A survey of the educational system of the Philippine islands by the Board of educational survey, created under acts 3162 and 3196 of the Philippine Legislature.

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

305

Education by persons who make no attempt to discover either the causes
or the results of such variations, it is difficult to persuade division and
district supervising teachers that the quality of instruction should be
their chief concern. Supervisors whose schools have much to show in
terms of pupil attainment are discouraged when reports to superiors
dwell at length upon such trivialities as the minute displacement of a
hyloplate or the imperfect alignment of pupils' desks. The supervisor
in the field will devote his time and attention to the things commented
upon by superiors. If the central authority inspects instead of supervises, the supervising teacher will do the same.
DEFECTS OF ACTUAL SUPERVISION.-The chief criticisms of the
work of supervisors under the conditions as they exist are:
1. In proportion to the time devoted to teaching, there is too much
attention given to other aspects of the teachers' work. From reading
suggestions given to teachers one is led to believe that many supervisors
are more competent in discovering defective fences than in recognizing
defective instruction; better able to measure growth of cabbages and
corn than the development of children. In the preceding paragraphs
one of the conditions has been pointed out which tends to center supervisors' attention upon the trivial at the expense of the fundamental.
2. There is too little specific and helpful criticism of spoken and
written English. The level of teacher English is very low in the schools.
The notable weakness of the schools is in pupil attainment in language.
Yet the suggestions given teachers for correction of their errors of pronunciation and diction are notably few in the supervisors' use of Form
178. As shown by errors in their reports, there are supervisors who
are unable to use English correctly. In such cases, the blind are leading the blind in this important particular.
3. There is some evidence at first hand and much at second handnotably from letters written by division superintendents to supervisorsthat there is tendency for some supervisors to neglect field work for
office work, to carry on long-distance supervision by means of circulars
and reports, and to make these impersonal contacts take the place of
visitation and conference. In one division office was seen an admirable
chart on which a graphic record showed the field activities of every supervisor in the division. It also showed for every school the supervisory
attention received. Such a chart must serve as a stimulus to all supervisors concerned. In other divisions supervisors and division superintendent in conference work out for a period in advance the schedule of
visitation which supervisors are to follow.
If these conferences represent a real joint attack upon the problems
of supervision, they are admirable. If they are simply a meeting at
which the division superintendent gives orders and the supervisors take
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