expended for the salary of the school librarian, $300 for fitting up the schoolroom in the library building, and $1,000 for books to be bought by the trustees of the public library, at the suggestion of the school committee.

FROM REPORT OF THE HISTORY COMMITTEE.

The work of the history committee has been continued along the lines indicated in the last report. In addition to the large wall map prepared under its direction, a small outline desk map has been issued for use in the schools in connection with the guide published a year ago.

The committee feels that the time has come to devote its attention to some of the larger aspects of history. In writing what it is most profitable for a person to learn, John Ruskin declares that a man ought to know three things: First, where he is; second, where he is going; and third, what he had better do under the circumstances.

During the time this committee has been in existence it has had for its object the solution of the first of these problems, and has tried to see Brookline as it is and to learn what it has been during a not very remote past. It would now seem to be the duty of the history committee to try to discover whither we are going. This seems an impossibility; and yet, if we believe that history repeats itself, can we not find the general direction of our course by looking backward over the great field of universal history? The transition from local to general history need not be sudden or violent. As in ancient days all roads led to Rome, so in modern times all roads lead from the home out into the remote corners of this busy world. The Seven Hills of Rome may be found right here in Brookline, and the earliest settlers of the town find their prototypes in the Patricians of the little city on the Palatine.

The schools have received many benefits from the town through the school committee and at the hands of generous private citizens. There is, however, much to be done to render the department of history in the schools more efficient than it is at present, and the committee on history will offer several specific suggestions by means of which the study of history may be placed on a firm basis. Laboratories there are for science-zoology, botany, physics, chemistry, and the domestic branch of the work; but you will look in vain if you try to discover a laboratory for historical research in Brookline. By and by, when patience shall have had its perfect work, perhaps the dreams of the instructors in history will be realized. But even under present conditions much may be done. There are in the town several clubs devoted to study. By the members of these clubs, papers are read, bibliographies are prepared, pictures and maps are collected. But why should not these clubs be given a wider field of usefulness? And, on the other hand, would not the clubs be glad to avail themselves of the resources which the schools could furnish? For instance, several of the schools now own stereopticons; one of these could be placed at the service of a club wishing to illustrate a subject graphically. The club would, perhaps, buy some lantern slides, which would in their turn be placed at the service of the schools. Is there not in this idea a chance for widə usefulness, and at the same time economy of effort and of substance? Again, the subjects of the papers read in the clubs are often the same as those which are being studied in the schools. Here is another opportunity for cooperation.

It has been the good fortune of pupils in the high school to listen to two papers written and read by members of the Thursday Club, one on "Greek life as shown in the poems of Homer;" the other on "Scottish life and character as seen in the literature of Scotland." The interest and enthusiasm which these lectures excited prove that they meet a want, that of merging the life of the school in the great community life of the world to which it belongs.

Maps, pictures, books, models, like those of the Parthenon and the Acropolis at ED 99-35

the art museum, are indispensable to the proper study of history, which must, of course, include the kindred subjects-art, literature, sociology, and political economy. Pictures illustrating different events in history are often to be found in the periodicals of the day. These would prove welcome gifts in many schoolrooms. There is a series of historical plates illustrating different phases of life in ancient and mediæval times which the schools ought to own, because seeing goes a long way toward believing and realizing a past in which, at first, the child feels that he has no share.

Every school should have a good working historical library, and every schoolroom should possess a small library of its own to which reference could be made without loss of time. The map habit is one that should be cultivated very early in a child's education. Maps on a plane surface, globes, and relief maps are the necessary accompaniments of general reading.

It must be understood that all these aids and appliances are the common property of those who need them. Culture for its own sake is valueless; culture for service is the dearest possession of the enlightened man of to-day.

XI. OUR SCHOOL WORK.

[From an address delivered by Superintendent Edwin P. Seaver to the teachers of the primary and grammar schools of Boston, November 12, 1897.]

** * For one, I am not ready to admit there is not a science of education. Nor am I ready, with the writer of an article in a recent number of the Atlantic Monthly, to throw aside all the psychology hitherto known as being antiquated rubbish handed down to us from mediæval scholasticism and to wait in suspense until a whole new foundation for educational science shall have been built by the physiological psychologists. Undoubtedly we may expect valuable contributions to our pedagogical knowledge from the psychological laboratory, but the older introspective psychology has given us much that we are not yet ready to throw away. We may even admit that the mediæval scholastics had some good knowledge of the human mind, puerile and empty as were many of their speculations and disputations.

But the true basis of educational science is found in neither of these remote regions-neither in mediæval scholasticism nor yet in the psychological laboratory, it is found in the familiar psychic history of childhood and adolescence, more especially in that part of it which records and discusses the phenomena of the growing mind while undergoing the processes of instruction. This is no new science; but its true relation to general psychology has been very properly emphasized lately by bestowing on it a new name-child study. For the study of this psychology of childhood and adolescence, each of us has a laboratory well filled with specimens-many of them very live specimens-no two of which are exactly alike, while some are quite abnormal, but all interesting. Here we test our principles, extend our observations, and occasionally, perhaps, make a new discovery. In this way we learn all we really know of educational science. The principles of education imparted to us at a normal school or acquired by reading have for us no validity or significance until we have applied them to the practical exigencies of the schoolroom. For in education, as in other matters, the science and the art go hand in hand, and are indeed so intimately connected that neither is valuable without the other. The mere theorist, unacquainted with practice, and the mere practitioner, ignorant of theoretical principles, are alike incompetent to do good educational work.

Coming now to the particulars of our school work, let us consider, first, what

our established course of study requires of us in the use of school time. The general purpose of a course of study is twofold: First, to enumerate the matters to which attention may be given grade by grade in the schools; and secondly, to apportion the school time among these various matters. In a large system of schools an established course of study with a uniform apportionment of school time is an admitted necessity; and a faithful observance of its requirements is the best way of making satisfactory progress under it. The matters contained in the present course of study or the apportionment of time among them may not, in your opinion or in mine, be the best conceivable. Arithmetic, or drawing, or grammar, or manual training, or any other branch, may have more or less time than its relative importance, in our judgment, warrants. If so, we have interesting matter for discussion, and possible improvements to suggest. Discussion of proposed improvements is always helpful. But until the existing courses shall have been changed by the proper authority, you and I are bound to obey their requirements.

One good reason for insisting on a strict observance of the time apportionment in a course of study is the need of preventing favorite studies from robbing the others of their due share of time and attention. There have been times in the history of our schools when this kind of robbery went on more freely than it does now.. For example, drawing, years ago, was the favorite study in many schools.

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Perhaps there is hardly a branch of study in the whole course which does not at times betray predatory tendencies that need to be restrained. And the duty of applying the proper restraint falls on each individual teacher. It is not merely a matter of supervision, nor does it pertain only to a master's management of his school; it is and must be, under our free system of administration, an element in the daily work of every teacher.

Every teacher ought to work by a daily time-table. If carefully prepared by the teacher who is to use it and strictly followed, it is an effectual economizer of time. It prevents waste and compels prudence in the use of school hours. "There are more matters in the course of study than I can find time to attend to," I hear some teacher say. "Let me see your daily time-table," I ask. "Oh, I can not tie myself down to a time-table; I must be free to teach as the spirit moves; I have no time-table." "Well," I remark, "you are probably a spendthrift of your time, and your difficulty in finding time for all the things you are required to teach is like the difficulty experienced by another class of spendthrifts in mecting their obligations." Redeem all time from waste by using a daily time-table, and there will be time enough for all matters set down in the course of study. And the time-table will make your work more systematic, more concentrated and effective. All observers of teachers' work will agree that the teachers who do the most work, with the best results, and the most easily withal, are those who plan their daily work beforehand, make a careful appropriation of time, and then adhere steadily to their scheme. They have time enough for everything by attending to everything in its time. It is because the use of daily time-tables makes each teacher personally more effective that my appeal is made primarily to you as individuals. But the whole school is made more effective in the same way. It is therefore a matter of wise management for the principal of a school to see that all the teachers are using their school hours without waste and in accordance with the general appropriation of time made in the established course of study.

And here I will turn aside for a moment to say a few words on the nature and extent of the authority vested in the principal of a school or district. The need of a right understanding on this point has more than once been brought to my attention by unfortunate difficulties that seem to arise out of a misconception of the proper relations between the principal and the assistant teachers of a school.

Broadly speaking, the authority of a principal in his school is absolute. It is like that of a captain aboard ship, or that of a military leader in campaign. His orders must be obeyed promptly and fully; his plans are to be executed loyally and faithfully, no matter whether the assistants think them wise or unwise, agreeable or disagreeable, just or unjust. There is no other theory upon which a school can be managed successfully. "But must I submit," I have sometimes been asked, "when the orders I receive from my principal are clearly unwise or disagreeable, or even unjust? Is there no remedy for such wrongs?" Yes; there is a remedy for every wrong. If an assistant teacher feels aggrieved by the duties put upon her by the principal, there lies an appeal to superior authority. But before an appeal can be taken there must be obedience on the part of the appellant. First obey, and then appeal. The common mistake is to refuse obedience and then to appeal to higher authority for support. But the ears of higher authority are closed-ought to be closed-to one who is in the attitude of disobedience. Listening to disobedient appellants would soon bring on a state of anarchy. Moreover, a grievance can not be said to have arisen until the alleged unwise or unjust order has been obeyed; and even then the question whether the order was in fact unwise or unjust must be considered an open one, which the authority appealed to will not decide without hearing both parties. Disobedience, therefore, implies a premature decision of the very question at issue by one of the parties, and an appeal under such circumstances amounts to no more than a demand to be sustained in insubordination.

But a wise captain advises with his officers, and the ablest general would not dispense with councils of war. So will the wise and able principal of a school hold consultations with his assistant teachers. Teachers' meetings presided over by him have for their purpose the free discussion of all matters pertaining to the conduct of school business. No principal was ever so wise that he could gain no useful suggestions from meetings of this kind; no corps of teachers was ever so strong but that the mutual good understanding and sympathy arising from free interchange of experiences and opinions would make it stronger. Therefore should discussion in teachers' meetings proceed until all possible good has accrued therefrom. But at last the time comes when discussion must cease and action begin. Then orders must be given and obeyed. Then no longer can subordinates stand out on their differences of opinion with the chief. He has considered these, given his directions, and has the right to expect prompt and full obedience. A member of a certain executive board was once observed to be carrying on efficiently a course of action not in accord with his well-known opinions and votes in the board. On being asked why he did so, he replied, "I vote as I think, but I do as I am told." So I would advise all teachers to speak as they think on all proper occasions, but to do as they are told, and do so cheerfully and efficiently. This is the true principle on which to reconcile a free expression of opinion, which is wholesome, with due respect for authority, which is necessary.

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Formerly our reading in school was confined to the school reading books. Now we make large use of "supplementary reading," partly for the purpose of gathering information and partly for the purpose of making pupils acquainted with literary compositions as wholes, and not through extracts. More important, however, than either of these excellent purposes is the expression of thought and sentiment by oral reading. Perhaps oral reading receives less attention now than formerly. If so, there is need of a reform. We should restore oral reading to all the prominence it ever had, believing that it makes more both for culture and for growth than any other single school exercise. The older the children the more marked is their improvement through oral reading rightly taught. * *

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A word may be fitly spoken here about the reading matter used in the primary schools. There seems to be a tendency in many quarters to make an inordinate

use of the primer for the production of a high degree of mechanical facility in reading easy matter. When first-grade children have read through one primer the teacher gives them another primer, then another, and another, and another. One teacher I heard of who boasted of having read eight primers with her class. Now, the language of primers is wholly artificial. It is selected and put together, not for the thought expressed, but to meet, in an assumed best order of succession, certain difficulties of spelling and pronunciation. Hence, "The fat cat that sat on the mat, The rat that ran from the cat," and other equally thrilling stories. The whole training in the language of primers is a purely mechanical process, no doubt a Lecessary process for a while, but, nevertheless, unrelieved by a gleam of human interest, and to be got through with at the earliest time possible. Who of you can remember anything of the primer you read in school? Of my own primer I remember it had a yellow cover; it had a picture representing sunrise, highly conventionalized, with the legend, "The sun is up;" and it had another picture of a cat with arching back standing on top of a stone wall just out of reach of a dog that was striving in vain to reach her; but what tragic story may have been printed under this lively picture I am utterly unable to recall. On the other hand, I easily remember the pages, both picture and text, of the book from which I first read some fables of Esop. These are real literature. For more than two thousand years they have interested children, as well as their elders. Therefore do I say, Let the children pass as early as possible out of the empty primer language into real literature. I pity children who are required by the mistaken zeal of their teachers to read eight primers, or four, or any more than are absolutely necessary to overcome the preliminary difficulties of reading; and I beg you all to let your children reach reading matter of enduring interest at the earliest time possible.

Under the head of writing, in the modern use of the term, is included the whole use of that art in the expression of thought in composition. The mere mechanical ability to produce fair manuscript is hardly of enough importance in itself to rank as one of the main parts of elementary instruction. The great amount of drill given for the sole purpose of producing fine penmanship takes much time that could be spent otherwise to greater advantage. The act of writing, as a school exercise, should usually have for its object the expression of thought. Neatness and legibility, though important, are incidental, and are quite as likely to be secured when so regarded as when made the sole purpose of the writing exercise. It would be well, I think, if pupils in grammar grades were seldom allowed to take the pen unless to write what they wished to express, or record what they wished to remember. Copy books I would not use, save occasionally for teaching the best forms of letters. Practice enough could be had by writing for preservation, in a commonplace book, matter worth the time spent upon it, as poems or fine prose extracts. We have in our city one grammar school in which no copy books have been used for many years past; and yet I doubt if its graduates could be distinguished from those of other schools by the inferior appearance of their manuscripts. Less uniformity in the mass and more individuality their manuscripts may indeed show; but these graduates carry to the high school each a handwriting which is his own, and which, for that reason, is less likely to be broken up by the influences of high-school work. And so I leave the copy-book question for your further consideration in this form: Can time be saved for better uses, and yet without material loss to penmanship, either by discarding copy books altogether or by very much restricting their use?

In the primary schools it may be a question how far it is wise to go in the effort to use writing for the expression of the pupil's original thought. Children sometimes display charming originality when by a happy arrangement of circumstances the teacher leads them to describe what they have themselves observed,