School economy. A treatise on the preparation, organization, employments, government, and authorities of schools

Front matter

Qass_ Book-

'J to

SCHOOL ECONOMY.

Preface

All that relates to the Theory of Teaching or to its Practice 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 Teaching 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, assembled to receive professional instruction, during three months, at the little town of Millersville. The author was then Super-

VI 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 aj)proximate 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 prepared. The matter intended for the volume on "Methods of Instruction" is now almost ready for the press ; but that intended 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 country, 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 mu&t 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 themselves. This is the more readily done, because little is cared as to who first stated an isolated fact or discovered a disconnected 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 scientific principles ; and as such its merit must be judged. It would have been easy to fill the book with accounts of particular 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 introduce such things into our graver professional literature. No work upon Teaching can now be welcomed by the thinking 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. Eeaders of this book, it is hoped, will be found not only among teachers and school-officers, but among the unprofessional 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 endeavored 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 recitations 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 principles, and is a science. These principles can be arranged into a system. Teaching will be recognized as a learned profession, 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.

State Normal School, October, 1863.

Chapter I. The Preparation For The School

PAGE

I. School-Sites.... '■' 1

1. Convenience of Access 2

2. Suitability of Grounds and Sueeoundings 3

3. Healthiness of the Neighboehood 4

4. Beauty of Location 4

II. School-Grounds 5

1. The Aeeangement of School-Geounds 6

1st. Size 6

2d. Shape.. 6

3d. Plan 7

4th. Apparatus 8

5th. Care-taking 9

2. The Advantages of School-Geounds 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

5th. 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 of 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

3d. They make Teaching more effective 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. School-Studies 27

1. Studies for Primary Schools 27

2. Studies for Grammar-Schools 29

3. Studies for High Schools 30

4. Studies for Colleges 31

V. School-Houses 33

1. Size 33

2. Form 34

3. Internal Arrangement 34

4. Recitation-Rooms 38

5. The Cellar 39

6. Lighting 39

7. Heating 40

8. Ventilation 41

VI. School-Furniture 42

1. Desks and Seats v 42

2. Platform 43

3. Blackboard 43

4. Miscellaneous Articles of Furniture 46

VII. School- Apparatus 46

VIII. School-Eecords 48

1. The Forms of School-Records 48

CONTENTS. XI

PAGE

1st. A Register of Admission and Withdrawal 60

2d. A Register of Attendance and Deportment 61

3d. A Class-Register 64

4th. A Summary Register 66

2. The Objects of School-Records 65

1st. To aid the Teacher in his Work 57

2d. To give Information to Parents and School-Officers 57

3d. To furnish educational Statistics , 67

4th. To exert a beneficial Influence upon the Pupils ... 58

Chapter II. The Organization Of The School

I. The Temporary Organization of the School 60

1. The Seating 66

2. The Times of Opening and Closing the School 66

3. The Hours of Recesses and Intermissions 66

4. Leaving Seats and asking Questions 66

6. 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

3d. 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 Recitation 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

6th. The Opening and Closing Exercises of the School 10C 6th. The Calling out and Dismissing of Classes 109

Xll CONTENTS.

PAGB

7th. The granting of Special Privileges 110

8th. The Transaction of General Business 114

9th. The Administration of Discipline 115

Chapter III. The Employments Of The School

t. Study US

1. The Objects or Study 119

1st. Knowledge 120

2d. Discipline 121

3d. Aspiration 123

4th. Efficiency 124

2. The Incentives to Study 125

1st. Incentives of doubtful Propriety 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

8. The Modes of Study 162

1st. Modes of Study in the Attainment of original Knowledge 164

Empirical Knowledge 164

CONTENTS. xiii

PAGE

Pure Knowledge 166

2d. Modes of Study in the Attainment of scholastic Knowledge 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 175

II. Recitation 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

3d. 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

5th. 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

8. The Methods of Conducting the Recitation 184

1st. Imparting Knowledge 184

Lectures 184

Text-Books 186

Dialogues 187

Catechization 188

XIV CONTENTS.

PA09

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 Knoxoledge 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 Recitation 211

1st. The Preparation the Pupil needs for the Recitation 211 2d. The Preparation the Teacher needs for the Recitation 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-Ethics 231

The Classification of Persons engaged in the School... 231

The Duties of Pupils 233

The Offences of Pupils 235

CONTENTS. XV

PAOB

II. School-Betributions 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 Disorder 250

1st. The Punishment of those who offend. 251

The Principles according to whieh 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

1st. Moral Knowing 284

2d. Moral Feeling 285

3d. Moral Willing 289

IV. School-Administration 290

1. The Detection of Offenders 291

2. The Selection of the Punishment for Offenders.. 298

3. The Manner of inflicting Punishment upon Of-

fenders 300

XVI . CONTENTS.

Chapter V. The Authorities Of The School

PACK

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 to 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

3d. To elevate it, by encouraging all Means of professional 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 Eespect 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 301

4th. The Relation of Education to Happiness 364

5th. The Relations of Education to Government 369

CONTENTS. XVli

The Agencies by which an Education can be obtained > 371

1st. The Family School 371

2d. The Church School 373

3d. The Private School 374

4th. The State School 375

5th. The People's School 377

SCHOOL ECONOMY.

By School Economy are meant all those arrangements that tend to make the school a fit place in which to impart instruction, and all those conditions that render teaching effective. 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 chapters, 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 explaios itself, and is wellnigh exhaustive.

IV1U

SCHOOL ECONOMY.

Chapter I. The Preparation For The School

Preparation is required for every important undertaking. Preparation niust 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 particular case, upon tbe end intended to be accomplished, and tbe means wbicb can be used in its accomplisbment. In making preparation for tbe School, tbe following particulars must be regarded :

I. School-Sites.

II. School-Grounds.

III. School-Grades.

IV. School- Studies.

V. School-Houses.

VI. School-Furniture.

VII. School-Apparatus.

VIII. School-Records.

I. School-Sites. — Too little attention has been paid to the location of school-houses. Not unfre-

Z THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL.

quently a school-house 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, — disturbed 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 pursue the work of education with full profit to themselves 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 Neighborhood.

4. Beauty of the Location.

1. Convenience of Access. — Each Common School house is designed to accommodate with school facilities 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. Theoretically, 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; for

SCHOOL-SITES. 6

the distribution of the population, the direction of the roads, and the intervention of obstacles, as mountains 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 accommodated, for the purpose of securing a more eligible location. for it.

2. Suitability of the Grounds and Surroundings. — ~No 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 ornament. 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 healthgiving 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 street or the thronged highway, — all are apt to divert the mind from study. Still worse is the near proximity 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 consideration. A school-house so situated that the children 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 intellect 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 !"

H. School -Grounds. — It is not less important that a school should have connected with it appropriate 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 provide 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 b THE PREPARATION FOR THE SCHOOL.

useless for the purposes of play by rocks and stumps and the 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 extent 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 ornament, 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, especially such as furnish boarding accommodations to their students, should have, according to their circumstances, 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 south. With larger grounds the shape is not so important; 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 extending 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 extend to both sides on a line with the front of the house. A close and high board fence should extend 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 studious 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 description.

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 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. No place can be named where* these arts could be turned to better account. Blessings upon the benefactors who shall connect with our higher institutions of learning, grounds diversified 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 leaping 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, jumpingropes, .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 all boarding-schools should have 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 -Committees 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 propensities 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 prevent 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 preserving then