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108 



&l)c ifarmcr's iHontljln Visitor. 



books have been extremely defective, both in arrangement and adaptation 

 to the capacities of the learners. A strange medley of these lias for a 

 Ion;; time usurped authority in the school, or rather set all authority at 

 defiance, and rendered the labyrinths through which the student must 

 grope, oidy more intricate, and the darkness that envelopes the unguided 

 wanderer more visible. Hut a brighter day is beginning to dawn. Indi- 

 viduals of admitted experience, and known abdny are preparing school 

 books, whose increasing excellence is the only ground upon which the 

 authors base their claims of patronage. Such of those already in use as 

 possessed real merit, have, in numerous instances, been revised and im- 

 proved ; and in almost every department of science new ones have been 

 written of a higher order, and containing the latest discoveries and im- 

 provements. These hooks may be found in many of our Schools. Series 

 of valuable Reading books have also been introduced in very many dist- 

 ricts, in which the prime object of common school education has begun 

 to he appreciated ; and wherever the delects of the antiquated, inappro- 

 priate, and in many cases injudicious compilation of extracts, without any 

 accompanying rules or exercises, have discovered themselves ; the change 

 has commenced and is rapidly progressing ; and the rubbish of olden 

 times is being discarded with a rapidity, that exactly quadrates with the 

 advancement of intelligence, and the earnestness of attention with which 

 this subject has been treated. The work is still advancing, and we earn- 

 estly hope that it may be speedily consummated. We would recommend 

 among the earliest official duties of the committees, when it has not al- 

 ready been done, a thorough revision of their text-books, with a determi- 

 nation, though it he at some cost, to be satisfied only with the best. But 

 in no case should there be a change, or new ones introduced,' until they 

 have received the most thorough examination of the Superintending 

 Committees, and then only such as out of the mass that is presented for 

 adoption, the committee shall have decided, upon the most mature delib- 

 eration, are preferable to any others, or the change may not be accompa- 

 nied with the anticipated results; and the burdens of the useless expen- 

 ditures imposed upon the people will settle for years like an incubus up- 

 on the cause of reform. 



b\ The improved methods employed in imparting instruction. It is a source 

 of profound regret to every intelligent mind, that the methods of teach- 

 ing so long used in the Districts Schools have been so defective. A ref- 

 erence to some of them, would provoke a smile at i he expense of an 

 aching bean. The duties of the school embraced an unchanging routine 

 of exercises extremely monotonous, and uninteresting. The idea that the 

 acquisition of knowledge could become a source of exquisite pleasure, 

 rather than a dreaded task, was hardly entertained. The great object of 

 education — the complete, harmonious and symmetrical development of all 

 the faculties— has been entirely overlooked. Time, whose capacity should 

 have been exhausted, in forging mental power, so necessary lor every ex- 

 igency of life, has been occupied in gathering a few disconnected frag- 

 ments of science ; and committing to memory a tew meagre rules, with- 

 out the least regard to ihe important principles upon which they were 

 based, was the daily mechanical task assigned to the pupils in the '' Dist- 

 rict School as it was." A greater change in this respect, than in almost 

 any other, has been effected within a few years, and this mechanical me- 

 thod, or rather unmeehanical — lor it violates all the laws of effective me- 

 chanism, and finds its parallel, and its native clime, only where there is 

 no division of labor among men, and no classification of phenomena in 

 science — is yielding to one more effective in discipline, and philosophical 

 in character. 



The standard adopted in our improved Schools is elevated. It requires 

 the pupil not merely to commit, but to think, vigorously anil protractedly. 

 Ability, not acquirements merely, is the true test of scholarship. The 

 former secured, the latter is within our reach ; mere words are discarded, 

 ar.d clear ideas are demanded ; and the quality of instruction is deemed 

 vastly more important than the quantity. A greater familiarity with prin- 

 ciples is perceptible, and as a necessary attendant, an increased ability to 

 communicate them in a clear and agreeable manner. 



The art of education is still in its infancy, but it possesses the true spirit 

 of progress. The work of reform has commenced, and it will advance, 

 shedding increasing light on remaining defects, and directing to more 

 appropriate agencies for their removal. However congenial it may he to 

 my ovmi feelings, and agreeable to those of my readers, to linger in con- 

 templation around this pleasing branch of the subject, duly compels me 

 to introduce other topics no less profitable, however unwelcome I hey 

 may be. 



PLANS OF SCHOOL-HOUSES. 



In my last Report, I endeavored to point put the defects of our school- 

 houses ; and ill this, I shall present a few plans, combining the latest im- 

 provements in this department. The friends of education, within a few 

 years, have devoted much attention to School Architecture, and many ex- 

 cellent plans have, been devised, by which former defects may be obviated, 

 and all deficiencies supplied. Our knowledge of the defects of the 

 school house of our boyhood is experimental and lasting; and it is very 

 desirable that we speedily acquaint ourselves with the most approved 

 methods of removing them, so that in the erection of a school-house, or 

 In re-modeling an old one, we may not he compelled to imitate the for- 

 lorn specimens of the past. It is a fact, and the announcement of it 

 should astonish us, that school-houses have been erected, within a few 

 years, in strict conformity to the models of former generalions. Greal 

 embarrassments have been experienced by pet sous employed to build 

 school-houses, from the want of suitable plans and descriptions. At my 

 solicitation, several of' the towns have generously borne ihe expense of 

 engraving plans of their school-houses, for the benefit of any who may 

 wish to erect an improved school-house. Such liberality on the part of 

 the friends of this cause furnishes an unequivocal indication of deep in- 

 terest. 



VIEW OF A SCHOOL-HOUSE IN DUBLIN. 



Description oj School-house in Dublin. 



The building is 42 by 30 feet on the ground, and II feet high in the 

 clear, or between the timbers. The school-room is 29 by 35 feet inside, 

 with eleven windows, furnished with green wooden cm tains, by which 

 the intensity of the light can he regulated to any desired degree. There 

 are (34 seals, and as many desks, each funds ted with a sliel for books, 

 &c, for the convenience of every scholar, and the d 'sks are all numbered, 

 so that each scho ar may know bis own seat. The desks are all made of 

 birch boards, and painted green. t'hey are 2 feet in length, and from 18 

 to 15 inches wide, according to their location — the back seats being high- 

 est and widest, and those in front lower and narrower, to accommodate 

 the small scholars. The seats are in the form of a wooden chair-bottom, 

 and they, as well as the desks, are fastened down with long wood 

 screws, and are of varisus heights, for the convenience of scholars of all 

 sizes. The seats are from 16 inches down to 10 in height, and the desks 

 from 304 inches down to 20. The seats are placed at the left end of ihe 

 writing disks, lo make it more convenient for writing, and at the same 

 lime to give a space at the right end lor the scholars to stand in the seals. 

 The front of each desk inclines back so far that by cutting off the upright 

 plank square it gives the proper slope for the top of ihe desk, and also (as 

 this makes the b ick of the seat in front of it,) gives a suitable inclination 

 back for ihe ease of the scholars in silling. The sleepers under the floor 

 are so arranged that the supports at the ends of the desks are framed 

 down through the floor into them — there being twj tenons on the lower 

 end of each plank. 



The aisles on the outside of the house are 18 inches, that in the centre 

 24 inches, and the others 16 inches in width. There are movable seats 

 in the area in front of the other seats, which are used for recitations, &.C. 

 The teacher's desk is on a plaifor n raised 15 inches, in the centre of the 

 front of the roo::>, with a small room behind it for the use of the teacher. 

 There are two doors of entrance, one for hoys and one lor girls, and the 

 entry of each is furnished with conveniences for hanging up hats, bon- 

 nets, over-gar enis, &c. These entries also seive as recitation rooms for 

 ihe younger scholars to recite to monitors. The teachers' room is also 

 used for this purpose. The scho.d-rooni is heated with on 3 of the Wor- 

 cester Common School Stoves. I cannot describe them fully lo you, 

 but the stove is enclosed in an air-chamber, to which is attached a pipe, 

 for the admission of fresh air from without, which, when heated, is let 

 into the room by means of apertures on top of ihe stove. The effect is 

 to give out a mild and agreeable heat, resembling that of Summer. The 

 cost of these stoves is about $18. The room is furnished with two venti- 

 lators, which open into the attic story, so that any excess of heat, or im- 

 purity of the air of the school room, can be very soon removed. 



fLAN OF A SCHOOI.-HOUSE IN DUBLIN. 



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