The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1874-12-17
THE INFLUENCE OF THE TEACHER,
N. Y. School journal.

1t cannot be too often said that the
teacher stands at the fountain head of
influence. Not all, it is true, that gen.
Grafton has of strength, of character, of
purpose or of knowledge has been deriv-
ed from the school; there are thousand
inhuen 'es at work, each contributing
something, to build up the complex struc-
ture we call man. Yet, the teacher occu-
pies place where he can, if he knows
how, if he has the disposition, stamp his
own thoughts upon the minds of his pu-
pills.
He can, by the magnetism that seems,
as it were, to be always waiting at his
desk, influence the pupil at his seat who
is apparently ever waiting to be nodded
and directed. From the teachers person
there radiates power that has no ex.
PLANTATION or measure; it is not because of
his Office wholely, it is strengthened by
that 1t rather rises from the fact, that
in the imaginative mind of the child, he
is set up as the one who knows and un-
derstands and is capable Of making it
known and understood; the order that is
required adds further the conception that
he is to be obeyed. This personal power
enables the teacher to do things that to
the ordinary looker-on seems almost mi
raculous. The pupil is unconscious how
much he is swayed; years after he can
look back and see that he walked in q
dream, and he wonders that the instruct
or did not bend him more to his will, for
he is certain he was flexible and yielding
Over the intellectual future of tbs
| pupil the teacher is undisputed master.
There are few so british but that an en-
thusiastic man or woman will rouse in
them an ambition TO know the wonderful
things hidden in books. They possess
the power to render dark things plain, to
make easy what seems difficult to make
good sense out of what is apparently
stupidly meaningless.
More than this, the pupil feels, under
the direction of his teacher, that he pos
sesses. a capacity to understand, and in
vestigate far beyond his ordinary self.
He is inspired with power. 1t is not help
that he gets from his teacher, it is conf
dence in himself that he needed and that
the treatment he receives continually
strengthens his belief in himself. Hence,
studying at home" is, and always will be
failure, not because no teacher is at
hand to help, but because there it a lack
of mental inspiration Children. like
soldiers, need leader. The man who
understood them evokes intellect where
none seemed to exist He puts them in
right relation to knowledge, and they are
enabled to penetrate into the darkness
that encompasses them.
But the greatest triumphs of the teach
er are in the moral field Children begin
their lives as did our first parents-with
temptation. And that man or woman
who recognizes the fact that life, even for
children, is perpetual struggle, and gives
the instruction, counsel and positive help
needed to render them successful in their
combats with this ever-present foe is in
deed benefactor. There are enough who
can read homilies, enough to dispense
sage counsel; but what is especially need
ed is one who has lively sympathy. and
yet is not foolishly deluded as most mar.
ents are. The true teacher can exercise a
more potent influence, morally, than most
parents, because he takes it for granted
that the child is weak, and is not disap-
pointed if he finds it has fallen into error.
Hei is, therefore, continually endeavoring
to "pour on motives of the highest and
best kind, to rouse the slumbering con-
science, to develope desire for mastery
over the easily besetting sin.
Let the teacher then receive all honor
for his magnificent though unseen
and unhonored work. Those who
visit his school on holidays, who hear the
song, the recitation and the defamation,
and praise him when these are well done,
know little of his toll, his skillful manage
ment, his long and patient efforts to in
duce the train the thinking and judging
powers, his unwearied attempts to set
right-doing up as beautiful statue TO be
constantly admired. The true value of
the land lies in its upright, its honest
though obscure teachers.