Litchfield enquirer., 1860-08-30
Whole No. 1889.
For the Litchfeld Enquirer. TEACHERS AND TEACHING
NUMBER THREE,

MR. EDIToR:-Speaking of teachers vo. l..-,, from the Report of the Superintendent of Com mon Schools for Connecticut, that 2l toachor. were employed in the Common Schools of tS;s town last year, of which were males and 11 females. The wages of the former includ;no board were S24 per month, and of the latter S1s month.
 These wages are far below the average for the County since from the Report we learn that IS towns paid better wages and 3 towns paid the same. And this fact of wages speaks more than any one other thing for the character of our schools, for competition in this as in anything else regulates the price, and none but the best command the highest prices To secure good teachers therefore, a fair compensation must be offered, and it is not enough to say, that teach- CTS wages are above those of a laboripg man. because the time and money requisite to prepare good teacher Is so much capital invested, for which as in the other learned professions q fair interest should Le required
 And there can be no greater mistake than to hire as teacher, mere boy or girl who has been brought up in the district where it is proposed to employ them; because it is hardly possible for them to secure the respect of the scholars, without which no teacher can succeed) and if they could, it would be very difficult for them to manage the school without some show of par tiality.
 The only supposed benefit is, that they can board at home and thus save expense to the District, but if few dollars are thus saved. it must be at the expense of the pupils, for the reasons we have just mentioned, and if no preiu- dice exists at the outset, the probability is that taking every scholar just as the teacher finds them, he will be able so to adapt himself to their pccuiararities as to gain their respect and incte them to digence.
 | The requisite literary attainments are of course indispensable, but, not every one that passes a good examination succeeds in teaching. Many engage in teaching before they are old enough to have sufficient judgment and reason to manage school, and hence every years ex- perience in teaching is valuable more SO, in fact than experience in other professions, as teaching IS emphatically series of experiments. Again, unless persons are "apt to teach" they can never be successful teachers, and this failing IS, perhaps oftener overlooked than any other. The candidate for teaching who answers uues- tlons with an l know but can't think, or with
 don't recollect, or is unable to give the simplest language and plainest statement for all his an- swers and definitions, should be marked as want ing the first and most indispensable qualification for good teacher. When you find a teacher so tied up to the text book as never to get beyond it, you may be sure that he will never " draw out the mind' of his pupils, however, much he may be able to "cram into it." So too the faculty of making study pleasant, and the schoo-room an agreeable place. is not to be reckoned among the least of the qualifications of good teacher, and this can only be done by aiding and encourag- ing thepupil. That teacher deserves great credit and is to be commended, who can 80 stimulate the desire of acquiring knowledge, create taste for study, and love for books, as will lead the children to exchange the playground willingly for the schoolroom, and find as much attraction for the time being, in the one as in the other.
 From the Report we learn that Teachers In. stitutes have from time to time been held with much visible good dresulting therefrom. And the same thing on smaller scale, would be very beneficient in every town. have seen it tried in some parts of this State, and in the State of New York with marked success. And would it not be we'll if some of the old and experienced teachers of this town, though they may have given up the profession should take the lead in this matter, and try the experiment this coming winter? An acquaintance with each other, and with the different systems of teaching, as well as the modes of managing school would be of great benefit to all, and free interchange of opinions on matters in which all have an inter. est, could not fail to be of service to the cause of education in this town.
 If the Board of Visitors should not only TO. cord such move on the part of the teachers, but even take the lead in introducing such a new order of things" it would add to their reputation as educators, and lead the generation now coming on, to rise up and call them l blessed" Yours, &c., A. B.