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2 ADVANCED EDUCATIONAL METHODS HILE the Nineteenth Century has pass ed into history as a period marked by the most decided advancement in the realms of science, art, discovery and invention, its record is, also, distin guished by the adoption of the ad vanced educational methods which char acterize, not only the latter half of the 19th, but the beginning of the Twe*- 00 tieth Century as well. The time is clearly within the memory of maay persons today when the requisites for a teacher were merely a certain almost rudimentary knowl edge of text-book lore, covering, in many instances, scarcely more than the “Three R’s,” and, in few cases demanding even a passing familiarity with art, science, literature or philosophy. Remem bering this it will be easier to measure the vast difference which separates that time from the pres ent, for we know that now instructors, for even the primary grades of the public schools, are required to possess as complete an educational equipment as was, in the past, demanded of a college professor. In fact, it is these very primary instructors who lay the foundation for the entire educational struc ture which is to be builded in the mind of the child in all his future intellectual training. These conditions have been primarily the result of a better and broader understanding of the needs of children, first, as outlined by the great child student, Prof. Froebel, and then as applied by the universal child-lover—the mothers of the world. Hence it is safe to claim for women the distinc tion of recognizing and then demanding a more perfect system of education than that which w’as granted to the children of the past. Southern Women Work for Better Methods. Owing to financial disability, caused by political conditions, the educational development in the South was not as rapid as that noted in more pros perous sections and realizing the need of concert ed action looking toward better methods in public schools, the members of the Atlanta Woman’s Club decided to make the establishment and fulfilment of these methods one of its most earnest fields of work. Hence, a certain section of this influential body of women is devoted exclusively to education, and a recent meeting of this section of which Mrs. J. K. Ottley, of Atlanta, is Chairman, was a notable one in many ways, and the plans outlined at the meeting, as well as the review of work done by this section, and its various branches, seem to be of so broad and helpful a character that it is believ ed an account of it cannot fail tn be o*f generail interest. Mrs. A. McD. Wilson, the Club President. But before considering the work of the Atlanta Woman’s Club and its persistent efforts for the advancement of the people of the state of Geor gia, it may be well to make some specific mention of the distinguished Southern woman who now holds the presidential chair of this organization. Mrs. A. McD. Wilson does not owe her prominence in the South solely to her present position, as she has only just been elected to the presidential office, but, for some years, she has figured largely in the social development of the state as well as of the entire South. Perhaps if Mrs. Wilson were asked in what phase of her varied work she felt henself to be most useful she would say in her posi tion on the National Committee of fche Young Woman’s Christian Association, for she,is Chair man of the entire Gulf States section, as well as being prominently associated -with the state work, and, necessarily, with the work of the local Atlanta branch. She is the only Southern woman who holds a position on the National Committee, and her work in Y. W. C. A. matters has beefn responsi ble and important. In addition to this, however, she is, also, State Historian for the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and as Chairman of the Social The Work Done in this Tield by Atlanta, Club Women Service Section of the Atlanta Woman’s Club, she was largely instrumental in creating the first sen timent looking toward the restriction of Child Labor which, as is well known, has only just resulted in the passage of such a measure by the legislature of Georgia. At the time when this bill was first presented to the legislature, it failed of passage,, but the seed was sown, and, as Mrs. Wilson admits, she had, at that time, hoped for no more than this, we believe she may feel assured that the final happy result was due, in large measure, to her early ef forts. Artistic Training in Atlanta Schools. The past record of the work done by the At lanta Woman’s Club includes the introduction of manual training into the public schools of the city, which was one of the first in the South to adopt this innovation of training the hands as well as the heads of the children. The benefits accru ing from the manual training may be said to have prepared the way for yet further improvements, hence, we note today the establishment of a depart ment of art under the direction of Miss Elizabeth Getz. This department is designed to develop in children a love of the beautiful, and an appre ciation of the need of appropriate surroundings. /• KL iB \ . SB w \ vl ■ . Naturally, the Woman’s Club wishes to indorse this movement in fullest measure, and as a means to that end, its members desired a fuller under standing of the method in which this work was be ing done. Hence, Miss Getz appeared before the members at the meeting under consideration, and gave a most dejlightfnl talk on het work and its usefulness. She said, in effect, that developing a child’s sense of the beautiful, was first, a recognition of its right to happiness as well as a means of cultivating an expression of this happiness. She, then, elaborated this theory in most entertaining details, giving specific instances where the child was taught the value of beautiful surroundings and was made to feel his own respon sibility in making his individual surroundings at tractive. Practical Plans Suggested. While this was not always permissible or practi cal in the home, Miss Getz claimed that it could always be possible in the school which properly belonged to the children, and that the beautifying of the school-room should be one of the chief joys of a child’s life. The schools of Atlanta, and, in deed, of the entire South, have heretofore been char acterized by a stern sense of usefulness, and, finan- The Golden Age for February 7, 1907. Sy S.iT. DALSHEIMER MRS. A. McD. WILSON. daily, there has been no opportunity for much decoration save of individual rooms. The speaker, however, demonstrated that the surroundings of school children might be made attractive at com paratively little cost, and fflie described in detail methods for accomplishing this. Because of the grow ing recognition of these facts the Atlanta Woman’s Club has called an open meeting of all the women in the city with the avowed purpose* of forming themselves into a body for promoting the decora tion of the city public schools, and of doing this in the most harmonious and appropriate manner. The board of women visitors to the Atlanta schools, which was appointed by council some tiipe ago, has long recognized the need for just this kind of work which now seems possible by the presence of Miss Getz in the schools, and the desired co operation of the public on the outside. Practical methods of raising funds for purposes of decora tion were outlined by Miss Getz, and as all who were interested in advanced educational methods, agree that the refining influence of beautiful sur roundings cannot be overestimated, this feature of the educational work in Atlanta could well be emu lated by other communities, both urban and rural. Art as a Means of Expression. Yet another phase of the need of art training in the public schools was the use of art as a means of expression. It is well known that, to use an old adage, “children see with their fingers,” and it is the most impressive form of “seeing.” Hence, it is a growing custom to require even very small children to draw a picture, illustrating sojme lesson or story which they have been studying or describ ing some event which they have witnessed. That, in many instances this is done with remarkable facility, was amply demonstrated by a wonderful exhibit of artistic drawing, and cut figures which were done by the children, in the public schools of Springfield, Mass. This exhibit was shown at the summer school of the South at Knoxville, Tenn., and, at the request of the Southern Teachers’ Asso ciation, it is being sent from city to city of the South as an object lesson in "what can be done by children when taught to express themselves in this way. The exhibit covers the extensive walls of the M Oman’s Club rooms in Atlanta, and has at tracted much favorable and interested ■comment. The Library School. In connection with the recognition of the need of educational adjuncts there is none more potent than that of the library, which, to fulfill its high est usefulness, must be conducted in away which enables the public to profit by the resources offered. In order that this may be satisfactorily accomplish ed there has gradually grown the need of a school fox librarians, and this work was described at the meeting referred to by Mrs. Percival Sneed, of At lanta, who has given both time and thought to this subject. The members of the Carnegie Library Class, un der the direction of Miss Wallace, the librarian, number just twelve, and this number taxes the ca pacity of the school. There is a most beautiful class room provided for the use of these students, which a as furnished by a donation from Mr. Carnegie, and the work of this library class is of special imoor tance. It is the only institution of the kind in this part of the country, and its graduates are in con stand demand, as all of Georgia and Alabama relies on this school for trained librarians to meet the growth of small libraries in the South which is of a steadily increasing character. r s. Sneed explained that many persons claim ed to be surprised at the need for training a young man or woman “just to hand down a book fro’fo & S 1S is an altogether wrong idea of the duties of a librarian. First, it is required that a rigid examination covering literature, history bi ography, etc be passed by all applicants and those y o succeed in passing are given a year’s rigid (Concluded on Page 11.)