Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-04-06
What Teachers Are Doing.

A Paper read at a late meeting of the Arcadia
Valley Teachers AssOciat'n, by +. c. Miller.
1t is not our purpose to constitute our
self a visionary, an advocate CT some
species of educational reform, nor to
create one tf those ideal teachers OF
which we SO often read in the hook OF
heroes-one of those perfect, infallible,
superhuman gentlemen, whose ways
are ways of pleasantness, and whose
paths are those of never-ending peace;
neither do we contemplate lamenta.
ton upon the foibles of the modern
teacher bya com parison of modern prac-
tices with "good old days of yore."
The teacher Of to-day is a reality; q
living. active agent in civilization.
Combined, the teachers of people
are a power In the land. Their name
is "legion;" and to consider them, we
n naed not go about them with any spe-
cies of magnifying glass or ''detector," b"
but let us approach the ''school ma a m"
or "school MASTER" not as a fossil, but
as an embodiment of American pluck
and American ideas. AS such, his
cause may be, and should be- consid-
cred i'm business-iike way. Without
indulging in glittering generalitles, let
us see it we cannot find much to en-
courage us by reflection upon the mag
ntude of orr calling, the immenseness
of its results; and much to improve us,
by consideration of our faults.
The nature and scope of All Institute
paper will not permit us to consider
the teacher i'm the broadest Significance
of the term. Who then are the teach
ers of the land? May we say the one
hundred and fifty thousand public
school teachers and the five thousand
no tot
the nine hundred thousand teachers of
Europe? May we go to all nations,
even to China and Japan, which,
though, low in civilization, can boast
of having bat few children unable to
read and write their native language?
Would we be permitted to claim and
include among our number the mis-
siOnaries, ministers OF the gospel, and
Sunday-school teachers of the world,
who are not only the apostles of religi-
Gus and moral instruction, but who
furnish more or less substantial mental
food for three hundred and twenty pro-
Tossing Christians? And again, may
we claim the Press of the world, the
most powerful disseminator Of knowI-
edge known to civilization? Surely
this great power is reared upon the
work of the teacher. Truly, the Teach
eT fIuSl De Tie lOutiuatlOfl ol the fTl1C-
ing Press. A mere glance at these
facts is sufficient TO remind us of how
vast, how limitless, how incomprehen-
sible are the teaching forces of the world.
But, to leave these too extensive sur
veys and cnnfine ourselves to that class
of individuals of which we ourselves
are part and parcel,-the public-school
teachers of our land,-let US. if it be
possible. try for moment to reckon by
mathematical calculation a few of the
results of the teachers work; what we
are doing for the rising generations,
how many chiliren we are educating;
how many lives We are influencing in
the right direction; or, to look at it
from business standpoint, how many
boys We are fitting for the store, the
farm, the counting house, or the learned
professions; or, from our own side, how
many dollars we, as teachers, are spend
ing of the hard earnings of the people.
A great educator said that in A merica
one might easier escape from the influ-
ence of the sun than from the omni-
presence of the American school house.
lie might better have said "than from
the Anne. ican school teacher"