The Oglala light. [volume], April 01, 1913, Image 6

About The Oglala light. [volume] ([Pine Ridge, S.D.]) 190?-19??

Image provided by: South Dakota State Historical Society – State Archives

                
The Essentials of a Teacher of
Indian Children.
Bessie M. Mennis.
Repriuted from The Indian School Journal, Chilocco, Okla.
EFORE going into a battle a general must know his plan ot cam
paign an architect must know for what purpose the building
is to be used and the amount of money to be expended. So the
teacher must have order and a plan. Hence, the value of a "Course
of Study" and weekly outlines. But if these outlines are to be help
ful the teacher must know the subject matter and the ability of the
pupils.
Some things are always true in child nature, so having past knowl
edge and experience to guide us, we can reason the unknown from
file known. In the Indian child there are marked characteristics of
race, whether he is a Sioux, Chippewa or Navajo. However, his
natural environments being so changed the child nature demands
different treatment if results are to be good. In every school we en
counter the nervous, the stubborn, the dull, and sometimes a vicious
child. Is it any wonder that we sometimes fail? Can we always
know when to commend, when to punish, when to be patient, or
when "silence has ceased to be a virtue. Books written by those
who have made children and the art oi teaching a life study mae be
most helpful, but after all, teachers are "born and not made."
Knowledge may be one of the essentials, but not the one. The
teacher must see beyond the school life. I believe school is not a
preparation for life, it is life, and an education which has not fitted
the boy or girl to live an honest, industrious life is not worth while.
It must fit him to live with people, as the world is only one big family
This is especially true of the Indian children who can no longer live
as their ancestors did a separate people.
The unrefined, the conscienceless, have no place in our schools.
The teacher must be one whom the pupils can respect and wish to
imitate. To be a good disciplinarian may be one of the essentials of
a good teacher, but his duties are so diverse that this alone should
not recommend him.
In the Government Training Schools, the environments being dif-