Wichita eagle., 1888-05-03

namely, accurate scholarship, and va
ried and extensive fund of knowledge.
The great American educator, William
II. McGuffey, says. 1.-The faithful, COM
petent teacher never fails to secure the
! confidence and respect and even the af-
lection of his pupils He is, as he ought
to be, esteemed in the place of the pr
rent. He is thought to be infaiiible. He
ought, therefore, TO be correct" Correct
not only in morals and manners, but also
in scholarship. Intellect always has and
always will command respect. When
possessed in high degree by the teacher
1t becomes power TO arouse strong
intellectual appreciation of himself. Can
YOU conceive of stronger influences draw
ing the minds of the young toward their
instructor than the two mentioned,
which operate on the affections and the
intellect: When the teacher becomes a
mentor for his pupils he will not want
followers: once followers, it cannot but
be that his wishes have the potency of
laws; his displeasure. the efficacy of
punishment
1t seems plain to me that grieyous
wrong is done TO the young when tyro
In the seven common school branches
confidently mounts the teachers ros-
trum to exhibit his few stale
wares to those who ought to sit
IN amazement at a gorgeous display OF a
varied scholarship. How can a teacher
hope to impress himself upon his pupils,
or inspire them with desire for lofty
achievements, who is neither an expo
nent of the truest ideal nor possesses the
ability even to intelligently direct to that
ideal! If there be one thing a teacher
can and ought to do for his pupils it is to
arouse in them an irresistible spirit of in
quiry. The intellect consists of some
thing more than calculation and men,
DRY. The entire mentality must be
awakened and quickened into active
thinking, imagining and reasoning.
Once this spirit has been engendered and
reading habit established-a school in
which such revival takes place can i'll
brook a narrow textbook specialist, or
the teacher who exercises his pupils in a
narrow limit of stuffv knowledge, where
they are continually humping their heads
against the walls of the teachers impene-
trabie ignorance.
1t is not to be wondered at that the
dlsrespect and contempt of the pupils
should overthrow the restraints which
government exist when the head of it is
under the impeachment of incompe-
tency! 1t would not be difficult to prove
that there are no deep sea soundings in
the majority of teachers.
Can you tell me how high and how
broad Is the teachers obligation to rem
der himself a highly cultured member of
his community? Time was when a
parents fondest hopes did not extend be-
You'd that of seeing his boy become as
learned as his master-so exalted did the
the teacher stand among his patrons.
Now misapplied time and study may
make boy or girl as ignorant as the
school teacher. Time was when the
master was consulted before important
measures in family and neighborhood
were undertaken: when his advice was
considered as having great weight
in making decisions. Now, he,
at least, is not the first
man whose opinion is referred to.
The teacher has lost caste. The people
have grown above him and he. like
stunted herb, contents himself by pla-
eddy growing in the shade of the taller
plants about him. What wonder then
that his government is regarded as of
petty consequence as he, or that young
America, by taking observation lessons
from his seniors, should cast contempt
and defiance into the face of confessed
weakling and public toady. If ever the
the profession becomes more than a
dingy lamp dimly Lighting up a small
section of life's road, an object of re-
proach and the butt of ridicule, the
light he sheds must be immeasurably in.
creased. Its briiliancy must be remarked
by every passer-by, nor must the trav-
eler ever forget its benign influence over
him or ever cease gratefully to turn to it
as a model light when other beacons
shed their beams over his Hfe's course.