Chapter II: Part ONE: The Teacher (1)

Someone has truthfully said, “Without a teacher there can be no school.” It is a university when a great teacher, like Mark Hopkins, sits on a log with the lad, James A. Garfield, and pours forth his store of knowledge for the eager mind of the backwoods boy. All other elements of a school may be absent, except the teacher, who as a living fountain of knowledge interests the mind of the lad because he possesses those qualifications that are found in the true teacher. The vital factor of the school—be it the humblest one room school; the best one room school; a village school or the many roomed high school in the metropolis of the land—the vital and all-important factor is the teacher. The teacher is the inspiring force in the school-room, bringing light and hope and accomplishing more by influence over the children than by any other means.

The Teacher as a Leader

The teacher must be a leader—a true leader—a leader in social ethics, in private morals, in character-building, in religion, in fact in all that goes to make life worth while. This seems almost too much to demand of the teacher but it should be expected nevertheless, for it is not exaggeration to say that the teacher’s work is the greatest of all tasks. His clay is God’s chosen material. Every great work needs a controlling brain and a true heart and it is to be expected that God’s greatest work needs them in a superlative degree. If they are absent, the school is like a dead body without the vital spark. If the school is without the true and faithful teacher—even though all else be present, the best and most lasting results are impossible. The cry of the hearts of the children is that they be instructed and nourished and, finally, sent into the world fired with a zeal and purpose that will prompt them to the most heroic efforts in the world’s work.

It is the dream of every child to worship some hero, to be held spell-bound by some great life—a life that possesses some traits that appeal to him. The teacher must be the hero; the teacher must embody these traits. The child upon finding such a teacher will do his bidding gladly, will start on any mission at his request, and will be proud to serve the dictates of a master-will—a will influenced by the Divine will. How many men and women will admit that all the good that is in them and the usefulness they manifest, they owe to the example and teaching, or to the memory of some sainted teacher—a teacher who consecrated himself to God, thereby finding his place and wielding his influence over child life for good.

Though the teacher’s task seems to be the most difficult, after all its importance makes it the greatest and best, and what better or higher work is there than to help children and young men and women to a clearer vision of truth, to a nobler sense of duty, to encourage and inspire to higher ideals and motives of life, that are bounded only by eternity? It is the teacher, who at his best, stands between the child and the various experiences that await him. The teacher, from his larger store of knowledge, directs the child towards, and introduces him to, those forms of experience which are especially adapted to bring out and develop the element of perfect control.

Two teachers may use the same mechanism of methods—the one may fail and the other succeed. They may be using the same system of marking and grading, rewarding, and reporting to parents, still the one fails while the other succeeds. Their environments, too, may be the same. The failure of the one is to be sought in the teacher, so too, is the success of the other. The vital need is the proper qualification of the teacher.

“The responsibility of the schoolmaster does not end when the boy leaves school any more than the responsibility of the ship-builder ends on the day of the launch. Each is commissioned to construct a seaworthy vessel, competent to sail either in calm or in stormy seas, and each neglects his duty if he is content merely to build up a fairly handsome structure which will glide gracefully off the ways and keep afloat until the crowd has dispersed.”[3]

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Footnote 3:

Welton and Blandford, Principles and Methods of Moral Training, p.
173. Warwick and York.

Purpose of Teaching

Perhaps, no more important question should the teacher ask himself than this, “Why am I teaching?” Is it because a brother or sister or parent or friend has taught or is teaching, or because he must earn a livelihood to support himself or family, or because he thinks he loves children, or enjoys instructing, or glories in power, or believes he has ability as a disciplinarian, or considers the work of teaching easy, dignified and above reproach, or the day short, giving time for other pursuits; or is it because he considers teaching a stepping stone to some other life profession, or, as is the case with too many women, employment to tide over the period between graduation from the high school and matrimony; or that he feels he is capable of no other work and is teaching because he believes himself small and fitted for doing a small work; or, does he believe that there is in teaching an opportunity to accomplish great good and to be of valuable service to mankind? There may be some other motive or motives that induce the teacher to undertake his work, but his should be the most worthy purpose. No teacher can expect to do his fullest measure of service and gain that contentment and happiness, that come to the good teacher, if his motive or motives for teaching are not the noblest and best. If any teacher takes up the profession of teaching—the art of arts—his must be a true aim to be of service to mankind. No teacher can successfully control those under his care and teaching, unless he believes that his work is the most vital. His heart and interest must be in his work; otherwise, it is his duty to leave the teaching profession.

Preparation

A requisite of the teacher that can not be overlooked is the ability to teach. It is an unmistakable preface to teaching to have the proper desire to teach. It is to be hoped that the day is not far distant, when all teachers must have a normal training of not less than one year, and that every Normal School be required to cultivate the natural qualities most essential to teachers. Every student entering a Normal School should satisfy his instructors that he possesses superior ability in his chosen profession. The Normal School should be required to recommend, without exception, to other fields of activity, all those who after a sufficient time in the school do not promise to qualify as teachers of ability. One does himself great injustice to enter a profession for which he is not by nature and by training qualified; and a far greater injury is done those who come under his instruction if he is not a natural and trained teacher.

Scholarship

Without a doubt, a most important requisite of the teacher is good scholarship—a thorough knowledge of the subjects to be taught. His knowledge must be not only thorough, but fresh. He, too, must be a broader student of the subjects he teaches than one who merely knows the text he is using. It is evident that a teacher can not teach more than he knows, and often the keen mind of a pupil leaves the realm of the text-book and legitimately inquires into the depths of knowledge. He may embarrass the unprepared teacher, or the teacher whose knowledge of the subject is no broader than the text. The teacher’s preparation must not be superficial, it must be like a fountain—ever fresh and flowing, connecting that which has been passed over and that which is to come. This is an essential element of successful instruction, but many can not see why it should influence discipline.

The teacher who is a deep and inexhaustible fountain of knowledge wins the confidence of his pupils, and whatever increases confidence decreases the necessity of imposed discipline and control, and it is true that whatever decreases the confidence of the pupils in the teacher increases the necessity for outer control. Confidence in the ability and preparation of the teacher is the basis of ready obedience. It is the element that begets a prompt and cheerful yielding of the pupil’s will to the will of the teacher.

The teacher should never cease to be a student. Though he thinks himself thoroughly educated, he should always go over the material which he intends to teach; to this, he should add a wide range of reading outside of the lesson proper, but bearing upon the lesson. In this way he will be able to give to his pupils more than is found in the lesson. The teacher who unceasingly pursues such tactics in the preparation of his work will arouse interest in his classes and interest will secure attention which in turn will produce diligence in study. It is a self-evident principle, that interest on the part of the teacher will produce interest on the part of the pupil and interest will promote application and progress. Many a teacher who has been otherwise weak in the ability to discipline properly, has easily controlled large classes by the interest he has manifested in his work, because he was accurate and full in his instruction.

As a Student of Nature

Aside from the teacher’s thorough preparation and knowledge of the subjects he teaches, he must be well versed in other matters. No teacher can fulfill the measure of his calling, unless he is a lover and student of Nature. This may be difficult for the teacher within the confines of a large city. However, no city is so large, that all phenomena of Nature are shut out and whatever means are at hand, should be used and thoroughly understood. Some tiny park, or well kept front yard, even a stray bird, a sparrow, the rain, the clouds, and the snow flakes are Nature’s property, and where is the teacher who should be unlearned in any of these subjects? For the teacher whose happy lot it is to teach in the rural districts or villages, it would be a shame indeed, if he did not know the every pulse beat of Nature. Could there really be a teacher who could not control a large band of boys and girls, if he were always ready to expound the secrets of the forest, of the seasons, of the air, and put life and breath into all the vast out-of-doors and her varied phenomena?

It is almost a necessity that every teacher should have studied psychology in his preparation for teaching; still the author has been in states where there are no laws concerning this requirement for teachers; there are scores of teachers who have not even read one text in psychology.

Many have been the definitions given of psychology, but in the end they do not differ seriously. Since psychology is the interpretation of human nature, the admission must be made that every teacher should have a clear knowledge of the subject. Psychology will not produce a teacher, it is true, but teachers are compelled to study and to know human nature and the laws governing it, so that common sense methods may be developed. The study of psychology is usually involved in all discussion of methods. The teaching process involves the mind of the child and it is reasonable to demand that the teacher should know the main outlines of modern psychology.

Without further argument, it is apparent that a clear and comprehensive knowledge of psychology is necessary for the teacher. Not alone should the teacher have an understanding knowledge of psychology, but he should read some good texts on psychology and its allied branches every year.

Child Study

No teacher, then, should consider himself educated or prepared to teach who has not given himself some preparation through child study, this greatest of all school subjects, which is simply genetic psychology practically applied. This subject is new, and at best, the teacher who has carefully studied it will know too little. Still there is no excuse for the teacher who does not know something about the following phases of the psychology of children: the child’s soul or mind, acting as memory, imagination and reason; the chief facts concerning the child’s affections, ambitions, motives and ideals; adolescence—physical, mental and moral phases; relations to other children and elders; his sense of humor and responsibility; his moral obligations; his views concerning himself, society, and the local community; his views of Nature; the principles of child growth; the normal height and weight of children; the common defects of children as weak eyes, defective hearing, adenoids, spinal curvature and other ailments that attack childhood; the child’s likes and dislikes and all the activities that most interest him.

No sensible teacher will undertake to teach the child a new subject until he understands just what the child can do. Then it is an evident conclusion that the process of teaching can be elevated above the plane of a haphazard undertaking to that of a systematic science by the teacher who has studied the child in his manifold complexities. It follows then that a teacher’s preparation at its best is not complete until he has a workable knowledge of child psychology.

Reading

The teacher’s preparation is not complete without the reading of good books. Every true teacher is a student, and to make it possible to remain a student he can not neglect reading good books. Reading the best books in every field of the teacher’s work, and even in many other fields for the purpose of gaining new knowledge is a requirement of the teacher that should not be overlooked. In reading for pleasure and recreation, care must be exercised in choosing reading material. Only the best should be selected by the teacher and that which will give the most aid to his work.

The teacher must be a careful reader; he should not hasten through a book, just to be reading. Important passages should be marked. Whatever is of use to the teacher should be correlated to his work to add more to the subject taught. The author in all his reading, even in fiction, has made use of this method—marking all important passages and quotations as he read; then, in the back of the book, he constructed a list of pages where each passage or quotation was to be found. Following the number of the page in his index, he put a brief note, or sometimes only a word to explain the nature of the passage. To illustrate: quotations or passages of general interest were marked (general); a passage bearing upon history, marked (history), etc. When he sought some thought or passage upon a certain subject, it was easy to look to the “homemade” index of the books read and hastily locate such information.

Reading for a Purpose

To the teacher books are companions. He should go to them in time of need. They will give assistance. For recreation they will afford rest, and for information they will prove a never-ending source. Every book the teacher reads, should be read for a purpose. It is a good plan to discuss a book read with a friend or one who has read it and is interested in the line of thought treated. Fiction usually portrays some strong character types, as well as weak character types; these make excellent themes for talks on moods and kindred issues. The wise teacher is always ready to cite some good character study or tell some interesting tale or anecdote bearing upon the subject being studied and taught. When interest lags on a dreary day, or when the entire school seems to have the “blues”—and every teacher knows that there are such times—he can save the situation and avoid embarrassment by narrating some interesting story. Fiction abounds in character portrayals, anecdotes and stories. These can be marked and indexed as to kind as explained above.

The question as to what kind of books a teacher should read may arise. There can be no harm in reading every type of book—books that bear upon every phase of life. However meager a teacher’s income may be or uncertain the place of his abode, he should have a library. The word library does not mean that he must have a hundred or more books. How many great men have had only a Bible, Pilgrim’s Progress, and perhaps a book or two of poems, and yet owned a library far more valuable than is often possessed by the indiscriminate booklover! A few books well read are better than many unread.

It may be well to add this precaution. There are scores of good books bearing upon method, pedagogy and various phases of the teacher’s work. Books written for the teacher are intended to inform, and not to give exact directions for every activity of the teacher. There can be no such book as the latter. It is true, every school bears the same aspects, and fundamental principles underlie the teaching process, but “cut and dried” rules and formulæ can work only for artificial ends. A good book seeks to suggest, and the wise teacher improves every suggestion.

Papers and Magazines

In addition to the reading of good books the teacher should read several good papers and magazines. Here the greatest caution is necessary. This is an age of every kind of journalism, much of it really dangerous, and frequently the most appealing paper or magazine may prove to be the most harmful. It is a safe rule to read those papers and magazines that have been proven worthy by time and use. One good daily is sufficient; in its pages the teacher can scan the activities of the world. This need not take much time. A few minutes each day will be ample. A teacher should avoid sensational murder “writeups,” robberies and articles designed to create curiosity rather than to give facts and information. However, the tried and conservative daily avoids glaring headlines, announcing atrocities of every kind.

What the teacher should know, is what the world is doing in commerce, industry, science, invention, legislation, discovery, religion, arts, manufacturing and those great events which shape history. The teacher who reads papers and magazines for the above purpose will be abreast of the times. He should read one good teacher’s paper. There should be no trouble experienced in finding one as there are numerous excellent magazines published. Yet, care must be exercised, for many teacher’s papers and magazines are nothing less than trash. The editors, like so many business men, hope to reap a harvest of money instead of following the motive of service to their fellow men. A good magazine can not be omitted from the teacher’s reading. While it is true, that much which appears is written only for the remuneration; that is, each issue must be filled and almost anything will do, and many of the stories appeal only to a class of people who will read only the very poorest of literature; still, the teacher need not despair in his choice. He must read that journal the reputation of which has been established and the pages of which are edited by live men and women who are discussing live issues.

In concluding the discussion on the teacher’s preparation, it is obvious from what has been said, that the teacher must always remain a student. He must read to learn; he must investigate to know; he must delve into Nature to learn, and it is not at all absurd for him to study again those books which he faithfully studied during his Normal School training.

The Teacher’s Morals

It seems almost unnecessary to say that a teacher should be moral. It is an important requisite. Although the teacher’s choice of his profession, his ability to teach and his preparation have been discussed first, the reader may consider the teacher’s morality the first requisite. The author can not conceive of a _successful_ teacher, who would possess every essential quality except the quality of being moral. It is a foregone conclusion that a teacher is supposed to be a moral person. While this is true, sad to say there yet remain many teachers whose notions of a moral code are crude. They violate some of the smallest details of the moral code and thereby undermine their success, to say nothing about lessening the service they are attempting to render to mankind. It is not too radical to say that a teacher, above all other professional people _must_ be moral. His idea of a moral code must not be vague; it must not contain conflicting ideas. He, above all, must have definite notions concerning morals. It is true that the term is too generally misused. Many teachers attempt to teach morals in such a way that the pupils have altogether a wrong idea of ethics and consequently, in their daily lives are doing many things that are immoral, still believing that they are shunning that which is not right.

It is the purpose of the following discussion to set the teacher right on what the term “moral” in its strictest sense includes; and what constitutes a breach of morality will be clearly set forth. For many years educators have been examining the moral requisites in a teacher, and there can be no doubt as to the correctness of these ideas. No attempt will be made to generalize, but specific and concrete ideas will be presented. In other words, what is immoral will be discussed in such plain terms that the teacher can easily frame for himself a workable moral code.

Meaning of Moral

At the outset, it will be well to explain the term, moral. Specifically, to be moral is to act in accordance with the laws of right. At once, the conflicting question arises: May not what one considers right another consider wrong? But, this is not a difficult question. It is not what one person or another may _think_ about it; it is what the _results_ will be. The past points unmistakably to the results of all that has been done. In the dictionary of the past can be found the record of the results of every action. Have the results been beneficial and serviceable to mankind, then the action was moral; if the opposite, then the action was immoral. Without further explanation, those actions that injure the individual or society will be regarded as immoral.

It is granted that a teacher should not become intoxicated, or fight, gamble, visit places of doubtful character, associate with persons whose characters are questionable, violate the law in any way, break the Sabbath, swear, or blaspheme, cheat, lie or be guilty of lewd conduct. These are immoral acts. There is no question as to their nature. They _are_ wrong. Still the author has met teachers who committed some of the above wrongs. At a certain board meeting a young man was asked to present his resignation, because he was proven guilty of a grossly immoral act. It is hard to understand why any teacher should even be guilty of minor wrongs, much less, any of the larger offenses against the moral code. It is to be hoped that this book will seldom fall into the hands of any teacher who is so base as to be guilty of a wilful wrong.

It is true that many questionable actions in which men and women indulge themselves, are by them, not always considered wrong. While this may be the case, it becomes necessary to inquire what influence such actions may have or what the results may be. If evil alone can be traced back to such actions, or results that are damaging, then such actions must be conceded to be wrong, and therefore immoral by anyone, however ardent an advocate of the questioned actions he may be.

Now, the application of the above principle to some concrete actions, that are much disputed as to whether they are wrong or not, must tend to satisfy the most doubting mind. _If injury can be shown as the result of any action, that action must_ _then be wrong._ All must agree to this. Then, the discussion must lead to the results of these disputed actions. The first of these under consideration will be smoking. Every teacher can recall an instance where some boy worshipped a certain man because he found in him all those attributes that make a true man, except that the man smoked. But the boy held him as a hero, and because the man smoked, he believed there could be no harm in it. The influence of the man induced the boy to smoke. The moulding of a human life is the most important work in the world, and if this book can say something that will cause a teacher to feel a keener responsibility in his work and life than ever before, in the fulfilling of his most important position, then it will not have been written in vain.

Consider Weakness of Others

The teacher may argue that no harm came to him from smoking because he smoked moderately, and no harm can come to the boy if he will be moderate. But, the teacher cannot insure _this_ influence of his action. Every sensible teacher must admit that there are not a few instances where positive harm has come to smokers. At this point it is well to say that the pipe, the cigar, chewing tobacco, and the exceptional snuffing of tobacco, are all related closely to the cigarette, which gets most of the blame for the harm done by tobacco. They are all evil and their use is immoral. That no teacher may be in doubt as to whether smoking a cigarette, a cigar or a pipe, or chewing and snuffing tobacco have evil results, it may be advisable to call attention to actual records of many concrete cases; and cases in which much harm has been suffered are not isolated, but are generally distributed. The records of any city superintendent of schools will reveal scores of cases of boys whose minds have been weakened, whose muscular organisms are shattered, whose nervous systems are irresponsive and beyond the boy’s control, in fact, whose entire lives are wrecks, because they indulged in the use of tobacco. Every user of tobacco, at first, is a moderate user, but the evil habit leads to demoralization and excessiveness. Any juvenile judge can cite many instances of boys who were brought into the juvenile court, because their minds were depraved and their passions all out of restraint, because the use of tobacco had had its evil effect upon the boys’ minds. If the reader will concede that some evil comes from the use of tobacco, then the argument is complete; for any action that necessarily has evil results is wrong, therefore, immoral and the teacher has no right to perform that act.

Gossiping

No one questions the fact that gossiping and its attendant indulgences, loafing, are evils. Nevertheless, teachers are too prone to indulge themselves, thereby profoundly influencing their school associates in no good way. It should be above every teacher to gossip about anyone. When the time comes to report an insubordinate or bad pupil to the superintendent or to the board of education, the facts should be told and no more. The teacher—man or woman—has no right to report the evil of one pupil to another pupil or to patrons or parents, even to members of his or her immediate family. A safe rule to follow, is this: “If one can say nothing good about anyone, say nothing at all.” This brings up the question, can a teacher, with propriety, gossip about other teachers, neighbors, patrons and parents? No. It is degrading. Avoid it. The city club, the social gathering, the proverbial “husking bee,” the quilting, or “gathering” of any kind is too often the hotbed where gossip thrives. A teacher cannot afford to share in it. Better than take part, keep silent. It is bad enough to listen.

Association with Loafers

Many a man teacher has thought in order to be a good mixer, he must be friendly, or social and linger with the drug store crowd, or stop at the street corner—where usually the loafers congregate—to take part in the conversation. Not always, but generally the topic of conversation is idle gossip, or worse than that, “smutty” stories are being told. To listen is immoral; to indulge is worse. But, should the teacher pass by without even so much as noticing the crowd? By no means. He should cultivate the good will of all, even of the street corner gangs. Then what must he do? He can give a friendly greeting and make a pleasant remark, turning the tide of conversation toward right channels.

The story is told of Ulysses S. Grant, that when he was a boy, he came one evening into one of the grocery stores of his home town, Galesburg, Ill., and soon after entering, heard one of the loafers say, he would tell a certain story if there were no women in the store. The idler craned his neck and asked if there were any women near. At this point, the youthful Grant said, “No, but there is a gentleman present.” The story was not told. The writer recalls a superintendent of schools, who attended a Men’s Church Banquet and told such offensive stories that even men, who before thought little about telling an objectionable story, were disgusted. The influence of this superintendent was so extensive that he led many others to tell evil stories. The boys of the entire school, as a consequence, were addicted to this vicious habit. Many of them admitted to the writer the evil habit, and pointed to the superintendent as the one who had influenced them to do what they considered evil and immoral.

Further admission from the boys revealed that many of the girls told shockingly offensive stories and that some of the boys followed the evil stories by the evil actions suggested. _All_ because one man did not have the moral stamina required of a decent teacher and superintendent. To conclude, no teacher—man or woman—can afford to gossip, to talk about anything, except that which the most refined and exacting mind may hear without criticism.

There can be no question as to the impropriety of idle gossip and bad stories, but there may be included the so-called “yarn,” and attempts at humor designed to create laughter at the expense of a friend on account of unavoidable defects, affected speech, “smart” expressions, and the like. To the average child the above deviations from the correct usage of language are repulsive. There are teachers who have the happy characteristics of being humorous and can employ that trait to good advantage but it should not be attempted, if it causes an auditor pain. The teacher should use only good English; that is, pure English which will serve the teacher who is inclined to indulge in trivialities of speech.

Slang Expressions

It is needless to say that a teacher should not swear or use blasphemy. But how disgusting it is to enter a school-room where the mistakes of the pupils are corrected by “gracious,” “my land,” “gee,” and scores of other useless words that are classed as slang. It is not unreasonable to say that such words are nearly as bad in the school-room as the vilest blasphemy is outside of the school-room. Pure English, with not an unnecessary word, is beautiful. It excludes slang and blasphemy. Again, the teacher should use only pure English in the school-room, and more than that, outside of the school-room, in his every-day conversation.

Deception

It is a well established fact that everyone should be truthful, but to the teacher this is all-important. This does not imply merely that the teacher must tell no falsehood but he must, also, act no falsehood. There are teachers who never tell a lie, but their actions often convey untruth; such a teacher cannot expect his pupils to be truthful in word or deed. Closely allied to this is the common fault of deception. No teacher can afford to deceive his pupils. If he has promised his pupils something, he should see that they get it. If some unavoidable occurrence prevents this, it becomes necessary that the teacher should explain the situation. Truthfulness and frankness on the part of the teacher will beget the same on the part of the pupil.

Associations

May a young man or woman who is teaching, associate frequently with the opposite sex? No one will attempt to deny that he or she may to a limited extent. Evil results will follow when the association becomes too frequent or too conspicuous, even though it is what the average young American calls “just for a good time.” If these young teachers are teaching in a high school, they will sow the seeds of free-for-all courtship in their classes. Wise high school teachers, and very often the upper grammar grade teachers, know that this will surely harm the better interests of work and progress, that it will also breed the abominable habit among the pupils of keeping late hours and being on the streets too much. Association with the opposite sexes among high school pupils is often romantic and beautiful and cannot be condemned. It is not our purpose to object unqualifiedly to this practice but _safety_ and _common sense_ must be practiced, and at no time can a teacher afford to act with more discretion than in his associations. The married teacher is relieved of this caution, but even his associations and relations with his lady teachers, mothers and often older pupils must be carefully guarded and made only business-like.

This introduces the question of the kind of associates of the same sex a teacher should allow in his company. The maxim, “The kind of companions one has will reveal one’s character” answers the question. A teacher must ignore no one, but only those people whose characters are above reproach should become his companions. It is true, a teacher will, very often have questionable pupils in his classes. Here the attitude should be plainly missionary. Every effort should be made to improve the pupils’ conduct and thereby reform their lives. Sometimes, it is wise to have very objectional pupils removed permanently from the school. Their influence on the other pupils may overbalance the good done in saving them.

Example

The effect of example upon the pupils is remarkable, for no one can doubt but that example strongly influences standards of morality. In like manner the effect of the teacher’s life in establishing higher or lower standards of morality is influenced by the associates which he selects from the masses. A teacher should select such associations and companions that his pupils will be influenced for the highest possible good. A teacher should make it a positive rule never to associate with any one whose companionship would cause an unwholesome influence upon any of his pupils. The opportunities of the teacher are large in the selection of his society. He is in line to choose the best; it is open to him. He should choose to be a part of the highest and best society and then should make it his province, his duty and privilege to help mould and shape the social standards, and do all he can to uplift and better the lives of those with whom he comes in contact.

Speaking of the child, Arthur Holmes says: “Imitation is his most universal instinct. What he sees others do he will do naturally and unthinkingly. It is as futile to teach honesty and to act dishonestly before a child as it is to heap water in a sieve. The nervous mechanism of the child is as hopeless and as helpless as a wireless receiver to the influence of Hertzian waves.”[4]

The teacher should not neglect those who are worthy, but poor. Among them he may find his best associates and friends. He should not seek to escape the responsibilities that will accompany his dealings with the less desirable elements of society; he should look down upon and ignore none; he should touch elbows with those who are his intellectual superiors and surpass him in strength of character; he should not lower himself by stooping to that which is below the moral standard, but in association with the masses he must elevate them, and lead them forward, ever remembering, that as he points to a standard moral code as a sign board, he himself must lead the way.

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Footnote 4:

Principles of Character Making, p. 297. Lippincott.

Idleness

“Idleness leads to vice,” is a truth that the teacher should ponder who spends his Saturdays and Sundays, and his summer vacations in idleness, spending what he has earned during the winter. Work is honorable. It is commendable for a teacher to labor during the summer vacation. He may go to the Summer School, but if he does not do so, he should find other work. The so-called rest at summer resorts and the seaside may mean only idleness and evil. The teacher whose life is worth while will have no time to waste on Saturdays.

Three of the most disputed social activities are dancing, card playing and pool, including billiards. Much has been said as to the rightness and wrongness of these actions and still doubt exists. The very fact that doubt exists should satisfy the teacher that he cannot indulge in them, and still do the greatest amount of good in his community. It may not be that dancing in itself is wrong, but the past unmistakably gives evidence of the fact that evil attends the dance. The modern dance is disgusting to say nothing about its evil influence. The author is a promoter of æsthetic dancing. Such recreation properly supervised possesses great value. Dancing as a part of physical education, under a competent director, is quite another thing from the social or public dance to which hundreds of young people go, not for physical education, to be sure, but for worse than idle pastime. The teacher must carefully discriminate here. He should shun the social and public dance.

Perhaps less dispute attends card playing as an evil. It is conceded as such by all right thinking persons. Every one knows how easily gambling results from card playing. There are numbers of cases on record of lives wasted and crimes committed over the card table as well as in pool and billiard rooms. Cards, pool and billiards are tools of indolence; they are evil and spread ruin in their wake. No teacher who cares for the boys and girls under his instruction and guidance will dance, play cards, pool or billiards. He, too, will not play to excess checkers, chess, dice, or kindred games. There are too many good books to read from which the teacher can gain inspiration and knowledge to _waste_ time playing either of the above or any similar games. A word must be added relative to gambling or betting. Both are evils and have a bad influence upon the lives of the young. The wise teacher will refrain from them.

Intemperance

Reference has been made to intoxication which is intemperance, but intemperance is a much broader term and implies much more than getting drunk. It is well not to think of intemperance as belonging only to the use of intoxicating beverages. Every pleasurable activity is liable to be carried to excess. Teachers often need relaxation from the wearisome routine of school-room duty. When seeking rest and relief in legitimate recreation care must be taken to avoid excess.

Even in matters of food and drink, dress and social pleasures this caution is needed. The teacher with common sense knows where to draw the line. One can be intemperate in many things, always to his own harm. In passing, the definition of intemperance will indicate just where the thoughtful teacher must stop not to become intemperate. Intemperance is a want of moderation or self-restraint; indulging of any appetite or passion to excess.

Honesty

Honesty is commonly thought of as trustworthiness in the conduct of business dealings, as opposed to fraud and cheating. It is all that and much more. It implies sincerity, uprightness, truth, honor, integrity, justice, chastity, decency, propriety, virtue and frankness. The word honesty implies much, and there is too great danger that the teacher practice it in its common meaning only, forgetting that its application is broad. It is very essential that he should not overlook any of its implications. A teacher cannot be said to be honest when he merely returns a dollar’s worth of service for a dollar. That does not exactly constitute honesty, though it may seem to do so. The teacher who shirks a duty, which he should do, because he finds it is not in his province is like the man who did not pay his street car fare because the conductor forgot to call upon him for his ticket. He argued that it was the conductor’s duty to call for it but honesty demands that he should have paid it.

A teacher should be sincere; he should do nothing for effect. All his actions should be genuine, arising from true motives. The term upright is indeed vague. In its usual meaning it signifies an adherence to moral principles. It can be easily understood and applied, if the teacher will remember to admonish his pupils not to do anything which he would not do himself. If the teacher undertakes to teach a moral principle, he must first live it himself and then he will have weight in his arguments for righteousness.

Honor is that trait of character which holds one to the practice of all the laws of the strictest moral code. The teacher whose integrity cannot be questioned is the teacher who has fulfilled, in his life, all those demands that are set forth in the laws of the Master Teacher. He has lived up to the Golden Rule. Justice demands that all shall be given their rights. The teacher can do no better than to be just to all. When one has decided notions of right and wrong upon the basis of results in the lives of his fellows, he has reached the exact idea of propriety. Virtue is a broad term, but a word that is significant. That life is virtuous whose every deed promotes the common good.

A teacher should not practice Sunday honesty—that kind of honesty which works under certain conditions and lapses at intervals. Everyone, no doubt, is inclined to reach high water marks of absolute truthfulness, and must beware of lapses into error, even falling below the ordinary standards of every day life. The honesty that is commendable is clean, out-in-the-open honesty that is always active, not simply when great issues are at stake. No other profession demands honesty more than that of the teacher. His attitude here must be real, not affected. If there is pretence or sham, the first to become aware of it will be the pupil; and the effect upon him is that he loses confidence in the teacher who should be his model.

Temper

The question of temper should not be omitted from a full discussion of a teacher’s moral code. How often has a teacher boasted to a friend or fellow-teacher that he indulged himself in a frenzy of temper before his school, thereby “scaring the wits out of the pupils” and remarked further that the pupils feared him thereafter for a week. Such an action on the part of a teacher is almost criminal. A teacher cannot afford to lower his dignity by such methods. While no attempt is being made to discuss methods at this point, for they will be discussed in following chapters, yet it is the aim to point out those immoral actions from which a teacher should be free. It is foolish for anyone to allow his temper to get away from his control. A teacher should cultivate an amiable disposition. It is _never_ necessary to permit one’s temper to override his common sense.

“When I taught school, there were many times when the indifference, stupidity, flippancy, or silliness of the class brought me to such a pitch of rage, that I dared not trust myself to speak. I would clutch the arms of my chair, and swallow foam until I felt complete self-command; then I would speak with quiet gravity. The boys all saw what was the matter with me, and learned something not in the book.” (Phelps.)[5]

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Footnote 5:

Bagley, op. cit. p. 42.

Curiosity

In passing, it might be well to mention the not uncommon fault of meddling. The teacher’s province is the school and all its attendant activities. It will not make him more efficient to know the common affairs of every family of his school. He will be no better off if he knows all the happenings of the neighborhood, the village or city-block. Many times it is necessary for the teacher to repress a pupil who is prone to be a news monger. Frequently, teachers plunge themselves into serious difficulties by meddling in affairs that do not concern their school. Such difficulties are unfortunate and always weaken the teacher’s ability to govern his school.

Questionable Acts

It has been assumed that all those actions from which evil only may result, are contrary to the standards of the moral code. Consequently, some deeds which the teacher commonly does not consider as questionable activities will be discussed. No lengthy treatment will be given them since common sense—the safe standard for the teacher—will help decide the correctness of the ideas set forth. No teacher can afford, in school or out, to make unkind remarks about the poor, the aged, the weak-minded, the crippled, the peculiar, the poorly dressed, the tramp, the gypsy, the prisoner, or that unfortunate whose appetite is beyond his control and causes him to become drunken. The teacher is an agent who is expected to help, to lift to higher planes of life. Frequently, thoughtless teachers have joined pupils in jeering at a beggar and thereby created a habit in some child of making sport of the unfortunate. The author calls to mind the elevating influence of a little woman who, when the boys pelted a hungry tramp with snow-balls, took him into the warm room and shared with him her luncheon and sent him on his way happier in heart because he had met a kind-hearted woman. Who knows but that this act of kindness may have helped to turn the tramp from his vagrant life to a life of usefulness? A teacher cannot lower his standards of life by helping the aged, the poor, the weak, the fallen. A good deed is never lost.

Neatness and Cleanliness

What is the influence of the teacher—man or woman—whose clothing is untidy, hair and scalp unclean, finger nails untrimmed and filled with dirt? There need be no discussion; the prudent teacher knows the answer. The teacher who is attempting to follow a standard of morals will not allow his body to be unclean and unkempt. His attire, though it may not be in the latest style, will be neat and clean; his teeth will be clean, his finger nails well kept, and his shoes clean and polished and every detail will evidence his careful attention. Such a teacher will take active daily exercise, will not forget a daily walk, that will lead out to some haunt of Nature where a new lesson is in store for the observing teacher. Nature has a lesson for him every day of the year.

It is safe to assume that the teacher who guards carefully his actions in the school, out of school, in his every day life, and above all when hundreds of miles away from home, is a safe teacher. He need not give stated lectures on morals. His life and deeds will be monitors to the youth under his tutelage. Moral education is not knowledge, it is life. Therefore, a teacher cannot educate pupils by stated and set lessons in morals, if he has none himself, but on the other hand, his life can be a standard of morals in itself and thus furnish a living model for action to those about him. A teacher has no right to teach good conduct and morals, or any attributes of a moral nature, if he is guilty of repeated immoral acts, open or hidden. It must be remembered that morality is not inherent, but developed. From this it can be clearly deduced that this moral development receives direction from the moral life of the teacher.

The young teacher, who on his first day enters the school-room and is face to face, for the first time with the responsibility of his profession, casts about for a model teacher. He will find many successful teachers whose lives are above reproach, even some of his own colleagues may be those who will influence him for great good. He may be compelled to look back to a teacher who has been a vital factor in his development. However, he is young, and is surrounded by a world of temptation, and his searching mind need not go far until it can single out a teacher whose life is very questionable, but who is popular, receives a good salary, and possibly secures the best school positions. These are poor standards by which to measure real life and success, but the young teacher wants popularity, money, and a good position. Real success is stable and lasting. The teacher with a questionable reputation, will doubtless before the end of his career find his proper level. To measure a man by his apparent success is not always safe. It is his character that counts in the end. Time may be necessary in which to estimate moral worth correctly, but the effort to truly weigh a person’s character is well spent.

The Teacher’s Religion

The inquiring teacher by this time may have asked, “What about a teacher’s religion?” A teacher should know his Bible, be a regular communicant of some church, and a Sunday School worker. Fanaticism must be avoided. But the sane and mellowing influence of religion has a great effect upon character. No teacher should make it a practice to inject his religious ideas into his school work. His every day life should indicate his obedience to the Master Teacher. He must not attack any religious denomination as that is not his province. Some child may be offended or over influenced by his views. The tenets of every child’s church are sacred to him and the teacher should not attack them. Often it is argued that a teacher should not teach a Sunday School class. If the teacher does not find it too great an addition to his already heavy work, there can be no good reason why he may not teach in the Sunday School.

It is well to discriminate carefully between a moral person and an apparently religious person. Too often it is assumed that a pious person is of necessity a safe moral guide. Sometimes unfortunately the teacher who appears religious is not morally sound.

True religion includes an approved morality. But, it must be understood that teaching religion does not necessarily indicate that good morals are being taught. The author does not mean to criticise the Sunday School, or even the Church—they are great and effective institutions—but they are failing to teach morals as they should. The school teacher has a great work to do at this point. The final admonition to the teacher is, have a standard moral code, _live it_, and in pointing others to it as a signboard of life, _be sure to heed it always yourself_.

Aesthetic Appreciation

A requisite of the teacher that cannot be overlooked is that he must have a love for all that is good and beautiful: an æsthetic appreciation. The teacher must appreciate and actually participate in the noblest, best and most beautiful which the world possesses in song and story, in conversation and poem, in landscape and sky, in art and music. The sky with floating clouds, or when clear or starbedecked, a silver moon hanging low over a dark-rimmed horizon, a towering cathedral against a sunset sky, a brook stealing its way across a meadow, a mountain torrent, a rainbow, the shadow and sheen in the depths of the forest, a placid river on its way to the sea, a bird song, a meadow, a field of ripening grain, a flower-hedged roadway, a path through the valley and into the depths of a wood where it winds at will among the mossy trunks of trees, over tufts of moss, beside quiet pools, through rustling leaves—all these and many more objects in nature hold in store inspiring and uplifting lessons of life. No teacher can contemplate these beauties and not possess a nobler soul. Contact with Nature’s most beautiful and best will strengthen his love for the beautiful and will help him to keep the hearts of his pupils attuned to the helpful sights and sounds that go to make up their surroundings.