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.