to state here the chief argu- ments on both sides, as a basis for the conclusion which will be announced. The arguments in favor of prizes are — That long-continued experiment has shown that prizes are useful. — Giving prizes to successful students is a custom which has prevailed in schools and colleges for centuries, and in all parts of the civilized world. It prevails now in a vast number of institutions of learning of different kinds and grades. The argu- ment is that a custom so long-continued and so wide-spread must have some advantages, or it would have been long since abandoned. Franklin approved of prizes ; and the Franklin Medals are still given in the public schools of Boston. Sir William Hamilton recently advocated the introduc- tion of a system of prizes into the University of Edinburgh, in the expectation that it would revive therein the languishing interest in certain depart- ments of learning. That the expectation of gaining a prize increases the interest in study, — It is admitted by all that the stu- dent who works merely to gain a prize is not actu- ated by the highest motive ; but a prize is something tangible, — something that his friends and the public can see ; and he is accordingly stimulated to exertion. Besides, the teacher can make it understood that the prize is representative in its character, — that it represents correct deportment, hard study, or his own or the giver's approbation of it. There are natural differences in mental capacity. Some pupils surpass others in study, just as some gain the prizes STUDY. 12& of life while others lose them. Teachers and class- mates will select the most deserving scholars, and bestow upon them in some form their congratula- tions. The bestowment of a prize is, in such cases, merely a public attestation of their good opinion, and it will be preserved as a happy memorial of their approbation. No one will maintain that a pupil may not strive to obtain the good opinion of teacher, fellow-students, or the public; and can there be any serious objection to the expression of that approbation in the form of a prize ? To secure this good will and this public testimonial of it, pupils will ^udy diligently, and with more interest than they would be likely otherwise to evince. Offered prizes have a very marked influence upon the studies of the younger classes of pupils, since they are incapable of appreciating the highest mo- tives. That the prospect of ohtainiiig a prize promotes profit- able competition, — The pupils composing a class com- pete for a prize. Their relative merits must be judged, and the prize be awarded to the most worthy. In order to attain the highest position in the class, there must be effort made ; and, as this effort gives strength, the competition, it is main- tained, is profitable. The management of a class under such circumstances may be a delicate matter ; great danger may exist that feelings of envy or jea- lousy will be engendered in the contest; but it cannot be doubted that a teacher who can so manage his class as to avoid this danger, and make the compe- tition fair and honorable and comprehensive enough to embrace the whole class, may secure a rapid ad- 130 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. vancement in study. The actuating incentive may be the prize ; but, in the struggle to obtain it, know- ledge is acquired and Strength developed ; and these are among the most important objects of education. The following arguments may be advanced against the use of prizes in schools: — That the pursuit of the prize causes pupils to overlook higher motives to study, — That there are higher motives which may be used as incentives to study than the desire to obtain a medal or a sum of money, every- body admits. Does the pursuit of a prize cause pupils to overlook them ? It must be confessed that such an effect is frequently produced.* A prize is something that can be seen ; it can be held up before the gaze of an admiring public; and it is well cal- culated, therefore, to obscure the more substantial good which it is supposed to represent. A pupil who is striving for a prize talks about it in the day- time and dreams of it at night. He forgets all about the worth of knowledge and the duty of self-per- fection, sees nothing but the prize, and hears nothing but the plaudits that will greet its happy recipient. This transfer of incentives to study from higher to lower, from real and permanent to fictitious and transitory, has a tendency to degrade the student. Nothing adds so much dignity of character to the seeker after knowledge as the consciousness that his object is a noble one. Full of this thought, all his actions are high-toned and manly; and as he triumphs over difficulties, and obtains the rich fruit of his toil, he feels that high pleasure which comes from know- ing that he has fought a brave battle and won a proud victory without doing harm to any one. STUDY. 131 It quite often happens, too, that the pupils who win prizes, having accomplished what they had striven for, cease their eflbrts and abandon hard study. Stimulated by the hope of gaining the prize they may have worked diligently ; but, that stimulus removed, their interest in study decreases, and they soon become indifferent to it. This is an unfor- tunate condition in which to leave pupils. It promises little for the futare; and it seems better to rely most upon those natural rewards which repay the labor of the student, and which, though con- stantly used, are always increasing in value. Careful teaching may induce pupils to think of prizes as the tangible representatives of the real rewards which they hope to gain ; and, if so, they can be used with little danger. Few teachers, how- ever, can hope to possess such skill, and, if they do possess it, they will scarcely need the help of prizes to induce their pupils to study. That the benefits to be derived from the giving of 'prizes are confined to a few, — If each pupil in a class could receive some testimonial fairly proportioned to his effort and success in study and his deportment as a student, there could be little objection to such a system. It would conform to nature's plan in prin- ciple, and, being more tangible, might exert a bene- ficial inffuence, especially with pupils in Primary schools. But the system of giving prizes as generally practised is something wholly different. The prizes for which a class or school competes are not often very numerous, — sometimes three or four, but more frequently, perhaps, a single one. They are be- stowed, not with regard to positive attainments, but 13* 132 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. with regard to relative position. There may "be a very slight difference between two competitors; both may be almost equally deserving; and yet one may obtain the prize, while the other is rewarded per- haps by pity for his ill success. By the wonderful principle of compensation, the apparent loser may be the real gainer ; but this does not save the dis- tinction made from the accusation of being arbi- trary and invidious. Suppose a class competing for a prize, and observe the result. At first the attention of the whole class may be directed to the prize, and a few good recita- tions may be the consequence ; but very soon some will come to the conclusion that the prize cannot be obtained by them, then others will arrive at the same conclusion, and afterwards still more, until the contest is narrowed down to a very few who strive on to the end. The effect is that those who lose the hope of obtaining the prize can with great difficulty be induced to study at all, and seem to think that, having abandoned the race themselves, their only duty is to watch the runners until they reach the goal and the winner receive the prize. Besides, those who continue the contest are generally such pupils as need no stimulus to exertion. They are more likely to over-work themselves than to work too little. The treatment they need in such circum- stances is rather sedative than stimulating. Thus the competition excited by the offer of a prize is apt to injure both the quick and the dull, the in- dustrious and the lazy, one class boing induced to work too much and the other being left with little inducement to work at all. STUDY. ■ 133 That there is great difficulty in awarding prizes justly. — K a prize be awarded unjustly, it will do harm to all concerned, — to him who receives it, to him to whom it rightfully belonged, and to the school- authorities who committed the error. The danger of doing some injustice in awarding prizes is very great. Data furnished by recitations and examina- tions are subject to many errors; and when the amount of effort made, the facilities of study en- joyed, and the difficulties encountered by the pupils, are taken into the account, there are so many un- known quantities involved in the problem that the shrewdest moral algebraist could scarcely solve it. Those who make the best recitations or appear to the most advantage at examinations are not always the finest scholars or the most deserving students. Some pupils have superior natural ability, which enables them to do with ease what others can ac- complish only by hard work; some receive private help, have access to libraries, enjoy ample time for study, and are allowed a pleasant place to study in, while others must help themselves, and study at hours stolen from sleep. The prize should be given to the most worthy. Teachers may be able to make the right selection, but all must admit the liability and the danger of mistakes. True, all praise and censure involve the same liability to mistakes. A teacher may commend the bad and censure the good ; but, while this should teach him to be careful as to whom he praises and with whom he finds fixult, yet in so doing he generally commits no public wrong, and he can oftentimes repair the private one he has inadvertently done. 134 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. That unJcind and jealous feelings are apt to arise among those who contend for a prize. — It is not uncom- mon, when the contest for a prize becomes close and confined to a few, that the other members of the class drop study, divide into parties, and attach themselves to the fortunes of one of the competi- tors. In such unfortunate circumstances, there are apt to be exhibited the feelings usual at wrestling- matches and horse-races, — there are apt to be those who rejoice equally at the success of their hero and the failure of his adversary ; and if the participants themselves do not sympathize with such feelings, they have more control over their passions than most students possess. 7^hat a prize is a fictitious and arbitrary reward for diligence in study or propriety in conduct, — In nature's system all honest efltbrt is properly rewarded. Na- ture is a prompt paymaster, and she rewards men liberally for every good thought they think and for every good deed they do. As the sower prepares his field, scatters his seed, and expects his crop, so all good thoughts and good words bring forth a natural fruitage of reward. The system of giving prizes operates upon a principle quite dififerent from this natural system of rewards. The prize is not bestowed for positive merit, but because the merit of the recipient is supposed to be of a higher order than that of others who may have been his competitors. The prize- system virtually supersedes the system of nature, and then sufl'ers a large number of deserving pupils to remain without any recognition of their worth in the standard of value adopted. But, at best, a prize STUDY. 135 is not a natural reward for hard study or good con- duct, and when not used directly as the representa- tive of that reward, its value must be wholly ficti- tious. The bestowment of it is controlled by no natural law, as such laws require each one to be rewarded according to his merits, and it is therefore an arbitrary reward. Having now stated the principal arguments for and against the giving of prizes in school, it is proper to conclude the matter with an expression of my own opinion. It is briefly this: that in the hands of most teachers, and as generally practised, systems of offering prizes in schools do much more harm than good. If, however, pupils can be made to understand that prizes are merely the tangible representation of the real reward, and to value them accordingly ; if the prizes can be made so nu- merous that the merits of all can be thus rew^arded, and the requisite care be taken that the value of each prize be in proportion to the positive merit of the one who receives it, nearly all the objections to their use would be removed, and they might become an auxiliaiy in the work of inciting pupils to study. The principle of giving prizes as rewards is not wrong, but it has been wrongly applied. "With judicious application its use is safe. Merit-Marks. — Teachers of Common Schools fre- quently arrange their classes so that the position of a pupil in the class determines his merit, or at least marks his relative scholarship. The practice of changing places in a class according to an assumed standard of merit, is not subject to many of the objections which can be made against the giving of 1S6 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. prizes. Each pupil in the class can be made to occupy the position to which his actual merit at the recitation entitles him; he competes not only with the best scholars in the class, but with those of similar ability to himself, and his place in class is a standard by which his friends and himself can compare his proficiency and progress with others. For young pupils, especially, '^place-taking" may be employed with good effect. In nearly all well-managed schools, a record is kept by which the scholarship and deportment of each pupil are exhibited. The marks used for this purpose are called Merit or Demerit Marks, and they are used as an incentive to study. So far as relates to study, these marks should be recorded during the recitation or immediately after it, and are intended to indicate the degree of proficiency in each lesson. At the end of a week, a month, or a year, these marks may be summed up and read to the pupils themselves, forwarded to their friends, or published to the world. Classes graduating at many of our higher institutions of learning are honored by positions determined by marks made up from those received during their courses of study. Are such Merit- Marks productive of good? Against their use it may be urged that the keeping of them requires considerable time. This is true, unless the teacher attends to it during the recitation or immediately after it; then the deserts of each member of the class are fresh in his mind, and he has nothing to do but to write opposite each name, in his class-book, the figure denoting them. STUDY. 137 Against their use, it may also be urged tliat nothing but the merit of the recitations can be marked, and that no account can be taken of differ- ences in natural talents, and opportunities for prepa- ration. Merit-Marks for study ought not to pretend to indicate any thing else than proficiency in reciting the lessons. The teacher should make this under- stood by his pupils. He should also be careful in giving Merit-Marks for deportment to give credit to those who improve their opportunities of study to the best advantage, as well as for propriety in their general conduct. If this be done, no one can rea- sonably complain of unjust treatment. Against their use, a more serious objection may be urged, that the attention of pupils is apt to be diverted by them from the high objects for which study should be pursued to the low one of obtain- ing good marks. To this objection it may be replied, that the great majority of students in all kinds of schools have not formed any high ideals of human perfection, and cannot, therefore, be actuated by motives prompting to their attainment. Teachers must first appeal to such motives as can be made effective, and, afterwards, gradually substi- tute nobler ones. Merit-Marks, too, like all kinds of reward, should be considered as the symbols of something higher and better. They are, indeed, among the safest of representative rewards, as all pupils may be marked according to their merit, and the record, made daily, is a safeguard against serious mistakes. In favor of Merit-Marks it may be said that they aid in giving system to the working of a school; 138 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. they are a conveinent medium of conveying a truthful account of progress in study made by pupils, and their conduct, to their friends; in schools where several teachers are engaged, they furnish to the Principal much needed information ; they are almost indispensable in making transfers from one class, or one school, to another; and they can be made, when judiciously used, a safe and powerful incentive to study and good conduct. That system, however, by which marks for merit are allowed to cancel marks for demerit, I do not approve. There is no warrant for the principle upon which it is based in the moral government of the world. God forgives offences, but he never effaces the recollection of them from the memory of the wrong-doer. "Works of supererogation are an impossibility. It is best to let the daily marks received by pupils stand, and make their sum total constitute the record for a week, a month, or a term. Emulation. — Wq have no right to seek after that which is unworthy of pursuit. To do otherwise w^ould be to spend time and effort in a bad cause, a^d to weaken the moral sense. On this point, however, there need be no question here, as all the objects of study are noble objects and well worthy our desires. Emulation is an effort to equal or surpass another in the pursuit of an object. There may be emula- tion in school in the struggle to gain a prize, a position, or to obtain good Merit-Marks; but the kind of emulation now referred to, is sim'ply a desire on the pari of some pupils to equal or surpass others in the STUDY. 139 pursuit of knowledge. The question now to oe deter- mined is as to whether a teacher should present this kind of emulation to his pupils as an incentive to study. Respecting this question, like that respect- ing prizes, considerable difference of opinion exists among educators; and, hence, it deserves careful consideration at our hands. It will be acknowledged by all, that the obtaining of a prize, a position, or a high mark of merit ought not to be the end of study. The same is mainly true of those trials of mental strength which spring from emulation; and yet such trials may have something noble and manly about them. A base mind may be made to work for money or for place, but there have been natures so generous as to discard such ignoble motives, and yet be ever will- ing to test their strength with ^'foemen worthy of their steel.'* A prize, in particular, when valued for itself, is an artificial reward; while the com- placency which arises from the consciousness of strength and excellence in comparison with others, is a natural reward. In competing for a prize, the contest must be between persons whose relations are intimate, and therefore will be apt to produce ill feelings ; while a pupil may emulate the excellences of a member of his class, those of a person who attends another school, those of the good and great whose virtues adorned the age in which they lived, or even those of a personage purely ideal. An offered prize is within the reach of only a small number; but the teacher can always find some one with whom to match even his dullest pupils. Some authority must decide, after a contest for it, to u 140 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. wliom a prize belongs, and there is great danger of deciding unjustly ; but when emulation simply is the actuating motive, the pupils can mostly decide for themselves. A prize won loses all power as an in- centive to study; but a pupil can never long want worthy rivals. From what has just been said, it appears that emulation is a much safer motive to be used as an incentive to study than the desire to gain a prize; and yet there are some objections to its use, which must be considered. It is said that pupils are apt to overlook the true end of study in the heat of rivalship, I do not object to a trial of strength or skill, either physical or mental, for itself. I believe that such trials, when well managed, have much in them that is good in its results. But the true end of study is not to equal or surpass another; and whenever it is lost sight of in a contest for victory, the consequences must necessarily be unfortunate, both intellectually and morally. That the true end of study is sometimes overlooked, when one pupil becomes the rival of another, cannot be doubted; but there is just as little doubt that a judicious teacher can prevent such a mistake. It is the abuse of a good thing ; and what good thing may not be abused? Two boys sent upon an errand need not forget to do it because they run a race on the way. It is said that emulation tends to produce had feelings between the contending parties. This result, it is alleged, may not appear at first, but it grows as a contest becomes more close. That a generous spirit may be made selfish from this cause, that even jealousy and STUDY. 141 hatred may be engendered, I tliink, cannot be doubted; and if such is the legitimate result of the employment of emulation as an incentive to study, resort should be had to some less dangerous mo- tive. A teacher, however, can make use of emulation without incurring such ill consequences. He can terminate a rivalship whenever he deems it best, and he can always avoid such as are close and per- sonal. Standards of comparison may be chosen from without the school as well as from within it. And, besides, I do not believe that the legitimate effect of a trial of mental or physical strength is to produce bad feelings. It may do this with low and narrow minds ; but with the brave and generous, if properly conducted, it never does. The most skil- ful players in games of ball or cricket, the fastest skaters, and the truest marksmen, are nearly always the best of friends. Their trials of skill teach them to respect one another. Such, too, might be the effect of the rivalship of the school-room. True, now and then unsuspected selfishness will come to the surface ; but, in morals as in medicine, the open manifestation of a disease presents the best oppor- tunities for administering the appropriate remedies. It is said that the effect of the use of emulation in school is to make ambitious men. — Ambition may be either good or bad. That unscrupulous ambition which seeks place and power regardless of all other interests, which has drenched the world with blood and filled it with misery and woe, is to be deprecated everywhere. Rather than that schools should be- come the nurseries of such ambition, let the schools 142 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. tliemselves be closed. But no sentiment can be nobler than that ambition which prompts men to do great deeds for themselves and for the race, which has pioneered civilization, marched at the head of reforms, and given the world its science and its art. Ambition is good when directed to good ends, and bad when directed to bad ends. Does emulation encouraged in school necessarily lead to the in- dulgence of an unworthy ambition ? The use of emulation in school is calculated to make ambitious men ; and without such men the whole intellectual and moral world would stand still. Whether the working out of their energies tends to do good or ill to the human family depends upon the manner in which those energies are di- rected. It is a matter of great responsibility to awaken the ambition of the young, and to count upon giving proper direction to it. It may be like sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind; but the teacher has no alternative. He aims to make men, and men must have ambition. Indeed, he meets with the same difficulty in regard to all the power he evokes and to all the skill he imparts. Education either unchains a devil or frees a man ; but the chance of an escape from the bondage of ignorance warrants all risks. These risks, however, should be rendered as slight as possible by the con- stant vigilance of teachers and parents. Several special arguments in favor of an appeal to emulation as an incentive to study will be named. Emulation is a feeling incident to our nature, and therefore has its use. — It is natural to compare our- selves with others. To this is owing the powerful STUDY. 143 influence of example. "Without it the lives of the good and the great would teach us no moral. The results of a spirit of emulation appear in all nations, and at all times. Ifations have competed with one another in commerce, manufactures, sci- ence, art, and arms. Individuals have measured strength in pastimes, in trade, in the forum, in peaceful science, and in bloody combat. Children emulate one another in early infancy; and many of the plays of childhood and the games of school-boy days derive all their interest from the efibrts of some to equal or excel others. Society is kept alive by competition. We find it in all the avenues of business, in the family, in the State, and in the Church. A power so universally active cannot be doomed to silence in the school-room. The teacher vdll find it as a part of human nature, and he cannot deny it a use unless he question the wisdom of Him who made man as he is. ITot that one man was designed to enjoy a triumph over another's misfortunes; not that some should rise by ruining others; but all were intended to journey through life mutually pro- tected, encouraged, and strengthened. ^'Iron sharp- eneth iron ; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." The desire of emulation is a part of our nature. It was designed as an incentive to that which is good. The teacher can thus use it. Emulation can he made a powerful means of securing advancement in learning, — If it be admitted that one person may measure his strength against another's, while both are in the pursuit of some object, that two pupils while studying their lessons may see 14« 144 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. wliich of tliem can perform the work most speedily, then, free from any moral objectionj the teacher will have placed in his hands a powerful means of secur- ing progress in study. He can stir up by it not only individuals, but classes and the whole school. Few will be found so indiiferent or dull that they cannot be made to feel its influence. My own success as a school-officer was largely attributable to the eflbrt made to induce the teacher and pupils of one school to equal those of another and to hold up to the people of some districts the bright example of others. A teacher may use emulation where higher motives would prove unavailing. Many who would not ap- preciate the worth of learning can be moved by the desire of doing better than those with whom they may be matched. Emulation can he used to give culture to character, — If well guarded, emulation among pupils will make them more manly, more generous, and more brave. It will teach them to form more just estimates of their own powers and the powers of others. It often furnishes a cure for selfishness, and gives strength to the will. It can be used to give culture to that radical disposition of the spirit which is termed character. I know that the general estimate of the value of emulation as an incentive to study differs from that just stated; but, before an objector decide that mine is erroneous, I would like to have him join a well- regulated cricket or base-ball club composed of students, play with them for six months, and closely observe the moral effect. There may be games in Mathematics, in the Sciences, in Language ; and, STUDY. 145 according to my observation, all may be made highly beneficial even in a moral sense. Emulation, how- ever, like sharp tools, requires skilful handling. It may do much good or great harm. Fear of Punishment, — The fear of punishment is not anywhere the highest incentive to the perform- ance of duty; but everywhere there seems to be a necessity for its use. The Creator in His moral government holds out the strongest inducements to well-doing ; but, when His laws are broken. He strives to bring the offenders back to obedience by punishments, mild or severe, according to the nature of the offence. The authorities of a State find it politic to inflict fines, imprisonment, and death, upon criminals. True, an individual who obej^s the laws of God or the laws of a State merely because he fears the punishment that will be inflicted upon the disobedient, is not acting in a manner worthy of a man or a citizen ; but each one must do his duty, — if not from love, then by force. These principles apply to the use of the fear of punishment as an incentive to study. Pains should not be spared, nor should patience be exhausted, in the effort to induce pupils to study from higher and better motives ; but such motives cannot always be made at once effective, and in the mean time lessons must be learned. The idle must first be made to work from some motive, and afterwards their motives can be elevated. Pearls are not appreciated by swine now any better than they were when Christ preached in Jrdea, more than eighteen hundred years ago. For these reasons, I think, the fear of 146 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. punishment may sometimes be used as an incentive to study. Lessons learned, however, because punishment is feared, are much less valuable to the learner than if he learned thena from a better motive, as they do not in such cases promote healthy mental growth ; but they are better than no lessons, and the teacher may choose the least of two necessary evils. The mistake which is apt to be made by the teacher is to continue the use of the fear of punishment as an incentive to study long after he should have dis- placed it by bringing into requisition higher motives. Moral culture is a growth as well as intellectual ; and if the teacher must begin his work with motives addressed to the animal nature, he can only safely end it when the actuating principles are worthy a being created in the image of God. The punishments inflicted ipr badly-prepared les- sons, it may be well to add, should not be arbitrary in their character. Corporeal punishments of any kind should never be used for this purpose. The punishment should follow the offence as effect fol- lows cause, and be naturally connected with it. It is best that the pupil should fear the punishment as the result of his own folly, and not as the arbitrary infliction of the teacher. For example, badly-pre- pared lessons might be relearned at recess or noon- time. If this were a general rule, the pupils, fearing the loss of the privilege of play, would study more diligently, until, perhaps, they might acquire the habit or the taste for study, when the influence of fear would be no longer needed to secure diligence. Besides, the loss of the teacher's approbation, the STUDY. 147 forfeiture of tlie good opinion of the class, the less- ening of their own self-respect, the mortification which arises from a failure to perform what others accomplish, the rebukes of conscience for neglect of duty, are natural punishments which are wisely adapted to correct the careless habits of study into which pupils may have fallen. Shame, — Shame is that feeling which arises from a consciousness of having done something wrong or degrading. Remorse is the reproach of con- science for wrong-doing ; shame is ihQ sense of personal degradation. All right-meaning persons experience shame w^hen they have yielded to temp- tation or failed to perform some duty. Little well- founded hope can be entertained of one who is "dead to shame." There are higher motives by which to prompt idle pupils to the performance of duty than the sense of shame ; but the uprising of this feeling is one of the ways in w^hich our nature reacts against a course of conduct that is unworthy of us. A pupil may feel ashamed when he has suffered his time to pass unimproved, when his lessons have been badly prepared ; and he may be induced thereby to abandon idle habits and engage in a manly per- formance of his duty. Operating in this way, the sense of shame is a proper incentive to study. The teacher may deepen a delinquent pupil's feeling of shame by reminding him of his duty, and by making him sensible of his abuse of privileges ; but the feeling should be suffered to arise of itself. An attempt to degrade a pupil in the presence of others — to make him feel little and unworthy — is many 148 THE EMPLOYMENTS OE THE SCHOOL. times to do him more harm than good. It is qnite easy for a blundering operator to blunt a pupil's sense of shame instead of quickening it. But few circumstances will justify a teacher in making a public exposure of a pupil's delinquencies ; and none can ever justify his holding him up to public shame. The faults of pupils are seldom so grave in their nature as to call for the use of means for correcting them that may induce the erring ones to shun the teacher's counsel and his presence and seek the society of the vicious. The loss of self-respect in boys and girls, as well as in men and women, renders their reform hopeless. This loss is suffered by those whose faults are unduly exposed, or whose sense of shame is trifled with. Ridicule, — Life has its ludicrous as well as its weak side. Men sometimes deserve to be laughed at as well as to be pitied. Democritus and Heraclitus were both right. Ridicule may be used with good eff*ect in rebuking the vices and follies of man- kind. Doubtless, the mistakes of ignorant pupils are often very ridiculous. Shall the teacher ridicule them, or permit others to do so, for the purpose of inducing the necessary effort to avoid such mistakes ? It is impossible at such times always to avoid a laugh; but I have never seen any good arise from the teacher's attempt to excite one. As with respect to the sense of shame; for a teacher to expose a pupil to public ridicule — to point the finger of scorn at him himself, or to suffer others to do it — is, in a vast majority of cases, to injure him rather than to correct his faults. Still, in private, and, STUDY. 149 much more seldom, before the school, the lazy and the careless may be made more sensible of their duties by hearing the faults into which they have fallen, or the follies in which they have engaged, exposed to ridicule; and circumstances may even justify the application of its lash to the bare back of some reckless spendthrift of money, time, talent, or privileges. As, however, there are so many higher incentives to study than ridicule, my advice to teachers is that they be sparing in its use, for it ofttimes wounds instead of heals. 2d. Froper Incentives to Study, — Chief among the incentives to study which are always deemed proper, are the following : — The Approbation of the Teacher. The Approbation of the Parents and Friends of the ' Pupil, The Approbation of Society. The Attainment of an honorable Position in the School. The Pleasure of overcoming Difficulties. The Gratification of Cariosity. The Desire of Knowledge, The Hope of Success in Life. The Enjoyment of purer ideal Creations. The Duty of Self Perfection. The Satisfaction of doing Right. The Prospect of Heavenly Reward. Some of these incentives may include others; but I have thought that the force of the whole is better expressed arranged as they stand. A few remarks will be made with respect to each. 150 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. The Approbation of the Teacher, — A teacher who does not enjoy the respect and love of his pupils can never teach them well. He may till the soil of the mind skilfully, but the seed he scatters will have no healthy germination. The approbation of a teacher who enjoys the respect and love of his pupils is a strong incentive to them to study. Such pupils will often study day and night — sacrifice comfort and health — to please a teacher. What teacher has not seen every feature of his pupils' countenances marked with pleasure — has not known that every fibre of their being vibrated with delight — when kind words of approval cheered their triumph over some difficulty ? What we do is rendered comparatively easy if we are sure that it will be appreciated. A farmer walked through his field where some laborers were mowing. " This is fine mowing," said he, — '' the best I have ever seen." The laborers smiled, looked at one another, and worked away with a will that seemed to say, ^'We can do it better still." This is human nature; and the teacher will find human nature in the school-room. If a teacher desire to have his pupils do much work and do it well, he must observe what they have done, and let them see that he appreciates merit. A teacher who is never pleased with any thing, who never gives an approving smile or utters an encouraging word, need not expect to have dili- gent pupils. Some teachers suffer themselves to fall into the habit of finding fault with every thing that does not please them, and of seeming scarcely satisfied with any thing ; but the inevitable fruit of STUDY. 151 such a course of conduct is unwilling pupils and little work. A teacher should commend where he can^ and find fault only when he must. Honest effort, should be encouraged. Kind words, smiles, nods of approval, attentions shown, and privileges granted, should reward the student for work well done. A teacher who enjoys the confidence and good will of his pupils, and who knows how to bestow com- mendation and when to withhold it, is in the pos- session of a power which may be made a strong incentive to study. It is not meant, of course, that indiscriminate praise should be given. The teacher must choose a right time, a fit place, and a proper manner for performing this delicate duty. ISo pupil should be praised who does not deserve it; nor should a teacher praise every deserving act, as if his appro- bation was the only reward for it. There is perhaps as much danger in praising pupils too much as in praising them too little ; but, in practice, every teacher must be guided by his own judgment. The Approbation of the Parents and Friends of the Pupils, — When home and social influences are of the right kind, the approbation of the parents and friends of the pupils is a very strong incentive to study, and the teacher may safely appeal to it. Even when parents are indiff*erent about their own mental and moral improvement, they will nearly always sanction any judicious measures a teacher may adopt for the mental and moral improvement of their children. It is many times unsafe for a teacher to refer to a parent's example; but it is hardly ever injudicious for him to strengthen his cause by citing 15 152 THE EMPLOYMENTS OE THE SCHOOL. a parent's opinion. There are very few parents who do not desire their children to learn when they send them to school, and very few children who do not have some regard for their parents' wishes ; and these facts may be taken advantage of in enforcing the duty of study. Pupils may be urged to prepare for an expected visit of parents and friends, or for an examination before them. They will desire their teachers and schoolmates to speakwell of them before these parents and friends, and they will themselves be glad to carry home the news of their progress, and thus exchange good lessons for encouraging words and approving smiles. Happy the circumstances of that school where the teacher and the relatives and friends of the pupils are equally intelligent, and where all co-operate in the work of instruction ! The Approhation of Society, — Students have not always received the approbation of society. In past times, some learned men were thought by their cotemporaries to have dealings with the Evil One, and others were compelled to suffer imprisonment and death, because they cast their pearls of know- ledge before swine, who trampled them under their feet and turned to rend their best benefactors. But at the present time, in every intelligent com- munity, the scholar is respected. His advice is sought, and his scholarship is a passport to social honors. Indeed, the scholar now ennobles the place of his birth, the house in which he lived becomes almost sacred, and pilgrims from distant lands go sadly to gaze upon his grave. The hard-working pupils in our Common Schools are not unhonored in their neighborhoods. Tbo STUDY. 153 people are proud of them. They mark them out for future honors. This approbation of society — this reputation for scholarship — may be lawfully sought by students ; and let no one blame them if sometimes, among higher incentives to study, they permit dreams of such honors to cheer their rugged pathway. The Attainment of an honorable Position in the School. — All schools have their positions of honor. These may be exhibited by a place in a class, by marks on a roll of merit, or by the silent suffrages of school- mates ; and their attainment is to the ambitious a powerful incentive to study. It is almost worth a fortune to a man to enjoy the reputation of having been the best scholar in a good school ; and to gra- duate with the first honor in a class at college is considered one of the greatest triumphs of life. [N^or are such motives unworthy ones. It is true that but few can expect to occupy the highest positions in a school ; but all good students can reach honorable positions, and these, under the judicious management of a skilful teacher, a large majority will strive to attain. The attainment of an honorable position as an in- centive to study is particularly strong in schools where both sexes are educated together. The mem- bers of one sex always have more regard for the opinions of persons of the opposite sex than of those belonging to their own. The Pleasure of overcoming Difficulties. — There is real pleasure arising from the doing of hard things. Boys will lift, and jump, and run, and climb, when uo one sees them, and for no other purpose save 154 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. that of testing their strength. They will work out puzzles, solve problems, and engage in other feats of mental gymnastics, merely for the enjoyment which comes from difficulties encountered and over- come. A vast amount of hard mental and physical effort is expended every day with no end in view "but that of doing difficult things. It is one of the ways nature uses to secure that toughening of muscle and that discipline of mind which the world needs to manage its affairs. The biography of Dr. Kane furnishes a good example in illustration of the principle just stated. Connected with the house of Dr. Kane's father there was a chimney of considerable height above the roof. The difficulty of ascending it on the out- side often formed the subject of the thoughts of young Kane as he gazed up at it. It was a temp- tation he could not resist, and he resolved to scale the chimney. In order to avoid the opposition of father and mother, the hour of midnight, w^hen all w^ere asleep, was chosen. "With his brother, whose sympathy in his undertaking he enjoyed, to assist, he mounted the roof, and, after repeated trials, suc- ceeded in throwing a stone, with a rope attached, into the open top of the chimney. The rope being made fast below, and his brother holding on to the other end, the fearless boy began the ascent. Hand over hand he mounts upwards, reaches the top, and, by great exertion, succeeds in seating himself upon it; and the future hero who is destined to explore the frozen regions of the polar sea and brave all its dangers thus triumphs over a difficulty that seemed to challenge his youthful powers. The descent was STUDY. 155 quickly performed, the rope was hidden away, and the daring boy retired to sleep satisfied. Science in all its departments presents hard pro- blems and difficult questions. Let the teacher bring them to the attention of his pupils in such a way as to teni'pt them to test their strength. Let him teach them to make long, hearty efforts, — to pull, and tug, and twist, until the work is done. Brave students like to do hard things; and, as they find hard things in science, they are often induced to study in order that they may enjoy the pleasure of overcoming difficulties. The Gratification of Curiosity. — ^'Admiratio est semen sapiejitice,'' says Bacon; and Hamilton has a similar sentiment, "Wonder is the mother of Knowledge." It cannot be doubted that the impulse that prompts the young in their search for information is curiosity. Long before they can appreciate the worth of know- ledge or desire to seek it for its own sake, their curiosity has led them to notice facts and pheno- mena and to find out their relations and significance. Ifor is this feeling confined to children. Men evince it in their travels into the unexplored regions of the earth, and in their study of the mysteries which are found in all departments of nature. Knowledge can be so imparted in school as to gratify the curiosity of the pupils. Something new and novel may be taught them every day. They can be constantly delighted with a revelation of the wonders of the air, the earth, and the heavens. Study thus conducted would be like traveling in an uu known land, where every hour brings into view scenes new, and strange, and interesting. It is to 15* 156 THE EMPLOYMENTS OE THE SCHOOL. " be feared, however, that our dull methods of teach- ing often tend to repress the curiosity of the young instead of seeking to gratify it. Children many times find that book-learning is not the same as what they so readily learned in field, wood, and stream, — as what nature taught them, — and so be- come disgusted with study. A teacher should always have in view the gratifi- cation of the curiosity of his pupils. Study to the younger pupils should be like turning over the leaves of a picture-book, like opening drawer after drawer of curiosities, like exhibiting ever-changing shop-windows, like looking at successive cases of objects in a museum, like witnessing the shifting scenes of a drama or a panorama. To the older, the objects of study may change less frequently, color and form may excite less interest ; but there should be a continual unfolding of new order, new beauty, new laws, and more wonderful facts, to give attrac- tion to it. The Desire of Knowledge. — The desn^e of knowledge is one of the noblest incentives to study. In using it, no caution is necessary. A pupil who craves knowledge for its own sake will find a prize in every truth learned. He will not need the spur of position or emulation to prompt him to exertion, and fear of punishment, shame and ridicule, are for influencing other natures than his. Even the approbation of teachers, friends, and society is enjoyed by him more as the reward of his ^efforts than as the end for which his learning was sought. The desire of knowledge is not created by artifi- cial mea.ns, but is innate. God made the world and STUDY. 157 stored it with things to be known, and implanted in the bosom of man, for whom the world was designed, the desire to know them. Engaged in trade and traffic^ many come to set no store upon that knowledge which cannot be valued in dollars and cents ; but it would be well for such persons to remember that things of greatest value cannot be bought and sold, and that God would not create what is unworthy of our study. Simply to possess knowledge gives pleasure. The mental appetite is thus satisfied. A true philosopher is a lover of wisdom, — not for its practical uses, but for its intrinsic worth. The richest fruits of science are the results of the desire of knowledge. Teachers will find this desire of knowledge among their pupils, — in some, weak, in others, stronger; but in the majority, it can be made a powerful incentive to study. At first their curiosity must be gratified, as previously shown ; but, finally, they should be made lovers of truth. This done, earth has few em- ployments that can furnish the same degree of pure happiness as study. The Hojpe of Success in Life. — Men who are rightly educated succeed best in business. Education is useful even in the common aflFairs of life. Learn- ing — not merely a smattering of Arithmetic, Gram- mar, and Book-Keeping, but liberal learning — is an advantage to mechanics, farmers, and merchants, as well as to lawyers, doctors, and clergymen. If making money were the chief end of life, the edu- cated man would enjoy many chances not open to the ignorant. A teacher will do well to show his 158 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. pupils the relation of the branches they study to the practical aiFairs of society. There is such a thing as true honor. What is called honor may be mere tinsel; but there is real respect due to work, and all men may lawfully strive to deserve it. An educated man, other things being equal, can accomplish more for society, is more de- serving of respect, and more likely to be honored, than one who has been denied the privileges of an education. Reputation is not always a bauble. A good name is a treasure not to be lightly esteemed. It is better than riches. Ignorant men have few opportunities to acquire a reputation. Their sphere in life is cir- cumscribed. They move on a low plane. KTot all so-called educated men have a desirable reputation ; but the names of the great benefactors of mankind m the past and in the present are those of educated men. Men are unworthy of place and power when they hold them unworthily ; but society has positions which are more responsible and which require greater ability in the occupants than others. They are found both in Church and State, and in the affairs of general society. It is not unworthy any man to aspire to fill such positions. They will be filled by somebody. ''The oflice should seek the man;" but no man will be sought unless he is supposed to be qualified, and qualified he can hardly be without an education, either obtained by self-exertion or by the aid of teachers. Thus it appears that success in life, whether it consists in doing work for society, or in gaining STUDY. 159 honor, reputation, place, or power, depends very much upon education; and this may be made an incentive to study. Educated men must make the laws of a State, and govern it ; must study science, and apply its principles ; must write books, invent machinery, command armies, lead reformations, head expeditions, and marshal the general affairs of society. The ignorant occupy the rear in the on- ward march of human progress, and educated men lead the van. These facts are so open to observa- tion that they can easily be made to exert their due injluence in inciting pupils to study. Indeed, with some pupils such influences have rather to be weak- ened than strengthened; for harm may he done by inculcating the opinion among them that all are one day to become Governors or Presidents, Bacons or Humboldts. The Enjoyment of purer ideal Oreaiions. — God is truth, and He has embodied this attribute of His nature in His creation. All science consists of truths discovered by men, and arranged into systems. Everywhere other truths await their interpreter. The sum of all the truths known, and all the truths possible, constitutes truih^ and above all is the ideal standard by which truth is measured, — The True. God is beauty, and He has made His creation after patterns of the beautiful in His own mind. How richly is beauty painted on the leaves of trees, on the petals of flowers, on the plumage of birds, in the ever-varying tints of water, and upon the blue sky ! How magnificently it is impressed upon nature's sculptured forms, from the tiny blade of grass up to the grand dome of Heaven ! How 160 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. sweetly it is sung in rippling waters, in sighing winds, in the warbling of birds, and in the infant's prattle ! Painter, Sculptor, Poet, catch glimpses of this beauty, and would fain express it on canvas, chisel it in stone, or hymn it forth in Poetry or Music. Higher than all this beauty is the ideal conception that comprehends all possible beauty, — The Beautiful. God is good, and all created things proclaim aloud that goodness. It is written upon the dry land, it is echoed forth in the voices of the waters, it is whispered by the winds, it shines from the heavens, the tall forests and the ripening grain nod their assent to it, and man finds it revealed in his own spirit. "And God saw everything he had made: and behold it was very good." Beyond all that is good is that noblest ideal creation of the human mind, — The Good. These pure ideal conceptions, The True, The Beautiful, and The Good, cannot be found in a mind darkened by ignorance. To fully realize the plea- sure which may be derived from contemplating them, culture is necessary; and there can be few nobler incentives to study. The powers in which our purest ideals originate are susceptible of improvement. There are those who having eyes see not, and having minds know not, the truth, beauty, and goodness that exist all about them. Ignorance shuts up the senses, and deadens the soul to their influence. Let the young mind once taste of the pure pleasure which ravishes the soul while dwelling in this ideal world, let the young heart once love The True, The Beautiful, and The STUDY. 161 Good, and all that exemplifies tliem, and the labor of study will become light. <* Scatter diligently in susceptible minds The germs of the good and the beautiful! They will develop there to trees, bud, bloom, And bear the golden fruits of Paradise." The Duty of Self-Perfedion. — The highest type of a man is one who is educated physically, intellect- ually, and morally, — whose whole nature has re- ceived due culture. He who possesses all good traits of character in the highest perfection, and has no bad ones, is a model man. After such a man, ideal or real, we may pattern. The great purpose of this life is self-perfection. Our duty in this respect is written in unmistakable characters upon our own constitutions. The Bible injunction is, "Be ye perfect.'' And for this end we have constantly before us an example in the beautiful life of Christ. Pupils should be made to feel the duty of self- perfection. They should be taught the high pur- pose of life, the dignity of the human character, the worth of the soul ; and they will learn to appreciate the value of growth in knowledge and virtue, and to make the necessary efforts to attain it for them selves. The Satisfaction of doing Bight. — To become more excellent is to exercise the highest prerogative of our nature ; and none can doubt that man rises in the scale of being in proportion as he increases his knowledge of God and the works of His hand. The man of science knows that he is making a proper use of his talents when he studies plants and 162 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. animals, the constitution of air and water, the struc- ture of the earth, the places of the stars, and the mysteries of his own body and mind. For such purposes his powers of intellect were given, and he feels that God will smile upon such a use of them. It is right to study, because many things surround us that are worthy of it; because ''Wisdom is more precious than rubies;" because the acquisition of knoAvledge ennobles and elevates the mind; because our mental faculties can only be strengthened by exercising them, and we would be false to ourselves, to our fellow-men, and to God, who intrusted their care to us, if we neglect their culture ; and because knowledge is profitable in the affairs of life and profitable in fitting us for the enjoyments of Heaven. No effort is too great on the teacher's part to make his pupils feel that theirs is not a work that can be neglected, but that, on the contrary, it is their sacred duty to become educated. There is wanted sadly more religion in education, and, per- haps, more of the philosophy of education applied in religious teaching. Both education and religion are developing processes, both find something in- nate in the human soul which can be cultured, and both by different means attempt to impart that cul- ture. It is man's duty to be religious, it is his duty to educate himself; and to be rightly engaged in the pursuit of either, brings with it a complacent spirit and a satisfied conscience. The Prospect of Heavenly Eeivard, — If all know- ledge perished with the grave, if no hope could be entertained that strength of mind gained here will be strength gained permanently, one of the principal STUDY. 163 incentives to study would be taken away. This is not the proper place to present the reasons upon which rest our hopes of retaining our mental strength and much of our knowledge in that state of immor- tality upon which we enter after death ; but it may be said that if there were no other reason we would require all that strength and that knowledge simply to understand the justice of our reward or punish- ment; for "Here we see through a glass darkly, but there face to face." But, whether the proposition that we retain the knowledge acquired here in the world beyond the grave is capable of demonstration or otherwise, we believe it ; and could that faith be stricken from the human heart, it would palsy all educational effort, and eclipse the brightest hopes of the Christian student. 3. The Modes of Study. — Something must be said in this connection upon modes of study ; but the design of the present book precludes a full dis- cussion of the subject. "We may study to find out something new, and we may study to acquaint ourselves with what is already known. The product attained by the first kind of study may be called original knowledge; and that by the second, scholastic knowledge; and, as the processes of attaining these two kinds of knowledge are somewhat different, we may consider — 1st. Modes of Study in the Attainment of Original Knowledge, 2d. Modes of Study in the Attainment of Scholastic Knoioledge. 15 164 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL 1st. Modes of Study in the Attainment of Original Knowledge, — Original knowledge is of two kinds, — empirical and pure. It is empirical when derived from experience, and pure when it results from intuitions of tlie reason. Some rules will be given to guide tlie student in his search for each kind of knowledge. With regard to the attainment of empirical know- ledge, the following rules are proposed to the stu- dent : — He should set before himself a definite object, — ^Nothing in nature is devoid of interest; but if one under- take to study every thing he comes in contact with, he can never make much progress, and the know- ledge he does obtain can never be arranged into a compact system. A student who would make suc- cessful original investigations must select a definite object of pursuit and pursue it indefatigably. He m.ust carefully observe facts, — This is the great rule to which is owing the rapid growth of modern science. All safe theories must rest upon the basis of ascertained facts ; and these facts must be ob- served carefully, patiently, and with an unbiassed judgment. !N:o other key will unlock the secret treasures of nature. His observations must be correctly recorded. — An ob- served fact may not be used for a scientific purpose until years after the observation was made, or by the one who made it ; and hence the necessity for a correct record. Much has been lost to science by a neglect of this rule, and many a man has found the labor of years thrown away by failing to make a record of his observations sufficiently exact. STUDY. 165 Each fact must he closely examined and critically dis- criminated from other facts. — Without an observance of this rule, the essential and inherent properties of things cannot be ascertained, nor can the first step be taken towards making a systematic arrangement of them. All facts must he accurately classified, — Classification is the handmaid of Science in all her departments. Facts isolated and scattered have comparatively little scientific value; but accurate classification helps the memory to retain a knowledge of them, and leads the way to the induction of the laws by which they are bound together. Generalizations must hefaithfidly made. — Generaliza- tion is the crowning work of empirical science. It should never be done in haste, nor until sufficient data are at command to warrant it. Inconsiderate generalizations have been the bane of science. Hidden errors are prone to mislead at every step, and constant vigilance is required to guard against them. Anticipations of nature's truths should be cautiously indulged in. — By the anticipations of nature's truths is meant the forming of theories before ascertaining the facts for which they are designed to account, — speculation. A philosopher who has carefully studied the economy of nature, who has patiently made his way up frond facts to principles, whose mind has caught glimpses of God's plan in His creation, may, from his stand-point, directly discern a truth or a law from its accordance with the general plan ; but one of the great lessons of history is to teach caution in this respect. 166 THE EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SCHOOL. "Witli regard to the attainment of pure knowledge, a few rules will also be stated, as follows : — Learn to distinguish necessary and universal truths from those which are contingent, — When deeply in- vestigated, it will be found that even the Inductive Sciences rest upon a basis — below their basis of facts — of necessary and universal truths. If this be doubted, it is certain that such truths underlie all the Mathematical and Metaphysical Sciences. As a first step, then, in the attainment of pure know- ledge, the truths of which it is composed, or from which it is deduced, must be distinguished from other truths. The question, "What is an axiom ? precedes that as to whether a particular proposi- tion is an axiom, and, indeed, must be answered before any sure progress can be made in the attain- ment of original knowledge with respect to the pure sciences. Find the necessary and universal truths upon ivhich is founded the particular subject under consideration, — A definite object is as necessary to success in the ac- quisition of pure as of empirical knowledge. Having chosen a subject for investigation, the axioms must be found out of which the particular truths sought for can be evolved. For example, the science of -