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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1921-3-17, Page 3Co nsol i ate Sal oo1-, One of the Vital Questions of the Day. By. the Rev, Geo. T. Stephenson Tho educational life of .our Young fail to 10'0 all, The new law wide and fair Dominion of Canada has been comes into effect next September re - one o£ steady development. We owe qurring all children (with certain much to Egerton Ryerson for the oxeeptions) to attend school till present school system of which we 10 years of age, will help to cannot speak too highly for its in, obviate the difficulty of tont fluence In rte day, But the time lige education but it does not solve the problem of sending come for another forward step and the child away the alibied for our consideration to- from home. Statistics appear to allow day, Consolidated Schools, is one that in eche United States only half as which should engage the serious many mplet the elementary grads thought of every Canadian citizen be- under the graded rural schools as cause it is a snuch improved system under the Consolidated School, Is this to our present one, and is now rapidly fair to our country boys and girls? aupereeding jt, If we can get a High School at our In both Canada and the United door for two-thirds of Ontario's boys States representatives of the Educe- and girls, what is it worth? What is tonal Department are travelling it worth pbysieally, mentally, econ- through the country continually del- omically and industrially to have four Ivering lectures on this question, and times as many get a high school train - pamphlets sent gut by the Depart- ing? went,, encyclopedias and the daily 6. Unfair handicap in recitati. press emphasize its great advantages Our present system deprives a eb both to the individual and the tom- of - his yossible number and length enmity and recommend its adoption recitations. A child has approxima at the earliest convenience, ly 8,800 hours in his elementary seh Let us consider first of all why such life, in which to acquire habits a change is necessary. study,, discipline, methods, and of 1. Rural depopulation. We all -know em that education means, II of instances yearly of parents who..." personal attention from have left the coon teacher does he get? In 1918 the try and have gone Arne attendance at elements to the city or town for the sole pure schools in Ontario was 65 per e pose of giving their children better This reduces the possible number educational advantages. Mrs. Brodie, hours 8,800 to 5,720, A comparison who addressed the U,F,O. convention the times spent in study and recitati at Toronto, said that she had come to in ungraded schools and Consolidat the city recently in order to give her Schools shows that in the ungrad children better educational advantages schools about 16 per cent. of the tin but she liked the country better than is spent in recitation, or 815 hours o the city, and that just as soon as her of 5,720, and the balance 4,905 hours children, were through school she in lin study or desk work; whereas, under feuded to return. It was surely a Consolidation, 50 per cent. of the time worthy motive for leaving the farm'. and going to the city, but why go to > is spent in each way, giving 2,860 the city when you mayhave hours for each. As the average at - educational advantages ayour "door? tendance is also increased under Con - 2. ^+licit term of teacher. The av-1 solydation from 15 to 25 per cent. that erage length of time the rural °ehool. neons an Increase of actual attend - teacher stays in one school is between' ante hours to about 6,800, and reci- one and one and a half years, Ono, Myon hours to 3,400, Compare this - teacher gets nicely started and is just with 815 hours and ask is this fair to learning the nature of her scholars .Ind her community when she leaves and a new teacher comes along. There are many causes for this frequent ins. ild of te- ool of Consolidated Schools. Rittenhouse, her Hudson and Mallorytown are the only ow Consolidated Schools I know of in On - the tarso. Guelph and Neustadt has the av principle on a small scale. Carlsruhe ry school section in Carrick township ont. Bruce County, closed their school and of are driving the children to Neustadt of The children are delighted and the an school section saves $580 a year, ed which is about the cost of the trans- edd portation.. The school at Hudson waE ut SletaRce $iwv\EC1'•/ lien OH, MOW ARK NNE EWA col or - 'Gyri Noll? Hp Heen eea- /•',yowl Rs ybr • TIMER LOOK RATHER DARK -TO SOME .�-- -''••y"-."ate? PEOPLE. solidated Schools, an increase of three thousand over 1916 -an average growth of one thousand each year. Forty-three states of the Union have adopted Consolidation of rural schools as their policy. Three years ago Man- itoba hal about 100 Consolidated Schools, The farmers there are en- thusiastic ,about it. Alberta has 60 burned about three years ago and the ratepayers decided by an almost un- animous vote to rebuild the Consoli- dated School. From actual experience in Consoli- dated Schools what benefits have been derived by the pupils? 7. Theneedof new buildings and equipment. The attendance may have increased until the building has be - change et teaebers--.among them are come too small to provide adequate marriages, low salaries, difficulty in accommodation or, as in many cases, boardingthe buildings have deteriorated and securing place, overerowdedIare unsafe and unhealthy, and people schools or too small schools and with ambition want the best type of education and equipment possible. Other defective conditions are poor system of ventilation or no system at all; poor heating ssytem; lighting poor and from both sides; shiny black- boards; color decorations dark (the titres last tending to produce eye- strain); floors scrubbed only three or four times a year; thedrinking water usually from a common, cup which tends to spread disease; seats double an no a lusts e, and cut -houses un- sanitary. Every one of these condi- tions limit the efficiency of the sys- tem and so a large part of the money spent in our present system is lost. 5 What' is the Consolidated heal System and to what extent has it made progress? 61 • 3. Changing conditions. In 1855 it required 40 hours of labor to produce a bushel of corn; under modern con- ditions it only requires 41 minutes. To -day we have modern conveniences, as telephones, telegraphs, rural mail, express trains, refrigerator cars, fast ocean steamers, wireless telegraphy, aeroplanes, etc., and we find ourselves competing in a world market. With the advent of electricity more delicate d t d' bI enecIdees are used and more thorough education is required, Cmc govern- ment and national economy demand a larger intelligence and wider skill in our nunhood and womanhood Can one or two teachers in an ungraded school, with the work of all" the grades, meet this urgent call? !1. Edxeationai Research and Seigle - title Diseoi"*ery. Our ideas have been changed is the past few years as to what purpose the school should fulfil in the life at the child. Educational research teaches us the importance of Agrkuitare, Vonrestie Science, Gard- ening, Manus! Training, Art and Music. By the use of apparatus and electricity, /Adores may ;be used to illustrate and teach Diets. When we .A several roomed building erected in a central place, preferably a village, by the ratepayers of a number of school sections living close together who decide to unite and have instead of 5 or 6 or 7 or more small schools scattered miles apart, one well equip- ped building large enough for all the scblldzen in all the sections co-operat- ling;'with modern equipment for edu- , cation' training in elementary or confider Ghat 80 per cent. of what a 1 mere advanced! grades 'or both, sup - child learns he teltes in through. the Plied with the .best trained and ex - Child eye we can readily appreciate this ad- vantage in a Contolidated School. .liioreever when a child plants a gar- den plot under the scientific instruc- tion of a teacher he gets a training, he cannot get through etusiy alone teachers, and scholars brenght in vans for a radius of -5 or 6 mites around is what may be gener- ally .eoiesidered a 4.e"snsolidated School. It is long since poet the experimental stage and lies surely melee to stay and at Favorable conditions for teaching tleasteplace wherethe people are lanetenun 11 these subjects: and necessary. and wise enough to see its benefits 5. Lack of opportunity, The present, and adopt it. Our Educational De system shows a lack of equality of partment tells ne that the first Cen- opportunity for an education. Sta.- solidated School was established in prove that it takes one and tree -t -t Montague,Mass., U.S. in the same year as, te Ontario AgriculturalCol- lege at Guelph, 1874. Forty-seven years of successful work should con- vince us of its merits. It was an idea worked out by a group of farmers who had the same difficulties to face as mentioned above. The United' States had in 1919, tliirteen thousand Colo half years longer for a boy or girt in the rural district to get hie or her en- trance examination than a boy or girl with Consolidated or city advantages, Then they have to leave home -if they go at all -and go to High School in some town or city at a distance, acid the result is that many fall out andl 1. Better grading and classification. In the majority of eases not more than two grades need occupy one room. This arrangement allows teachers to specialize more and given more time for recitations and personal work. 2. •A large number in the class stimulatesinterest,' enthusiasm and competition. 3. A closer grading, as compared with a one -roomed school, cuts down the average number of recitations per day for each teacher from 24 to 12 and lengthens the period of recitation from 10 to 18 minutes. 4. Less absence from •school, which means more recitations and covering the work more quickly and more sat- isfactorily. 5. A GAIN OF ONE ANDA HALF YEARS IN COMPLETING THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WORK. Consider the results of this on the number who would continue ateschool and take up High School studies. 6. Because of the availability of Continuation work and more attrac- tive school conditions and the privi- lege of boarding at home many pupils stay for a longer period at school A comparison of 3 Consolidated School townships with District School tovin- ships showed that twice as many fin ished their elementary grades uncle Consolidation and six times as many took Continuation School work. 7. Better and wider training. Fewer teachers are necessary, hence teachers with higher certificates and training can be secured, Where three or more teachers are engaged in a school' it is possible to secure specialists in differ eist subjects -where in an ungraded school the teacher cannot specialize in all subjects --or introduce Manual Training, Agriculture, Domestic Science, etc. 8. High School advantages with less expense and moral danger. A Con- tinuation School is practically brought to the door of every farmer in the Con- solidated School area whieh will, when properly organized, take the pupil up to the Matriculation or to Normal En- trance. Think of the advantage of this without the expense of boarding in a town or city or the moral dang- ers of being away from home at the most critical time of the child's life. Is that not well worth while? 9. Co.operation, or team -play. In the assemblage of large numbers of both sexes the play life can be better organized and the co-operative spirit developed. This means much in later life. To team how to co-operate and to carry through a work successfully with others in spite of injustices, op- position, and disappointanents, in a kindly spirit, is a part of education which is well worth while. The Con- solidated Sehool fosters thisspirit. by the experienced; Prineipei who sup, ervises the work of the other toad - re in,tho.Coneoliiated Scheel 2. An enlarged enro!inlent, and in* creased average attendance. In 16 schools In Amebel township, Bruce county, including 6 Union Scheele, the number on the roll far 1920 was 491, and the average attendance was 321. The average attendance was 74 per cent. of the enrolment. In the schools in Arran township tho en rolment last year was 221 and th average attendance 149. Here tl average attendance was 87,7 per c This is fair, but under Consolidatio both the enrolment and the averag attendance would be increased. In large area investigated the cnre]men before Consolidation was 3,185 chi dren. 'rhe same territory after' CO2 solidation enrolled 4,814, a gain 1,629 or 51 per cent. in the sam area the average attendance befar Consolidation was 2,107 or' 06 pe cent., whereas, after Consolidation was 3,617 or 75 per cent 3r Punctuality. The wagans, van cars or sleighs run on schedule tin bringing the children to' school warm r and with dry feet, so that the seh may open sharp on time with a present, and the lessons may go o without interruptions. 4, Regular attendance. Fluctuatio attendance is also avoided, Th large number attending tends to kee average much the sante. Teacher - who have had to' change their day' programme because of the absence o ! 2 or 3 pupils and then had to go ove same work with them at son future time know the benefit till would be. 5. Economy. Instead of a teacher' room, library, cloak rooms, toilet halls and class rooms in every school these are united in one. Economy i also effected in recitation periods energy and concentration of th teacher, length of time necessary to reach Entrance Examinations, time of Inspectors travelling from school to school, correspondence, etc. 6. Hygienic conditions. This will be found in the character and decora- tions of the class rooms, lighting, heating, ventilation, single desks, water, toilets, transportation, play grounds and play equipment, and the necessary number of. children making possible vigorous, enthusiastic and health -giving play. 7. Improved Community Life. This is brought about by the equalization of taxation and opportunity, the ex- tension of educational facilities to the whole community, good roads which follow in the wake of Consolidation, the provision of a dignifies social centre, special school equipment, a community playground, and developed leadership. Think of the advantage of these things to the Churches, the Farmers' Clubs and the community in general. The' children receiving bet- ter education will be happier and more useful and they will remain at home longer. Every boy and girl then can receive a High SchemI education with- out which in this rapidly developing age they will surely be handicapped. Any normal man or woman under ordinary circumstances can make money, but it is more difficult and more important to make a life, How much more than the present system will the Consolidated School cost? If you are content with the .4 9 - school sections are eligible will b e continued. If seven rural schools co le sclideted the township grante woo en k, be paid on the basis of the seven aur n schools. o 8. If the community decides to buil al a Community Hall in connection wit 1r the School -the hall is usually buil 1-1I above It -the grant will be 25 per con 1'I of the additional cost,- This is pro- of vided according to the Community Er! Ball Act of 1919. e+ But how about the blocking of, the ✓ roada in the winter? it This difficulty, which at first ap- pears formidable, has never yet proved s,ra serious difficulty; even in the schools e, I in Northern Ontario and further west. During one year in Manitoba, under mho* 4, $100 toward the Salary of each teacher in the Conselitiated School who is receiving .at leant a standard eelaly. 13. A grant for purchasing n piano, which is payable within 3 years. 0. 20 per cent, of the Most :of cer- tain other equipment, e,g, Agricultur- al, Domestic Science, Manual Train- 14g7', ¥aximunr $200, 7, Ali grants for which the present Sympathy, In same quarters It Is the practice OP Agit shy of the word "eYnt9athy," and tho tboug!rt for whl.cir +,'stau.ds, ae Ia• dleativo et woakuees and hentlmontal- ism. All that le heroic And yuliltent, all that is bluff and sturdy and virile, we aro asked to believe pointe away from any such manifestation of ten* dor•nees and gentleness to irilpaseivity. e We are advised to be even•ltauded, n- equitable in thought, correctly and Id calmly noutr•al, not subject to file•. and a1 gusts of feeling, not liable to be away- ed by our' emotions: But how unlovely eole thJa tame and placid life, though faultlessly genteel! 1•t makes 110 Ute. ttakes because 1t is incapable o1 man average conditions, there were 22 11' Consolidated Schools with 61 vans n) which reported only 22 trips missed an1in one year, an average of only one trip per school in the year. At Hud - sen, in Northern Ontario, where the ep! winter roads are as bad as anywhere s• in Ontario, for the winter of 1917.18, s' not one trip was missed" Their routes f, are 6 miles long. One stormy day er recently 100 per cent. were present, e whereas, in a nearby school; only 40 s per cent. were present because of the storm. s . Other phases of this problem might s, be presented. If interested send to , the Dept. of Education for their latest s pamphlet on Consolidated Schools , which will give you many of the facts e presented here, worked out in great- er detail, as well as many other facts of interest, Queer Things About Water. Water, unstable fluid though it is, displays remarkable power' under pressure either natural or mechanical. In fact, it would astonish you to know what water can do under certain con - 10. An increased earning capacity. Cornell Agricultural College some years ago, in investigatingthe labor income of a thousand farmers, found that the group who had only Public School education made $318 a year, that with a High School education made $622 and those with a College education made $847 a year. Every year of additional education was worth from $60 to $75 a year in labor income. What are the •advantages from the standpoint of School Buildings, Ad- ministration, and Organization? 1. Better supervision. Under the present District School system the in- spector cannot visit oftener than twice a year, and mistakes which are now neglected would be seen and remedied THE SAFE COURSE. I haven't sandbagged any man, or kidnapped anybody's child; I've folowed up my old time plan when all the world WAR runaing wild. I haven't- swiped a Henry car, or gathered inillegal spoil; but I have pickled In a jar the small rewards of honest tail. I pity men who rob and alay, who will not like good ecouts behave; they never have a decent day between the eradi9 and• --tile grave: There's no use taiiting, life's a frost un• less we dodge all sin with skill; our breaks are made at fright- ful Mast, and every man nlust pay his bili. We can't be happy or serene as through this world of ours we go, unless our re- cords are as clean asis the well known driven snow. Oh, seine for long may dodged the cope, and carry on a course of crimp but when we sin all comfort stops, wecese to have a ball time. We have no jay, .nes, peace of mind, our Pelves aro racked, our hearts are sore; avengers seem to walk behind, and retribution stalks before. I pity those who cheat and steal or aiug a stranger for his roll; their lives are bleak, they never feel mire pace that earme the white man's soul. aonownomma rlolm 5, mere When a mangoes in swimming and slaps the water forcibly with his hand he realizes that the unstable Buil of- fers very little resistance. Yet a stream from a fireman's hose wiII knock a man down; and the jet from. a nozzle used in placer mining eats away a great hill In a day, toys with great boulders as if they were pebbles and could shoot a man over the coiin- try as if he wore a projectile from a cannon. There is a power plant near Duran- go, Colorado, :4 United States caval- ryman who was visiting it one day thought it would be easy to pass his sabre through a two -Inch stream of water. He made the attempt, but his sabre was shivered in two and his wrist broken. A. thinner jet of water, descending one thousand feet to a fac- tory In Grenoble, France, and travel- 110 unfired yards a second, fractures the best blades of Toledo. Of course some people will not be- lieve such stories without seeing the , thing themselves; and you may think i it a proof of the scientific imagination r to say that a stream of water nn inch thick, if it bad sufficient velocity, would ward off bomb -shells as well as steel plate would do. Nevertheless, many travellers have seen a brakeman put a small hydraul- ic Jack under one end of a car ands lift twenty tone or so by means of a few leisurely strokes of the pump handle; and the experience of riding b every day in a hydraulic elevator will w remove any doubts concerning the b magic power of water when hitched to a machine, Didn't Mean to be Funny. The teacher was engaged in incul F eating moral maxims to his. °lass, and' had written on the blackboard: "Do 1 not play with matches; remember the Piro of Loudon-" Then he invited any boy to come ly forward and write a similar warning k in regard to some other bad or clan- y gerous habit. a same buildings, teachers, equipment, and curriculum as at present.the Consolidated School costs less. Con- solidation is not urged to -day as a means to cheapening education' but of bettering it. With that view in mind it will cost more -probably from a third to a half more than the pres- ent system. But remember a11' the special benefits derived both in educa- tional and community life. The self - binder costs more than the cradle or the reaper• but no one would go hack to these, Noithee do those, under normal conditions, who have °nee thoroughly tried the' Consolidated School, go back or want to go back. What financial assistance will the Government give? According to the Ontario Department of Education the giants are as follows: - 1. $3,000 towards the cost of build- ing if erected and in operation by Dec, 22nd, 1922. 2. 80 per cent, of the cost of the building do and site h whose value gdoes not exceed 5 per cent. of the total al equalized assessment of the area con- solidated. '87% per cent. if between 5 and 10 per cent., but the grant is lim- ited at $9,000. , 3, An annual grant of 80 per cent. of cost of transportation where such coat does not exceed 5 mills; 3734, per cent, if between 5 and 10 mills; and 45 per cent. if above 10 mills. tyrdonts, It lnoute Pat censure be- cause, it never sallies out into the open, It i'ocelves ne0 blows becauso It stands forever unset' corer -alts tiro only stand it ever takes is there. Syrnpathy means sacrifice --it mane a definite alignment on the side 00 Chat which is week and Ott-nggling, not manly on the side of victories and majorities. Anybody finds it easy to fall in with shouting and spectacular successes. Anybody can come along when the rewards are handed out and put in a claim for a leonine share of the credit. Hetet is another thing to go into the dark with the lowly, to share the bread Of sorrow with the . despairing and the defeated, to con- front failure, to stand by the despised and the humiliated ones, to help in; carrying •the cross in a wilderness rather than,to acclaim the wearer of a crown and ask to sit in glory in the light beside him. How easy 10 is to syrnpathine with the successful, and to help a rich man eat his dinners, and to assist him in the spending of his money! The rieh and powerful do not lack Inc friends. Sympathy is the capaeiy for imagin- ing another's condition and then going promptly beyond the mere imagina- tion to some practical measure of re- lief. If it merely begins and ends with the aroused emotion, it means little, ,The luxury of sentiment with- out performance, to make benevol- ence valid through beneficence, is as enervating and demoralizing as any other luxury.. Woeping ane. wringing the hands does not rescue souls from a wreaked ship; it is the boat launch- ed through the breakers that will bring them in. Perceptive hnagina- tion there must bo to prompt a nation or an individual to works of mercy; the sympathy that merely remains a feeling, unrealized in Oct, is of small moment or proiit.to the world. More - 1 ever, true sympathy Is ready to cor- rect as well as to approve; "faithful are the wounds of a friend," and it is a mistake to think, that our friends are only those who tell us we are right and feel our vanity and how in sycophancy to cur wills. Color and Health A good many people are conscious that their state et health is below pair, and they are at a lcr:e to know why that should be so, The solution of the mystery lies in the now scienttlie:ly established fact that the color of our clothes has an influence on our health. Scree mea, without quite knowing why, always cheoee sombre colors Inc their clothes --dark grey, black:, etc. In the course of time their temperament Is affected, They becctuc "quiet" Then their health surfers, Our mental temperament has a' great influence on our physical well-being. Some colors, too, absorb mach more heat than light ones, and that. cave in very cold weather, is net good. "(`]c.thes make the man" is a slaying tvith rt lot of truth in it, Who hm' nut ecu conscloue cf an uplift, in spirits hen a new and well•Iltting suit liesn- eon donned? Visualize your friends, and jot down he tIree jolliest anfi•-apeareutiy- ealthiest, and then. when neat you ee tliosc three, melee their apparel. or a certainty it won't be sombre or dark. As likely as not you bright udge it to err the other way. What would a regatta be like if•the' oarsmen and spectators were sombre - clad? Half its joys would depare our spirits would droop. So wmrid our health, Inc that rises or fails en- ctly with your Spirits. "Acer •ie t caul. England" n to g an cud-- this 15 art historical fact --when the dull drabness of the Puritans' clothing s arae in. So, if you want to be in good health, and high spirits, go in for colors and cheerfulness. This advice is neither tad nor fancy. It is basod ort medical and scientific and hygienic tru.tlr. Fear and Laziness Hold Us 'j Humans Back. The human animal hates to beetle himself. Ile is lazy, and he is afraid. Take any Problem you ever cone fronted, Strip sway All your ee10•pity, all your encases, Be honest with your. self, Now analyze the problem and your treatment of it, and see ,how much of shiftlessness and fear there Ware in your •attitude toward it • fear and neaten! a1'e the twos viol* enemies et eueoess. A man will twist a problem intd' more chapati; than A pretzel eve droamed et, rather' titan: Meet lt, dila :F"'th°lift10itat64elilll p i ewlaut ,ing, tad. It ltf rote, 74u4 t do nutter myself thef it wig do•,ni* 411 good, Yoe will pity Where i bsi. ea'$ ehiftleee end Ileteardlee ga r3 timely art until that: stgh, letsfie dodging belto y+ott in 41i0 Melt of knock y»u oulky That's hiv=A,n neturo, Sad, but trub, For a while no one stirred. Then a small lad stepped ep to the black- board, took hold of the chalk, and wrote as follows: "Do not spit; remember the Flood" Lions and tigers, travellingfro one country to another, are sually insured; the premium being about 10 per cent. of the amount dnsured. REGLAA-tEL.L.ERS--By -Gene BYroesi aa. 1 WoUL43' �'.. t.tg, Afloat tT beCA)se. lW sut4t>K4 40001- e.Ac.H> R spit, *41) Heitse4.0 _