Summary
1. The teacher’s is the noblest of all professions.
2. The teacher’s service is a service to mankind, moulding the child life, thereby shaping the destinies of coming generations.
3. The teacher must have the right motive for teaching. His motive must be true service to mankind. Should he not have such a motive, he should leave the profession.
4. The teacher must be thoroughly prepared—his knowledge must be fresh and ready for use. This will enable him to win the confidence of his pupils and lessen the necessity for discipline. In other words:
(a) He must be educated and trained in a Normal School, having at least one year of such training. A college education, while not absolutely necessary, is a very great asset.
(b) He must be a lover of Nature. That is, he should have a profound interest in all the phenomena of Nature.
(c) He must be a student of psychology since it is a needful adjunct to the teacher’s education. It is an interpretation of human nature; consequently, it has value in understanding child life. A teacher should read good texts in psychology every year.
(d) He must be a student. He should always work over his lessons and read in subjects related to the work in hand.
(e) He must be a reader of good books bearing upon the many phases of learning. Fiction and poetry are real aids to a teacher’s preparation.
(f) He must not be superficial. If he follows slavishly books on method, he is shallow. Such books are intended to suggest only. The discreet teacher improves by every suggestion.
(g) He must be a reader of the daily paper, the magazine, and the teacher’s paper. They are a part of his educational equipment. Only the best should be read, and they not to the exclusion of other literature.
5. A teacher must possess the ability to teach. Ability includes a natural fitness as well as scholastic preparation.
6. The first and greatest requisite of the teacher is morality. Its simplest definition shows that it deals with the rightness or wrongness of any action. Those actions are immoral that are followed by evil or demoralizing results. A partial list of these follow and should be labeled, “Don’ts for the Teacher.”
(a) Intoxication, fighting, gambling, visiting places of doubtful character, associating with persons whose characters are suspected, violating the laws, breaking the Sabbath, swearing, blaspheming, cheating, falsifying and lewd conduct are immoral acts about which there can be no question.
(b) The use of tobacco in any form is immoral. This is true, because only evil results follow in many cases.
(c) Gossiping and loafing are evils for anyone. The teacher should avoid them.
(d) The street-corner gang or the low-minded crowd are not fit for the teacher’s company. He should avoid them.
(e) The so-called social gatherings are often hotbeds for gossip. When they are such, men and women teachers do well to avoid them.
(f) “Smutty” stories, vicious “yarns” and senseless stories as well as slang are objectionable. The teacher should avoid them.
(g) Attempts at humor at the expense of an auditor should be avoided.
(h) Tell no falsehood; act no falsehood.
(i) Associate only with those whose influence is for good. Unmarried teachers can not be too thoughtful as to the extent of their associations, with even the best of the opposite sex. It often weakens influence and breeds unrestrained “courting” in the upper grades and the high school.
(j) A teacher should avoid idleness. Duties outside of school hours will be recreative.
(k) The modern dance, public or private, must be avoided by the conscientious teacher.
(l) Card playing, pool and billiards are immoral. They lead to gambling. A teacher’s influence may cause someone else to gamble. Checkers, chess, dice, and other “time killers” should be practically avoided by the teacher. Use leisure time in reading good books, or in out-of-door exercise. Richer returns will accrue.
(m) Intemperance includes much. The teacher should investigate its province and refrain from all intemperance.
(n) The teacher must be honest in the strictest sense. Honesty implies trustworthiness in dealings, trustworthiness in business, trustworthiness in all other conduct, sincerity, truth, uprightness, honor, integrity, justice, chastity, decency, propriety, virtue and frankness. Each is so patent that it needs no discussion.
(o) A teacher must always hold his temper in restraint.
(p) A teacher can not afford to meddle in the affairs of others.
(q) A teacher should not make fun of the poor, the needy, the weak-minded, the crippled, the aged, the peculiar, the poorly dressed, the tramp, the gypsy, the prisoner, or even the intoxicated.
(r) Often a teacher’s moral attitude is revealed by his attire. Neat and cleanly attire is required of a teacher.
(s) A teacher cannot afford to dress foppishly.
(t) A teacher’s conduct away from home should always be as good as when at home.
7. No teacher can rightfully teach a moral code if he is repeatedly guilty of any immoral act, open or hidden.
8. Often an immoral teacher seems successful; but his work is unstable and cannot last. No young teacher should let such show of success influence him in the least.
9. Morals and religion should not be confused. Morality is a condition of religion. It does not follow that one who claims to be religious practices good morals.
10. An important qualification of the teacher is that he must love all that is good and beautiful. He must have an æsthetic appreciation. That includes a love for all in Nature as well as the arts of man.
11. A teacher must love children. They are the most significant of all God’s creations.
12. No teacher should worry. To do so undermines health.
13. Do not cease to do good because of criticism; very often it means that the act criticised is worth while.
14. Common sense, often called tact, is a teacher’s much needed qualification.
15. Every teacher who wishes to accomplish the greatest good, will enter into the child’s life. Live on a level with the child. That means taking part in the child’s joys and sorrows, his work and play.
16. Athletic education is necessary for every teacher. It has a two-fold value. It is a health promoter. It aids in discipline.
17. A teacher needs to be happy-minded, young in spirit and gentle in manners.
18. Responsibility should be felt by the teacher.
19. In every activity—in every crisis—the teacher must be fearless. He must not be dependent upon some one else’s decisions but use his own judgment and make his own decisions.
20. The teacher must possess the ability to discriminate, and to form clear and quick judgments.
21. A teacher’s room at his boarding house or his home should be neat and well kept.
22. The gospel of work is safe for the teacher whose efforts are to be crowned with success.
23. It is necessary for health’s sake to take daily exercise out-of-doors.
24. A teacher must keep in good health. An unhealthy teacher has no business in the school-room.
25. System and order are qualifications of the teacher that make for success.
26. A prudent teacher will use studied methods and plans, and not let the occasion suggest the procedure. Avoid teaching according to method books and teachers’ papers only.
27. Concentration of mind and purpose are essential to the successful teacher.
28. Patience is a requisite for every teacher’s work.
29. A teacher should be religious. Refrain from talking religion in the school-room. Attack no pupil’s religion. Sunday School can be attended, with profit, by the teacher. He should judge for himself whether or not he should teach a Sunday School class.
30. The teacher must exercise care as to the extent of his social activities. He should not exclude himself from social gatherings, but should use great caution about what he says of others.
31. Finally, the teacher must be a true leader. His reward must not be measured in dollars and cents, but by results from service rendered.
PART TWO
The School
After so thoroughly discussing the requisites of the teacher—those elements that will make success possible—it is expedient that a short discussion should follow on the school, the child’s home during his school career. The influence of a well kept building and premises is far reaching. Some years ago a stranger stopped in a western town, where he was very favorably impressed with the neatness of the homes and their surroundings. Upon investigation he found a small school building, but to his surprise, the humble, little three-room school was beautiful in its setting, and ivy clung to its brick walls making them look cheerful. There were flower beds in the yards and neatly kept gravel walks. Over the gate were vines. The windows had neat blinds and snowy-white curtains. The stranger asked to be admitted into the school building. On the inside he saw the same careful attention to neatness. The floors were clean, the walls tinted and adorned with excellent pictures and mottoes. The furniture showed no marks of defacement. With this little school as an example, the stranger could understand why the little town presented such a neat appearance. He further learned that the people, including the boys and girls, were a quiet peace-loving people whose culture was far above the average. The little, well kept school may not have been the only influence, but it played a great part in shaping the ideas of the town folk. It must not be overlooked, however, that no matter in what condition the building and its surroundings may be, the success of the teacher will depend largely upon his preparation, ability and those other essentials and qualities that make the true teacher. Still it cannot be denied that the surroundings of the child are important factors in his development.