Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-01-02
Wise and Unwise Incentives.
BY J. II. OLIVER.

Read at the late Teachers Institute.
An incentive (from the Latin incendo, to
fire up, TO rouse. to excite,) is that which
stirs or incites on 20 action.
Without any incentive, human industry,
and human mind would remain dormant
1t is only through incentives that all our
great industries are controlled and carried
on and. as in the industrial, SO in the
menta! field.
Not only are incentives employed by hu-
man beings, but animals, plants and flowers
employ the same as 4 means of existence.
Why dots the beautiful rose throw open its
perfumsd petals unless it be as an incen-
tive to the bees and butterflies to search
for its honey, and distribute its pollsn. In
the same way wild animals attract smaller
ones by their initiative cry, and afteEward
prey upon their bodies. Incentives only
rouse or incite the mind TO accomplish the
desired end; and in proportion 10 the
strength of the incentive will the actsen be.
| Wha, are wise and unwise incentives as US
ed in the school room to securs study Lot
it be distinctly understood that no incen-
tive named as wise should oe carried 10 the
extreme else an unwisc one is the resGlt.-
Also it is very necessary that an incentive
be cautiously and properly used +; for, al
falling leaf on the young plant. has warped
the giant oak forever, so an incentive i'm
properly used may warp the mind or body
of the child for future usefulness. Could
we see the effect Of some of these improper
incentives, and in this l include proper ones
carries to the extreme, no doubt we would
be appalled, and be more cautious in their
use Before me lies block OF marble and
it is very necessary that use the right in
strument in shaping it or l may spoil it, so
with the mind OF child, il is altogether ne
cessary TO know what incentives TO use in
order that the desired result may be obtain
ed. Wise incentives are those that reach
the greatest possible number of children a
few of which may be mentioned &: very
proper and wise incentive is to impress the
child concerning its own future usefulness,
there i: no child but that desires to be a
good and useful man. Enforce this by us
ing examples OF the good and great. don't
mean that the child's mind should be ''s tuff-
sd'' win the deeds of those 'goody goOdy"
people, who exist only in novels and story
books, but there are men whose lives may
be held up as worthy of imitation by chill
dren best use OF living examples whereby
everything pertaining to hero-worshiping is
removed. Another proper incentive is, the
promise of part of a days recreation; the
same to be spilled by the teacher to the
pracflcdl study of portion of Geography
along some neighboring waters; or to some
other branch applicable to open air work /;
We need more practical work any how, and
this might be used as means of obtaining
it. | had a few scholars who failed in COM |
mitting some of the dry definitions Of GeOg- |
raphy; so used the above as an incentive |
to study, and as 4 method of imprrssirg |
those definitions. | hope the inquisitiye-
ness of some of our teachers will be an in /
centive to them TO try the same if they de-
sire to know what satisfactory results fol /
lowed. believe We ought TO ''kil two /
birds with the same stone" whenever We
can, and especially in an overcrowded
school room. Another and always very 4
wise incentive for scholars TO know their |
lessons is for the teacher TO know his les
son and do not know but that it is An in |
centive that might be used little more in /
the school room; for if scholar sees you |
know the lesson he viii in most cases try |
TO know his from mere imitation. Scholars /
are good imitators and this fact We may use /
as a wise incentiTe. Grade marks il prop /
erly used are wise Incentives. inasmuch as
every scholar is reached ty them, and their /
own personal EFFORTS are closely marked /
and periodically reported. Fellow teach
ers, TO those of your students who must
their own condition, see their fellow stu I
dents learn the lesson IN hall the time and /
seemingly twice q. perfect, do not forget TO |
remind them that, il the head is so thick /
that it is hard for knowledge 10 get in, once |
within the same thickness also, prevents its
departure. Perhaps this may serve as an
incentive to hard working and seemingly |
poor reci,iug students TO persevere. re-
peat it. Do not push a wise incentive too |
far. Keeping the idea before us that an in
centiye ought always TO reach the largest /
possible number, We will next notice prizes; /
these condemned by some and By others |
sustained are certainly inducements to |
hard working scholars to redoube their dill |
igence, and TO an indolent one TO lag still /
farther behind to the latter the incentive |
is next to an impossibility very great i'm
probability. 1t is much like offering an ear /
OF corn as temptation to horse which al |
ready is straining every nerve to move the |
load, while the other lazy one seeing the |
corn afsr of knows that he cannot reach il =: |
at least, offer the lazy one hay, and see if |
the situation Will not change; by this I |
mean, do not offer prizes unless you have a |
prize for each one, graded according to el-
fort. Fears OF punishment in some cases
may be good incentives to study, but in |
most cises they should not be used as they |
appeal only to the baser naturs of the child |
and stir up in most minds those feelings
which proper and wise incentive. should |
not. In short. as to what are wise and un- |
wise incentives, the teacher must to a very |
great extent be his own Judge, both as to
the kind of incentive and the extent to
which it should be used. Where one in
centive produces the desired effect, another
might fail. What one teacher uses with
success another attempting the same, fails. !
Where unwilling children are compelled by
their parents, or when our laws are such
that children will be compelled to attend
school for certain time during the year,
and then, when such incentives are thrown
around their young lives as will cause them
to feel that study Is a pleasure, and that