Willingness to Learn
A requisite absolutely essential to the teacher is open-mindedness. He should, of course, be stable; he should not be influenced by every theory and idea that comes to his attention in his associations and reading, but he must be ready and willing to learn. The teacher will grow by experience who can say, “I want to learn more,” but he will just as surely fossilize, if he thinks, “I know it all.” No mind can grow if it draws its conclusions only to be in harmony with those already framed. Sometimes, a pupil will suggest a thought, or even a truth, that has never come to the teacher’s attention. How much better it is to welcome the idea or truth, and so inform the pupil, than to ignore it even though it is of value just because it came from one who is inferior. The barefoot urchin may know secrets the teacher has never learned.