THE MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION. This association celebrated its fiftieth anniversary on Friday, Nov. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 1, 1894. In the richness of its programme, in the eminence and authority of its speakers, in the interest and enthusiasm of the great audiences of teachers, and especially in the emphasis that its fiftieth meeting, as contrasted with its first, placed upon the educational progress in which it has been so potent a factor, the celebration of this anniversary was a notable event. As an illustration of the contributions made by this association to the creation of public opinion, as well as of its insight in recognizing that public opinion when it has been created, I cite the following resolutions, adopted by it in November, 1893: 1. Resolved, That high moral character, good scholarship and professional training should be regarded as essential prerequisites for teaching and that no teacher should be employed in any of the schools of the Commonwealth without these qualifications. 2. Resolved, That, while we rejoice in the extended opportunities for professional training which have been given recently, we favor a further extension of such opportunities, especially for the training of teachers of secondary schools. 3. Resolved, That we advocate such certification of teachers by the State as will help to remove the election of teachers from political and social influences, and raise their standard of scholarship and professional ability. 4. Resolved, That, for the purpose of enabling the poorer towns of the Commonwealth to have the continuous service of trained teachers, adequate assistance should be afforded by the State, and for this purpose an enlargement of the State school fund should be made. 5. Resolved, That to all superintendents of schools and teachers whose fitness for their work is assured by successful experience, tenure of office during good behavior and efficient service should be given. 6. Resolved, That the assistance given by the State to the smaller towns for the skilled supervision of the schools is worthily bestowed, and that the present plan of districting the towns for the purpose of school supervision should be extended so as to include all the towns of the Commonwealth. 7. Resolved, That the ambiguity and complexity of some of the school laws of the State demand their codification and revision, espe cially in the direction of making more clear and more positive the compulsory laws relating to school attendance. 8. Resolved, That, for the better enforcement of truant laws throughout the State, provision should be made for the appointment of a special officer to act under the direction of the Board of Education. 9. Resolved, That we heartily favor the proposition to establish in this State a school museum, and we respectfully recommend that the educational exhibit made by the Commonwealth at the World's Fair be made the beginning of such a museum. Resolutions 3, 4 and 9 have been met by the action of the last Legislature. Resolutions 1 and 2 voice a sentiment that is steadily growing. Resolutions 5 and 6 are destined to receive increased attention in the near future. Resolution 7 has been met in part by the recent codification of the laws relating to the inspection of school buildings, to the attendance of children in the schools, and to the employment of children of the school age, and the consequent repeal of scores of old sections and chapters containing their provisions; and by a more stringent definition of what constitutes truancy. The association at its November meeting in 1894 renewed its recommendations in favor of extending the plan of district superintendence to the entire State, and of the appointment of superintendents of schools to serve during the pleasure of school committees. It reaffirmed its belief in the wisdom of the legislation designed to secure a more permanent tenure of office for teachers, and appealed to the Board of Education to exert its influence in favor of the general acceptance of such legislation by school committees. The most important new action taken by the association is found in the following resolution : Resolved, That the professional part of the duties now devolved upon school committees should be by law assigned to educational experts. In recognition of the prominent part the organization has borne in the educational history of the State, special notice is given to its fiftieth meeting, in one of the appendices of this report. The historical address by Mr. Elbridge Smith is given in full, in order that a permanent record may be made of much that might otherwise fail of preservation. It is interesting to note in this connection that the first formal paper or lecture ever given before the association was by Mr. Smith, at its second meeting in Worcester, Nov. 23, 1846. Its subject was, "The claims of teaching to the rank of a distinct and independent profession." AGENTS OF THE BOARD. For convenience and efficiency in their educational work, the agents of the Board, while ready for service in any part of the State, have special fields assigned them, the fourteen counties being distributed among them as follows: Mr. George A. Walton, Middlesex and Barnstable; Mr. John T. Prince, Norfolk, Bristol, Dukes and Nantucket; Mr. Andrew W. Edson, Worcester and Hampden; Mr. G. T. Fletcher, Berkshire, Franklin and Hampshire; Mr. James W. MacDonald, Essex, Suffolk and Plymouth. Mr. Henry T. Bailey, State supervisor of drawing, and Mr. L. Walter Sargent, his assistant, from the nature of their work cover the entire Commonwealth, Mr. Sargent giving his chief attention to the western counties. They are very busy men, as may be inferred from their several reports to which attention is earnestly called. They have many subjects in common, encounter similar obstacles, recognize similar needs, and, though they work independently of one another in their study of policies and remedial measures, their general agreement in plans for the solution of problems is often striking, and entitled to all the greater consideration because of its spontaneity. Meetings of the agents and the secretary have been regularly held during the year, the most important measure before them for study and discussion having been the plan for the State examination and certification of teachers. The administration of this plan, involving, as it does, not merely the written and oral examinations of candidates, but the actual inspection of their work, in the schoolroom, will impose new, grave and delicate duties upon the agents, and may make it imperative in the not distant future to increase their number. The secretary takes pleasure in acknowledging his indebted ness to the agents of the Board for their prompt, courteous and loyal co-operation at a time when such support was especially prized. To Mr. George A. Walton, in particular, does he owe the critical and helpful analysis of the school returns with which the secretary's report begins. In this connection, too, it is proper to recognize the general service rendered the secretary by the clerk and treasurer of the Board, Mr. C. B. Tillinghast. His familiarity with the traditions and history of the office, with educational discussions and decisions, and with State affairs in general, has proved invaluable. EDUCATIONAL QUESTIONS. The present is a time in our educational history characterized by deep and earnest questionings about education. Have we grasped the full spirit of what true education is? Ought not the true elementary course of study to recognize the entire environment in a simple, child-appealing way? Ought we not to attach greater importance to the currents of likes and dislikes in the child's nature, in short, to respect child interest more than at present? Ought not the work spirit to be developed gradually out of the play instinct? May not that which is called the technique of education be mastered in less time and with greater certainty in close connection with what may be called the body or substance of education? In other words, may there not be a distinct gain in teaching the various forms of expression in close connection with things that are worth expressing? Can there be wider and richer study for children, and at the same time that concentration and prolonged use of the faculties that is so indispensable in true discipline of the mind? Is the human mind so simple and transparent a thing that it is satisfactorily reached and trained by a single method or a scant curriculum, or is it a complex, multi-sided and inexhaustible thing, responsive to scores of methods or even to ways never suspected of being methods? Is the road to a good education single and royal, to be regarded as practically undiscovered so long as experts disagree about it, or are there a score of routes, all so surely leading there that we need not distress ourselves unduly about their diversity? Questions like the foregoing and a thousand others are in the air. The bare fact that they are under discussion is an auspicious one. If we ever fold our hands in these matters, and say, "There is nothing more to do or to learn," it will be because we have ceased to grow. It is fitting, however, that the discussion should go on in the spirit of full and grateful deference to the good men and women who have borne the heat and the burden of the educational toil of the past, with a patriotic recognition of the worth of their labors, and with an earnest purpose to maintain, in all strivings to advance its efficiency, the integrity and unity of the great school system they have left us as our richest legacy. FRANK A. HILL, |