Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-08-07
Written for the Herald.l
Parents and Their schools.
No. XIV.

Another of natures special gifts to the
successful teacher of children is a cheer
fill and hopeful disposition. Some per-
sons are constitutionally gloomy and de-
sponding. They always look on the
dark side of this bright world; never
see the ''silver lining that gilds the
dark cloud overhanging them, and hence
they wear upon their countenances, and
express in their words, a funeral gloom
that dispels all cheerfulness, and shuts
ont the sunlight from the heart. These
men and women despair of the future,
anticipate no good for themselves or for
others, and hence, settle down IN gloomy
dependency to brood over their misfor-
tunes. Now, it requires no argument to
show the undesirableness of placing
these desponders in the school-room.
" AS the teacher is, so is the school.
The gloom and hopelessness which he
cherishes will he impaired to his pu-
pills, to suppress their cheerfulness,
dampen their enthusiasm and discourage
their efforts.
The expression of his countenance,
the tone of his voice, and, indeed, his
very presence cast a gloom over the
buoyant hearts of childhood and youth.
On the other hand, the cheerful and
hopeful teacher inspires his pupils with
his own spirit, and animates them by
his own living example. And children
need this inspiration and encourage
ment more than instruction. Their i'm
provement, while in school, depends
upon nothing so much as the happy
smile and cheerful words of the hopeful
and enthusiastic teacher. And this very
hopefulness enables the teacher to Sc
cure the best results of his well-directed
efforts. He has to deal with dizziness
and stupidity, and he sees little or no
improvement, from day to day. He is
sometimes ready to give up in despair,
but he remembers that the development
of mind, like the growth of the tree, is
by staid and imperceptible degrees. The
sturdy oak that defies the storm and tenn
pest,is the product of an hundred years !;
and the intellect and character which
give manhood and womanhood a proud
prominence in positions of influence and
usefulness, have often been unfOlded by
the patient toll of the hopeful teacher,
under the most discouraging circum-
stances. Let it not be forgotten by par
rents, therefore, that nothing can COM
pensate for the want of cheerful and
hopeful disposition in the instructors of
our children.
The loUe of children is still another
necessary natural qualification of the
teacher. Some possess it and some do
not, and when a candidate for the high
office of primary teacher especially, pre-
sents herself, who has not this fondness
for children, in some degree, at least,
she should be ut once rejected on that
account. This love of children qualities
the teacher to be happy in their presence;
to be patient with their childishness, and
to sympathise with them in all their
enjoyments and trials.
1t is interesting to see how children
are drawn, as by magnetism, to the
teacher who loves them. They form
her acquaintance at sight; believe in
her and cling to her, as to their own
mother, (whose place she occupies and
whose responsibilities she has assumed,
and, of course, they are ready to obey her,
and profit by her example, precepts and
instruction. This love of the teacher
for her pupils always inspires their love
for her, in a corresponding d2gree.
They seek her society and enjoy her
presence they folloy her and cling to
her, as she winds her way over the hill
and through the valley, to and from
their school; they welcome her to their
homes and entertain her by their smiles
and childish prattle; they invite her to
mingle in their sports, and she becomes
a child again while with children. 1t is
not strange, therefore, that mutual sym
pathy is awakened, and mutual friend
ship created, such as will give the teach
er unbounded control over her pupils, in
the management and discipline of the
school.
Nearly allied to the love of children as
a natural and necessary qualification of
the true teacher is a lone for their ao0rk.
Fondness for the society of the young
tends to make the business of teaching
agreeable, but this is not all that is ne
cessary. Such other qualifications are
implied as create taste for the details
of the teachers work, and prepare him
to endure patiently, the burdens and
vexations of school life. He is patient
and persevering, industrious and faith
full, because he finds positive pleasure
in the performance of each required
duty. He estimates the dignity and re-
sponsibility of the teachers profession
from a higher standpoint, and cherishes
proud satisfaction in the nobility of
his position and the important results
of his labors. PARENs.