securing distinctness of articulation and clearness of tone, both of which are so necessary to good reading. No money can be expended more advantageously, I believe, than that paid to a good music teacher. Cannot the "Journal" do something more toward the general introduction of the study of vocal music into our public schools?

Both of the lower departments in district No. 1 have been for a long time very much crowded, and it seems strange that measures have not already been adopted to provide for the constantly increasing number of pupils. The want of another building must be appreciated by the district before long, or the street school will be extensively patronized, as a necessary alternative. The same departments in the other school are also crowded, but I believe alterations are soon to be made in the building, which will relieve them somewhat. The city needs, to day, at least two more large buildings, besides one for a high school department; but there is no immediate prospect of having them.

School was taught during the year, 10 months in district No. 1, and 7 months in No. 2. The following were the expenditures for educational purposes:

There is not a uniformity of text-books, nor are the schools conducted at all with reference to each other. The need of a school-system for the whole city has been felt during the last year more than ever before; and I believe that many of those who were instrumental in defeating the system proposed last winter, have since "come to a better mind.' But there are still so many afraid that there will be some interferance with their rights, if they yield anything, that it is yet a question whether they will allow the same general laws to apply to both schools, or will permit them both to be governed by one Board of Education. I wish that more of the friends of education here were laboriously waiting for the right kind of public sentiment upon this subject. Yours truly, SEPTEMBER 15th, 1857.

JAMES W. STRONG.

Obituary.

Died at 4 o'clock this morning, Aug. 25th, at the residence of D. H. WRIGHT, Esq., in this city, (Madison,) Miss KATE S. WRIGHT, aged 24 years.

Miss Wright was taken sick while at the annual meeting of the State Teachers' Association, in Waukesha, on the the 13th inst., and had been gradually sinking until the time of her death. For the past eighteen months she has been engaged in teaching in one of the public schools.

Possessed of a genial and happy disposition, she won the hearts of children, and repaid their affection by a warm and cordial sympathy, which was shared by every member of the school. Her loss here will be deeply felt, but not easily repaired. Her example will live now she is dead, and continue long a bright spot on the memories of those for whom she has labored and with whom she has been associated. Her best friends were those best acquainted with her, and her early death has thrown a veil of gloom over a large number of acquaintances, and the very bitterness of grief into the family circle,

D. Y. K.

WISCONSIN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.

VOL. II.

NOVEMBER, 1857.

NO. 5.

From the Pennsylvania School Journal.

THE CLAIMS OF TEACHING TO THE RANK OF A PROFESSION.

BY J. P. WICKERSHAM.

LEARNED men have taught in school and college; the cause of education has been commended by statesmen and philosophers; States, convinced of the necessity of intellectual and moral training, have made magnificent appropriations to promote it;-but notwithstanding all these things, teaching has never been regarded with that general favor which its importance would seem to demand. There have been teachers in ancient, as well as in modern times-in Greece and Rome, as well as in England and the United States, but at no time, and in no country, has there been a regularly constituted teacher's profession.

There are but three professions that are called learned: those of law, medicine and theology. The task that has been assigned, in this report, is to consider the claims of teaching to a similar rank.

The origin of the word profession, as at present used with reference to a particular business, is somewhat obscure, and it would be difficult even to give an exact definition of it. From what is generally implied by the term, however, it is clear that before any business can assume the rank of a profession, it must be characterized by certain requirements, and conform to certain conditions. Among these are: 1. It must have a noble aim. 2. Its operations must not be merely mechanical, but scientific in their character. 3. It must require on the part of its members a learned general education. 4. Its nature must be such as to render special preparation necessary to success. 5. It should have provided an authority, competent to decide upon the qualifications of those who apply for membership. Admitting that the professions of law, medicine and theology possess these requirements and answer these conditions, the inquiry is to be made as to whether the same is true respecting teaching.

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1. Has teaching a noble aim? Teaching is the conducting of the process by which the organs of the body and the faculties of the mind are developed and trained; and, surely, no human aim can be higher or nobler. Man," said Pope, "is the noblest work of God;" and, He who knew man best, gave him dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." From this, it appears evident that man is considered by his Maker as the head of the animal world, the crowning glory of creation. It is honorable to labor on the farm or in the workshop; but, however necessary Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts may be to the existence or well-being of the human family, the tilling of the land, the modeling of machinery, or the construction of railroads, palaces, or pyramids, can hardly be compared in importance to the education of man himself, the agent upon whom the success of the work depends.

The science of Medicine is founded in the relations of certain mineral, vegetable, and animal substances to the human system; but, as the body is less important than the mind that animates it, it cannot be that, when properly understood, a science which includes both body and mind should be considered inferior to one less expansive. It is not an object of less dignity to train, by judicious means, the body to a healthy growth than it is by appropriate remedies to remove disease from the system; and, the training of the body is but a small part of the object of education.

The profession of the law is founded upon man's social relations, and its highest aim seems to be to secure, by means of courts and juries, the proper observance of those relations. Teaching assumes to do more than this. It not only requires teachers to acquaint themselves with the relations which one man or one community of men bears to another, but it proposes to make such knowledge universal; and, to secure obedience to the great commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," not by the verdict of a jury, the decision of a judge, or the counsel of men learned in the law, but by so cultivating the understanding, training the habits, and forming the character of youth, that the spontaneous impulses of their own hearts may dictate the right.

But, contrasts aside, what nobler object can there be than that of educating the whole people? The most perfect government would fail among ignorant and immoral men; the most perfect schemes of reform, planned by the philanthropist or the patriot, would prove fruitless if not based upon awakened intelligence. Among a people devoid of education, government becomes anarchy; reform, fanaticism; science, magic; religion, superstition. Shut up the schools and colleges of our country, and you at once palsy all improvement; you cripple agriculture, manufactures, and commerce; you dam up the fountains of literature and science; you sap the foundations of our republican government; you undermine the very fabric of society; you blast as with mildew breath, the glorious religious fruit of the reformation, and send men back to revel mid the darkness and superstition of the Middle Ages.

An artist stood before a rough block just from the quarry. He gazed intently upon the stone.--None but his eye could detect the beauty which lay concealed therein. He began his work. Chip by chip the rude mass was slowly chiseled away. Days, and weeks, and years were spent in the toilsome task; but, behold, from the rough stone there has appeared a beautiful statue, whose veins swell with the coursing life-blood, whose lips utter words.-"What the art of the sculptor is to a block of marble, education is to a human soul;" so, the teacher, by labor as toilsome as that of the artist, would give grace, beauty and intelligence to the too often rude material that tests his skill. His mission is to form the manners, to cultivate the taste, to awaken the slumbering intellect, to store the mind with useful knowledge, to kindle in the heart pure and lofty sentiments, and to expand the soul until it can enjoy a just apprehension of nature and of God. Than this object, earth presents none greater or nobler.

2. Are the operations of Teaching scientific in their character, or are they merely mechanical? "The term profession," says Dr. Webster, “is not applied to an occupation merely mechanical." If teaching, therefore, be a mere imitative process or a mechanical art, it has no claims to be called a profession. It is acknowledged that some of the processes of teaching are in part mechanical. Such is, to a considerable extent, the case with the teaching of writing, drawing, instrumental music, and painting; and, perhaps, to a more limited extent, it may be true in the teaching of other branches. But surgical operations are mechanical, as are likewise all legal forms; so that in this respect, teaching does not differ from Medicine or Law.

Apart from this, however, it is claimed that teaching is a science, and that he who would teach well must teach according to fixed principles. The end proposed by education, is the training and development of the physical, intellectual and moral powers of man; and, this end, like other important objects, can only be attained by the systematic application of appropriate means. To attain it, the relation of man to circumstances-of the human mind to nature as the subject of knowledge-must be known and applied. A farmer, before he can cultivate his land successfully, must know the nature of the soil and the means by which it can be improved; and this knowledge is called the science of agriculture. The physician, before he can skillfully practice his profession, should understand the structure and functions of the human body and its relations to Materia Medica; and upon these principles the science of Medicine is based. In a similar manner, the teacher, before he can teach well, must acquaint himself with the educational capabilities of the human body and the human mind, and the means nature furnishes for conducting the process of teaching; and here, too, may be found principles, which, when systematically arranged, are well worthy of being designated a science, and I hesitate not to say the greatest and noblest of sciences-the science of man.

An additional reason why the teacher should study the constitution of mind and its phenomena, may be found in the fact that there is a natural

order of development in the mental faculties, which should be observed in teaching. First, the principle of curiosity prompts the child to look, to notice, to examine, to inquire; next, memory fills her store-house with the words, things, facts and phenomena; and, then, reason mounts her throne to classify, to generalize and to form inductions. The teacher who would reverse this order, or unskillfully follow it, will greatly mar his work.

There is likewise a logical order which should be observed in the teaching of any branch of study.-There is a proper place to begin, appropriate steps to follow in succession, and a natural conclusion.-Each branch of study is to the pupil a ladder, up which he is required to climb. This ladder the teacher should base upon the simple ideas the child possesses, and, then, allow him to mount, by easy but sure graduations, upward. This logicial order in study-this right method of teaching-is not merely mechanical, but deeply philosophical.

The government of a human being, in any circumstances, is a delicate and responsible task. Every thinking parent knows that, without system, he cannot govern his child, and, with his utmost care and study his child is not always well governed. An intimate knowledge of human nature, and of the motives which actuate human conduct, ability to detect the cause of disorder and to administer an appropriate remedy, a well-arranged system of principles applicable to the government of children-these, and only these, will enable a teacher to secure good order in his school.

In the knowledge the teacher requires of the constitution of mind and its relations, of the order in which its faculties are naturally developed, of the method to be observed in successful teaching, and in school government, he must base his principles upon the broad, solid foundations of science; and his teaching must be ill-directed and its results uncertain, who is not guided by the light of scientific truth.

It is true, however, and I acknowledge it even among teachers with shame, that far too much of our teaching, both in school and college, has been mechanical, a mere routine of learning lessons and reciting them. Our teachers and professors have been far too regardless of the Philosophy of Education, and many have taught on, seldom questioning as to whether their methods of teaching were right or wrong. Happily, a brighter day is dawning for the Profession of Teaching. Teachers are everywhere experimenting. Thinking men among them will systematize the results of these experiments; and teaching will eventually be ranked, where it is maintained its scientific basis entitles it to be, among the learned professions. 3. Does Teaching require a learned general education, on the part of those who practice it? Lawyers, Doctors and Theologians are expected to possess, in addition to the special knowledge required for the practice of their professions, a learned general education. It may perhaps be true that teachers are not at present, generally, as well informed as the members of the other professions; but if it were fair to judge the standing of a profession by the ignorance of individual members, it is feared that no profession could claim a very high standard of learning.