Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-07-28
OUR SCHOOLS.


wives, the last when he was 40, only two
years before his death.
OUR SCHOOLS.
A CHANGE IN THE SYSTEM OF TEACHING DE-
SIRED.
l. HIS PosIT1oN.-The old schoolmaster
belongs to the past. The modern teacher
marks the transition from the old to the new.
The coming teacher will I'll an honored posi-.
tion among the illustrious of the earth. With
noble mien, he will stand in the arena Of
thought and action, the peer of statesman,
the clergyman and the philosopher.
2. WHAT He WILL BE.-The coming
teacher will be superior man or woman
physically, mentally and morally.
I. He will be splendid type Of physical
manhood. His erect form, bouyant STEP
graceful movements, musical voice, powerful
and well poised nervous system, exuberant
spirits and enduring strength will fit him to
direct, to manage, to instruct and to inspire.
Teaching is thought to be easy work; hence
the tendency to fill our ranks with @eaklings
and invalids. Fatal mistake
No other work requires such robust health,
such bounding spirits, such nerves Of STEEL.
The nations are beginning TO learn this lesson.
The coming teacher will take his place with
the soldier and the athlete as a splendid type
of physical manhood.
II. The coming teacher will possess mental
power and vigor. He will be the peer of the
editor, the statesman, the minister, the lawyer
and the physician. He will lead his pupils
up to a srander, higher life. In all the move
ments of society he will be prominent actor.
He will profoundly study men and affairs as
well as books. He will ponder well the great
problems of humanity, and he will so educate
his pupils as to render them of the greatest
possible value to society and to themselves.
Teaching requires talent of the highest order.
Too long have theology, medicine, law and
commerce absorbed our best men too long
has the error prevailed that any one can teach
children. Society should demand her 'st
gifted men and women for the school room.
III. Thorough scholarship and broad cul-
ture will characterize the coming teacher. 10
good natural abilities he will add learning,
culture and discipline. He will know vastly
more than text books, and will be able to
lead his pupils into broader, and richer fields
of thought. He will know how to introduce
practical knowledge Of almost every kind
into the subjects of study. To call him
teacher whose scholarship is rudimeDtary,
shallow and nebulous; whose knowledge is
elementary, crude and scanty; and whose
notions are narrow, bigoted and erroneous,
is the worst of misnomers.
The time has come when ignorant pretend
ers must be excluded from our noble profes
sion. The coming teacher will possess breadth
of culture. He will be master of the subjects
taught, independent of the text books, and
capable of the most searching analysis and
the clearest synthesis.
~. The coming teacher will be person
with sound principles, pure and noble i'm.
pulses and stainless character They who
mould our youth, and whose mission it is to
inspire love for everything that is pure and
right must themselves be pure and true.
All the vicious, all the canting hypocrites,
all whose impulses are low and selfish, must
be excluded from the brotherhood Of teachers.
Here we must have genuine men and women,
such as have hearts full of love for God and
man, such as will, by every word and act,
help their pupils to become strong to resist
the wrong and do the right. The coming
teacher, with their sterling traits will do more
to elevate our race than all other reformers
combined.
v. The coming teacher will be an educa.
tional artist. He will be profound student
of child nature, as we'll as of the educational
thought and experience Of the race. The
great educational principles, "mind and body
are interdependent ;""the soul is self acting;'
educational growth results from we'll directed
effort :" the "self.activity of child mind, stim-
uated and directed by the teacher, results in
development "to take an intelligent step, the
teacher must understand the plan of child
mind as we'll as the plan of the subject
taught" etc., will enter into the warp and
woof of his mental economy.
As an artist, he will be guided by these
principles. He will teach principles-not
mere words and book formula. He will train
the pupils to be observant and selfreliant;
and to use judgment as we'll as perception
and memory.
Under his plastic hand the entire nature
of the chld-physical, mental and moral
will bud, and blossom, and bear fruit. The
grandest, noblest manhood will be the pro-
duct. Our race will enter upon the sublime
phases of human possibilities, foretold by
poets and philanthropists.
Then will be realized the induction OF uni
versal brotherhood.
g. How TO PROVIDE THE COMING TEACH.
ER.-Philip thanked the gods that Alexander
was born when he could have Aristotle for
teacher. Every child has as much right to
skilled instruction as the son Of a king. The
worlds great want is educated artists The
worlds great work is to provide efficient
teachers for'the masses.
1. The teachers position must be made
more desirable None but the worthy must
be permitted to enter this profession, and 80
cety must he educated to hold in high esteem
the selfsacri6cing and hard working school
teacher. The people must learn to honor,
and trust and co operate with these brave
men and women.
II. The teachers position must be made
more secure. No other vocation is now so
precarous. For all sorts of reasons, or for
none, the teacher is turned off," The COM
mon school teacher is literally wanderer.
Is it surprising that competent teachers seek
other fields Of labori When all this shall
be changed, and when the people shall learn
to spare no effort to secure and to keep the
best teacher, our most gifted youth will glad
ly fit themselves for educators.
III. Teaching must be made more remuner-
ative. Excepting California, no State or
country adequately remunerates the common
school teacher. Short terms aid low wages
are fatal to efficiency. Ten dollars less per
month decides the average school board to
employ an inferior teacher. So long as we
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