Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 212, 10 June 1891 — THE STATE OF OUR SHOOLS. [ARTICLE]

THE STATE OF OUR SHOOLS.

Mr. Editor: I beg to differ from you in some of the statements niade in the articie of the same hoading as above whieh apx>eared in vour issue of the3rdinst. Yqu say u that Hawauans (as teacbers 1 presuir»e) ure too kind and lenient; they fail in uisciplme." wliieh is a vcry smooth way of tciling the public 4% t-hey are goo<l for nothing as tt'avhcrs." Now, Mr. Editor, I think I know a iittle of the subject you haTe written about. I have ior some tiine fiiled the U anoinalous tx>sition of shoddv semi-rcspcctability" to whieh vou relegate the profe.se «olll of schoo! teaching, My experience | has hoen that both the "imporUid"! foreign and native Hawaiian teachers nre uften "t<K> ienient and fu.il ! īn diBeiplint\" To pr<»ve my assvrtion I will cite an instance wher* things were e2cactly the reverso uf vvhit vour writer it t«» lu\ j In the ve::r l|Bi tho Hoard of EUueaiion im[Hfted * l)r. T. 11.

Rose anel appointer? liim pri»ci#al of the Waihee Scbool. He waa a college graduate» weil educat4d, learped, and versed in scientijfie Jore. He had taught in the sehools California and other states for thirty-five years, yet be was too lenieut and nmdc such a failure of maintaining Bchool discipline tbat leng before he res ; .gned in Apiil 1882 the eehool was but a mob of ohildren. His pr<;decessor was Mr. Wm, K. Makakoa. & native Ilawaiiah toacher> whose disciplme was so perfect that one could hear a pin drop d«rin#'fichool time. These are factfc that eaii he pr<>ved at any time you may feel disposed to jnvestigate inatter, and- I may add that I wou!d not parade before the pūhlie a sinjgle opimon found*?d on prejudiced heresay or a causai glimpse into some school | room. I know the facts I aui stat-! ing for I happened to be an assist-1 ant under both principals during I the incumbency ef eaeh. I could also hame another eehool taught by "imported" Y teachers where, through a mistaken notioß of what should or should not be allowed in pupils, discipline was a failure. And still another of the high-salari£d foreign tea-jhers had faiiings in the directioīi of leniency and discipline, and, I thmk, if you, Mr. Editor, had been a schpol teacher you would have found itjp be quite a eommon failing amoīt% members of that profession. ! To say that such failings aiae only among the native Hawaiisjn teac!iers stamps the ybbr artieie as aii 4 -old fogy" asd a "croaker;" and, Mr. Editor, the big book you are so familia*' wiih, you ean tind him sneeringly asking '*Can any.thing good eome out of Nazareth ?" Again, to say that the Board of Education showed its "ignorance and insincerityV. by sayingit would stop importing teachers when it could get enough competemt Hawaiians is a very mean way of insinuating (because the ,sting is covered up with words) j that Hawaiians ean never heeome competent teachers, Perhaps lam unnecessarily barsh, but when you say a Hawaiian teacher cannot maintain discipline you mean he carinot teach at all. i Critic.