The teachers of the colored schools of the city and county deserve especial commendation for the interest they take in the leading educational questions of the day, and for the efforts they are making to reach wise and correct conclusions, and if we may judge of the nature of their entire proceedings and discussions from the paper on practical education presented before the Institute yesterday, and printed in another column of this morning’s Appeal, the Institute has certainly been a success in point of ability. It is not often that teachers take the initiative in educational reforms, but we are glad to notice here that a company of teachers speak boldly and plainly in favor of a more practical course of study for the preparatory and common schools of the country. We would call the attention of educators and school boards to this paper, and urge that some system be devised for our schools, whereby the simpler of these plans, at least, be at once carried into effect with the opening of the schools in October. The actions and words of this Institute have an especial significance, coming as they do from the teachers of our colored schools, themselves belonging, with few exceptions, to the colored race. They certainly indicate a commendable earnestness in matters pertaining to the educational interests of the country and community, and they richly merit the encouragement and co-operation of all good citizens.”
The paper referred to was by Miss Laura A. Parmelee, of the Le Moyne School, and, after a historical sketch of much value, ended with the following recommendations:
After careful inquiry into the various methods adopted by different schools, your committee feels justified in recommending: That in every school-house a room be furnished with mechanical appliances, where, for an hour each day, the boys and young men may receive lessons in the art of handling tools and methods of work, under the direction of a practical workman; that all girls spend three-quarters of an hour daily in learning to do plain sewing, to cut garments neatly and economically, and to judge of the value and appropriate use of fabrics commonly made into clothing; that the first lessons in free-hand drawing be given to every student, and classes for further instruction organized for those who display special aptness for the work. One competent teacher could attend to this branch in all the schools, and still have time to assist in private schools, if desired. A plan of co-operation in these extra branches would greatly lighten the expense, while stimulating healthy competition to excel on the part of pupils; that the older girls study the science of nursing from a regular text-book, reporting to the teacher for criticism and advice their own experiences in neighborly watchings with the sick. Your committee note, with pleasure, an awakening interest in this subject, and would endorse the “Hand-Book of Nursing,” arranged and prepared by the New Haven training school for nurses, as a suitable work to be introduced for this purpose. In connection with the usual study of physiology, there should be discussions as to proper foods and best methods of their preparation. That in city and country schools, young children be encouraged to observe the habits of animals and plants; that no school-house be considered complete without a small microscope, and at some time in the course of study, the usual reading books be laid aside for a series of child’s books of nature, treating of the first principles of botany, philosophy and zoology; that all methods of teaching bend toward educating the senses to observe quickly and accurately, the mind to think independently, and the hands to work dexterously.
A cordial letter from the Hon. W. H. Fonte, Superintendent of Schools, closed with the following words:
Especially, I may add, do I desire to encourage and forward in every way, every plan or purpose which has for its object the elevation and progress of the colored race, believing with Frederick Douglass, that “without intelligence there is no independence, without independence no leisure, without leisure no progress.”
THE BY-WAYS OF TENNESSEE.
In February, 1878, we printed a letter from our Bro. Cutler, in which he spoke of a young girl who wanted to get an education, but who was entirely without means. He procured for her half enough to keep her at study for a year, started her on her course, and pronounced her “the happiest girl in the land.” The following description of her first field and work as a teacher will certainly interest those who aided Tennie Morford, and, we think, many others.—Eds.:
There is situated in the eastern part of Tennessee a beautiful, lonely, little valley, called the Sequatchie Valley. It is sixty miles long and five miles wide, containing about four hundred inhabitants. This is one of the by-ways of Tennessee, or, as it seems to be, from the condition of the people, Africa at home. It is hedged about with mountains, and its inhabitants scarcely hear of any other place than their own valley. They are very ignorant, and their chief occupation is farming.
I spent my last vacation among them, and tried to teach and show them the need of an education. There were persons who were forty and sixty years old who could not count a hundred. Scarcely any of them had seen a steam-boat or car. They know only of the wilds of Sequatchie, where they have spent their lives. Near the head of the valley was my place of work, principally inhabited by drunkards of both colors, who spent their Sabbaths in intoxication and in the use of profanity. Their places of enjoyment were three still-houses about half a mile apart, where the price of their labor was given in liquor.