Stratford Normal School - Classic Yearbook (Stratford, Ontario Canada)

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The Classic June, 1911 are the most easy to control in those schools where a great variety of handwork abounds. VVhere manual training can give a class an opportunity to render a valuable service to the community, in a task which develops individual taste and ability, and engenders interest ir. the work of others, and respect for the achievement of others, it seems to be the greatest single influence towards sympathetic, responsible, active good citizenship. At present teachers are laying more and more stress upon constructive work of various types as an indirect means of civic control. The foundations for the study of civics are to be found in those constructive arts of adjustment, posi- tive in character, which are intended to promote the welfare of the individual and of society itself. Anything that is done in a community which affects the organi- zation and administration of its affairs has to do with civics- Good citizenship implies that the person is able to affect favorably the general good. This is true of the child as well as of the adult. The first interest of the child is in his home. The home is the unit of national life and the foundation of good citizenship. Upon the in- tegrity of the home everything depends. If the care of the home and its surroundings were placed largely in the hands of the children much would be done towards developing in them the proper civic. spirit. Many parents deprive their children of the best means of putting themselves into direct touch with civic life. One could scarcely estimate tl1e benefits that children derive from such experi- ences, especially if the parents are also taking a part in this work. The movement on the part of schools to enlist the interests of the children in home and school gardening is probably the best work in civics that has ever been undertaken for young people. If a child is thoroughly trained in the care of his home and his civic taste further developed at school, when the time comes for him to use his franchise he is apt to cast his ballot on the side of virtue in public life. Parents and teachers should direct their efforts towards build- ing up in the children civic ideals. These ideals will soon reveal themselves in the conduct of the children. The degree in which the pupil's conduct is modified is the best possible evidence of efficiency on the part of the teacher of civics. The true function of our pub- lic schools is to establish ideals and standards of action. Men act not as they think, but as they feel: and it is not the idea but the ideal that is important in civics. Although civics touches history most intimately, and depends upon it for the explanations of the use and development of civic privileges and functions, yet the subject should not be taught his- torically at first. The beginnings should be made by using the material nearest at hand. The material for illustrating the funda- mental facts of civics is abundant in every locality and easy of com- prehension. The sources of authority in its particular forms and the need of obedience to it, are all essential facts in civics and should be made the basis of the earliest oral teaching. The home life should be drawn upon freely for illustrations of tl1e need of govern- ment and of the rights and privileges of the individual, yet authority 4

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The Classic June, 1911 yolving symbols. The Ontario Government expects Dr, Merchant to outline a satisfactory system of technical education for this Province. His problem is one that requires the examination of many ideas of his own and of other people. Our schools have not been providing the conditions which re- quire active thought. VVe have been content to learn what others have thought or are thinking, but such learning, if really a thought process at all, is of the most rudimentary kind. XVe must seek to present real problems for solution and the recent developments in technical education lead us to believe that a beginning in this direc- tion will soon be made. XVe need not wait until the new regulations are issued. We should supply the conditions that will produce sound thinking at once, and when the new order of things is established by law we shall be able to more than meet the requirements, and in addition feel that we have had some part in the improvements of conditions. The necessary development in technical education can scarcely be effected without good male teachers, and the present outlook should encourage young men to enter the teaching profession, with a view to subsequent advancement in this new line of educational work. Meantime let every teacher ask himself this question, daily,- How can I make my pupils feel the necessity for the reconstruction ol' their experience today and, as a result, secure real thinking? S. SILCOX, Principal. CIVICS. N terms of community life civic virtue is the aim of education. If one fails as a citizen nothing else can guarantee public service. Education for citizenship is a growth- Citizenship must gradually take shape from the experience of life, and it follows, therefore, that its political aspects which are most closely related to the voter, and which are finally determined by him, are very remote from children. And yet the science which deals with the civil administration of affairs of a country must have its roots in the simple experiences and relations of childhood. Every thing that adds to economy and efficiency in society and in the individual relates to good government and lies at the very foundation of civics. From this, it follows that the more opportuni- ties the school offers for the children to undertake a piece of work of real value, the more clearly the essentials of good government will appear to them and the more amenable to discipline they will be- come. Pupils are most difficult to control in those schools that pro- vide least for the individual physical activities of the children, and 3

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The Classic June, 1911 varies so in different homes, that examples of home duties and privileges widely differing in character are sometimes confusing. But the authority of the school stands on middle ground between the peculiar authority of the home and that of the state, and may well serve as a basis of oral lessons which should begin in the first class. Pupils may be trained for the duties of citizenship by discipline in the performance of such social duties as fall to them during their school life. The control of the conduct of pupils often seems a disagreeable task, but it is so largely because it is not recognized as the teacher's greatest opportunity. An infraction of necessary school regulations is sometimes a piece of good fortune, for it gives the intelligent teacher a chance to show the offender the relation of his act to the interest of the school and to the rights of the other pupils. But the opportunity to inculcate the principles of altruism through sweet reasonableness is not the only valuable element in discipline. As the members of the community must learn the neces- sity of obedience to law and must become conscious of the value of firmness on the part of the government, itlis well that they be con- fronted with this fact, at the earliest moment, if not at home. cer- tainly in the school. The work done in Canadian history and in civics ought to be the most potent factor in the public schools in the training for citizen- ship. The schools should develop wide-awake, sturdy champions ol' civic and social virtues, who have an intelligent interest in present day issues, as well as in the events of the recent past. The teacher who combines this work in recent events and present-day problems with tl1e teaching of history and civics will help to produce citizens qualified to solve the social and political problems of our country- Our pupils in the public schools will be better citizens if their study of history has been enriched and vitalized by the study of living issues. Events in recent history would provide the best possible material for instruction in the industrial, social and political problems of Canada and the Empire. THE STUDENTS' MISSIONARY CONVENTION AT GUELPH. UR visit to Guelph not only afforded us a great deal of pleasure. but was valuable in giving us a wider view of missionary work in general. Nothing could have surpassed the kindness of the citi- zens in general in looking after the welfare of their guests, who. although they outnumbered all expectations, were one and all pro- vided for. Saturday evening the Paisley Street Methodist Church enter- tained us at tea, and the most striking thing noticeable about Strat- ford was the entire absence of a Xormal yell among the spirited peals of the College and lfniversity students. As we were unfortunate enough to be unable to attend the '-'iday sessions the meeting Saturday evening was the first that we had the pleasure of attending. Cpon reaching Xorfolk Street Metho- 5