| Show baa tar SCHOOLS OP THE OLDEN TIMES for alin up to the tune of the reformation ali c binion people of europe in u sant of abacut ignorance in regard to flo olum onia generally considered as belonging to education leading handwriting and writing ware by tho higher classes cluss es and by no means universal even among them the higher education was in the control of the priesthood and was administered almost exclusively in the interest of the church common schools in which the whole body of tho people had a rightful participation wore not only unknown but an idea so revolution ary to the existing order of society had scarcely ever entered the consciousness ness of the moat advanced thinkers the invention of printing and tho circumstances that followed the great protest against authority resulted in a wide demand for schools in which reading should be taught by slow degree such schools were 03 and in the most enlightened parts of europe they became quite common these schools naturally fell into tho care of the priesthood in both catholic and protestant countries in part from the force of habit and in part because the priests constituted tho only class who had sufficient education to manage them the course of instruction in these schools embraced tho alphabet the of reading the catechism the memorizing of certain number of maxims or rules and sometimes writing the whole of this instruction was of the most mechanical kind and no attempt was made to develop the understanding of tho pupil or to give him that knowledge which would bo of practical uso in his hereafter life the teachers of these schools were generally selected not on account of their fitness for teaching but because aliey wore fit for nothing else soldiers who had lost a iamb in battle persons disabled by accident and superannuated old men and women who were likely to become a public burden as haupers paupers pau pers often chosen for teachers in this manner ignorance came the aid of routine and reduced jhb value of instruction to its minimum we do not wish to infer by this that our schools have reached such a critical condition as yet we simply bring this before the public to show what a condition our schools would soon ie in if teachers did not receive more encouragement teaching is a progressive gres sive science and he who wishes to make a success of the same must be continually at work investigating different systems of instruction the teacher who ceases to learn is no longer fit to act as such and should be thrown aside as counterfeit there ia no profession in itself more noble or offering greater opportunities of doing good and exerting a powerful influence on the future of the world than that of teaching yot of the great number of teachers in our territory very few intend to make it their life work tho young man who engages in it merely regards it as a steppingstone to somo other profession in many sections tho school teachers change almost as frequently as the seasons why is it that so few are willing to devote their lives to the noble work of common school aduca tiong thero is one very good reason tho salaries school teachers especially in country districts are altogether too low however desirous of doing good well educated men and women may be they cannot afford to spend their lives at work for which they receive no higher pay than that of the ignorant unskilled laborers they have spent time and money on getting an education and inadequate compensation for their outlay cannot be obtained in the schoolhouse they mast look elsewhere for it so it happens that just as teachers become proficient in their profession just as they have learned the best way to govern the young people and impart information they are obliged to give up tho interesting work because it pay there are exceptions in some sections the people having learned the value of a good teachers services are willing tc bear the additional dit ional taxation required to retain him it is these that bring up tho average of salaries iu the annual reports of the educational I 1 departments yet in spite of the low salaries paid to teachers there is a great deal of really good and conscientious ious work done by men and women who are determined to do their best no matter bow inadequate tho reward of their exertions but the most enthusiastic of them must often feel discouraged |
