Evening star. [volume], December 06, 1908, Page 5, Image 29

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
' I '
THE B I
By
Josiah Moi
Drawing by Joseph Clement
V-i -v
C. w
gf*T^HE day of the school boy has come
I at last! From tb^ very earliest
I times, when Shamans, medicine
JL men, and priests monopolized the
art of teaching, children have had
to sit quietly and submissively
under the benevolent tyranny of
&Jk$5 the schoolmaster. If they had
ideas of their own in regard to the
sort of teacher they wished and
!=a-pgsa=a needed, they were not consulted in
the matter. If they had any notions of their own
in regard to the discipline of the school, and the
sort of ideals they were expected to live up to, no
one consulted them about it.
I do not here quarrel with these conditions; I
merely state them. To a large extent the autocracy
of the school room, like that of the home, expresses
one of the most beautiful and happy of human relationships;
being based, as it is, on the natural and
wholesome instincts of love, care for the vounir. and
leadership on the part of parent and teacher; and
imitation, love, and respect on the part of child and
pupil. But now comes my friend Dr. Book with the
suggestion that it might be productive of good results
to let teachers see themselves as their pupils see them.
Everyone knows that children prefer some teachers
to others. Now, Dr. Book's idea is that if we
could get at the grounds of that preference, we
should learn something that would be both profitable
and interesting to know. Accordingly, he has
attempted to get at these deep, unuttered thoughts
of childhood and youth by the Socratic method of
asking questions, what has significantly been called
the hebamic method, or the method of the midwife.
Dr. Book asked about a thousand students in
various high schools from Massachusetts to Montana
and Utah to describe carefully both the best teacher
they ever had, and also the worst.
Pupils Grabbed Their Opportunity
A PPAREXTLY this was the opportunity that
youth had been waiting for. all through the ages.
Descriptions poured in thick and fast. Naturally,
they showed no revolutionary spirit, nor did they
write a Declaration of Independence. Children are
in many respects the most conservative of human
creatures. But they did tell in unmistakable terms
the kind of teacher they wanted, the kind that helped
them the most, and the kind that discouraged them
and did them the most harm.
"The best teacher," wrote a girl, "is the good
natured, jolly teacher who enters into the fun and
talk of the pupils as though she was one of them herself.
She is always ready for a good joke: but should
one lie in trouble, she is just as ready to help them
out. She has the faculty for cheering one up."
Another said, "My ideal teacher is not an automatic
or brilliant talker, holding herself aloof from
us. neither is she a cross taskmaster; but one who
knows our first names, whom we can understand
and who understands us, who knows something
about our home lives and helps us in our every day
trials and work."
What are some of the characteristics of this ideal
teacher? Well, of course she has all the virtues,?she
i^> kind, generous, forgiving, considerate of the dull
and slow, is never sarcastic, never ridicules or speaks
harshly in class. "A certain teacher I once had,",
wrote a girl, "was very nervous and at times very
impatient and cross. I found it the burden of my
life to learn anything she tried to teach while in this
state of nervousness. But when she was her normal
self, she was very pleasant and kind, and all went
well. It only goes to show that a teacher who is
kind can obtain better results than a teacher who is
given to impatience and crankiness."
Again, the helpful teacher is pleasant, cheerful,
/ 1 n n 11 t?/ k . 1 V? ?t v ? ? < .1 I i ?? ? ?~k i?/-k -% 4- . ^k k ? wk k . 1
uanmrt t, u?ipj'\, jum \ , wiii\ , *r\cn lcti it j 1 cu,
sociable, and so forth < )ne girl wrote of her teacher,
* She acts more as a friend than a teacher, and if in
1ST T E
sXttL. :
trouble I could go to her almost as soon as to my x
mother. She is very jolly, has a keen sense of humor,
and often enlivens the lesson with amusing stories."
Another girl wrote, " I have now in mind a teacher r
who on entering the recitation room seemed to carry
with her a flood of sunshine which filled the room t
and outshone all the difficulties of the lesson. This a
particular teacher seemed never to be impatient,
being always able to control herself, no matter how a
serious the fault of the pupil. She taught her sub- f
jeci. in sucn a wa\ as 10 (iraw peneci aiu'iiuun. c
Above all, she did not attempt to make us fear her; c
but was kind, friendly, sympathetic, and pleasant, s
with a smile for all of us, whether we were brilliant t
or dull."
c
Like Good Natured Teachers t
rT"M IE following from a boy is typical: " < >ne teacher I
has done me a world of good. He makes you t
feel your own ignorance of a subject: but at the same t
time does not make you feel that he knows it all. t
We like good natured teachers, teachers who are I
thorough and considerate in their lessons, teachers f
who will laugh at a joke or give the class one occa- a
sionally themselves." 1"
These letters make a strong plea for patience and v
reasonableness. " If a teacher is snappy," wrote a r
girl, "or has the despicable habit of not giving you f
time to think, the subject in which you have that n
teacher is like torture." And another girl wrote, r
"If only the teachers had this virtue" (patience), t
" it would go a great way toward dispelling the bitterness
that often accompanies recitations. It would k
make study a pleasure instead of a torture, and g
increase the bond of affection that ought to exist
between pupil and teacher." Very many declare t
that it is the teacher who is patient with them that ii
makes high school life happy and successful, "a
pleasure instead of a burden and a failure." e
But the jolly, good natured, patient teacher is not
an easy mark or a mollycoddle. (>n the contrary, he a
is strict, decisive, and businesslike. He commands *
respect and keeps good order because he says what a
? 4 ?.? I *1 1
he means and means wnat ne says, *vs one pupil i<
put it, "Many have argued that pupils judge their c
teachers by the easiness with which they may avoid d
doing their lessons. But let me say that the majority h
of the sympathetic teachers whom I have had have w
been those who from day to day have required that ft
their lessons be prepared. But I do not mean the r<
teacher who, when the student says that for some
reason he has been unable to prepare any particular
lesson, looks at him as though he was a future em- /
bezzler or forger."
, . si
Don't Object to Work p
TT will come as a great surprise to some of us to a
learn that, of all who described their best teachers, g
not one mentioned a teacher that was said to i>e tl
easy in his requirements of work. All the pupils g
ask is that he be reasonable and remember that y
they have other lessons to prepare besides his own. tl
Of an "easy" teacher, a boy wrote, "He would tell a
a pupil to do something, and if he didn't do it he tl
would simply let it go. He never enforced what he si
said, and as a consequence hardly a pupil respected tl
him. He was nice and easy to get along with; but y
we did not learn much under him. lie had no p
strength of character, and therefore could not make cl
? ? * - 1 < 1 . _ _ _ 1. 1 1_.
others strong. i ne teacner inai is sociaoie, wno a
makes his pupils feel that he is one of them, who t(
does not flare up, of whom the pupils are not afraid h
and do not hesitate to ask questions, is sure to be a o
favorite. tl
In addition to his strong personality and lovable
character, the favorite teacher has other qualifica- fc
tions. He has sympathy enough to understand the p
nature of boys and girls; and. if not learned, is en- p
do wed with good, native commonsense, remembers w
that he himself was once young, sympathizes with w
the growing children in their efforts to adapt them- st
5
A C H E R
elves to their highly complex and dirticult environnents,
and is able and willing to help them because
10 ran caa Vtincrc frr?m t hoi r nnint r?f pintr Hf curh
IV. VUH .JVV ** vril* bllVII J'VllIV VJI ? IV ?? . vy 1 CUV II
. teacher, the pupils wrote. " She seems to understand
is thoroughly,"?"recognizes the fact that some
annot learn her subject so easily as others can, and
reats us accordingly,"?"understands when a pupil
s making a failure from pure nervousness or illness,
ind quietly helps him along."?"had a keen apireciation
of a girl's character, knew their every
motion and thought and the very impulses that
prompted them to do as they did."?
"never forgot that she was once a
school girl herself and had her trials
and escapades, and therefore never
k judged a girl before she had looked
at the matter from her side,"?"had
j^A the power to look into our minds and
K&'\\ hearts, as it were, and to see all our
A needs and defects and so know better
si \ \ k?w to help us than anybody else.
m VA ?"fully understood boys, seemed
(|h ^ )) to have a knack for understanding
f toA* J a boy's ways and needs, and to have
the proper regard for the feelings of
his pupils,"?"had been a boy orne
himself, and therefore knows just
\hat you need."?etc.. etc.
Teachers Don't Understand Them
T^HE great complaint, especially on the part of the
boys, is that their teachers do not understand
hem. Over and over again appear such sentences
is. " Few if any teachers really understand boys."?
' Few teachers are able or willing to read pupils
iright, "?" Many teachers try to understand us, but
ew succeed."?" The majority never think they were
ver bovs. and view evervthing as old men"; and
juite a number declare! that no teacher in the
.chool ever understood them, though most of them
hought they did.
A girl wrote, "What we get from the high school
lepends on the teachers we have. There was one
eacher in particular who seemed to understand her
>upils thoroughly. I was always glad when it came
ime to recite to her. She made me feel so at home
hat I was not afraid to speak out all I felt. She
rusted me and believed in me, and. to her at least,
was not a hopeless idiot. I had another teacher,
lowever, who had quite the opposite effect. He was
l splendid teacher, and I learned something from
lim; but the process was so painful that I shall'alcays
shudder when I look back to it. The man was
laturally nervous. I never remember having seen
lim when he was not in motion. His laugh was the
nost unpleasant laugh I ever heard. He trusted
tobody and sympathized with none, and it seemed
o give him pleasure when our marks registered low.
i'et I believe the man meant well; the trouble all
ay in the fact that he did not understand boys and
iris."
What teacher after reading such expressions as
hese can continue to hold the opinions of his pupils
n contempt, or be blind to the fact that he is always
sized up " and weighed in the balance by the young
xperts that sit at his feet ?
'n1 i i. 1 1 t A ' i1
i ne iaeai teacner must aiso De energetic, entnusistic,
and young, in spirit at least, if not in years.
i boy wrote of his favorite teacher, " He was young,
nd in a group of boys a stranger could not tell the
eacher from the pupils; but. notwithstanding, he
ommanded great attention and respect. In fact,
tiring the year I was in his class I never heard him
ave to call the class to order once." Another boy
rote of his best teacher, " He was one of us; but we
?lt more respect for him than for those teachers who
died on their own vigorous efforts to keep order.".
Oslerism Among Pupils
"\F old teachers, one girl wrote. "I think an old
teacher should not be allowed to teach, because
rie is cranky and does not inspire herpupils asa young
?acher does."?"We must all grow old," observed
nother girl; "but I do think some teachers have
rown too old to teach. This may seem hard on
hem; but it is the old teacher that we find it hard to
et along with. They have taught for years and
ears, and know so much about their subject that
hey get all out of patience with anyone who cannot
nswer right up." And a boy chimed in, "I think
hat when teachers get old and crabbed their places
hould be filled by younger ones. They have had
heir turn, and ought to give Up their places to a
ounger person who can sympathize with young
eople and does not look on their natural fun as
hildish or as an insult against themselves." Still
nother lad observed, "Older teachers do not seem
:> realize that methods of teaching as well as times
ave changed, and so keep on teaching in the same
Id way year after year. It is needless to say that
lie pupils suffer by this."
It is not old age that the pupils complain against,
>r an aged teacher who is not cranky, cross, imatient,
set in her ways, and out of touch and symathy
with the young is more likely to be a favorite
ith them than a young teacher. What the child
ants from his teacher is what we all want,?and
j few of us get,?namely, sympathy, that sort of