isua-isnscatalog-1882-1883-011

Description:	ANNUAL REGISTER. 11grades of school. All knowledge is the product of the minds action. To attempt to force the mind to form products which it has no power to form, is not only a great waste of energy, but a positive injury. We see, therefore, that the teacher needs a peculiar knowledge of both the sciences to be taught and of the science of the mind. Upon this knowledge as a basis he can be helped to construct a science of teaching and this is the prime object of one of the two departments of normal school instruc¬ tion. But the science of teaching is not an exact science. It is even less exact and complete than are the numerous sciences from which it is derived. The less exact and complete a science is, the more need is there that it be illuminated by the experience re¬ sulting from the practice of the art. It may be safely affirmed that but little reliable and practical knowledge of the science of teaching can be gained without constant observation and practice of the art of teaching. It is through actual experience in the doing that the meaning of the rules becomes clear.This necessitates a system of schools for observation and prac¬ tice in teaching, containing a class of every grade, from the lowest primary to the high school. A portion of each day needs to be spent by every student, during his entire course of prepara¬ tion, in the study of the work done in these schools or in practice in teaching in them. It is by such training that the normal student comes through the school an experienced teacher, able to do efficient work from the first. Any school not having this department of practice in the art of teaching, falls far short of being a normal school. This is another reason why the college and university can not afford those opportunities which a thorough preparation for teaching demands.We may summarize our conclusions as follows: A Normal School is one whose controlling aim is instruction and training in the science and art of teaching. It consists of two departments co-ordinate in importance—the Theory and the Practice Departments. The theory department must lead the student: (1) To construct for himself the different sciences which he is to teach (2) to construct a science of mind with special regard to the nature of the different conditions, processes and products of mind-action in the different periods of growth
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/33056
Collection:	Indiana State University Archives

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