Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1892-03-26

hink deservsdly too-slightly remarks
o be made about the profession, and Z
hose who belong to it. There is too
great number Of teachers who believe
N taking certain passage Of Scripture
literally, which says: "He that shutteth |
his lips is esteemed q man Of under-
standing" But this is not to be taken I
literally; else it were useless for man to
be gifted with the power Of speech. An
allwise Creator never intended snch
He gave to man all that
(man) has for use, and not abuse; there
fore let man. particularly school teachers,
use, but not abuse, this God given power
of speech In fact, if you don't use it
when called upon at associations or other
meetings of public nature, the general
opinion is, that you either take no interest
in your work, or that you are, from lack
Of sufficient training and knowledge OF
the subject, not able to do that which
you as teachers, are expected to do;
namely, talk.
True, one can say too much; he can,
through his great desire to display his
talents, and. in the use of his Ego's, fully
demonstrate that, in his particular case,
it would have been well for him If he had
construed literally the passage OF
Scripture to which referred; for he may
have displayed his ignorance, instead OF
his talents Yet there is not so much to
fear on this score, as on the other.
There are more, at associations, who
speak too little, than those who speak
too much, As rule four or five always
have something to say, while the majority
of the others say, I'D rather be excused"
or 81 don't think of anything more to say
on the subject" This is too much 30;
these poor excuses also bring condem-
nation on the profession, since some one
has said: "He that is good at making
excuses, is seldom good for anything
else" And I hope that the time is not
far distant, when these poor excuses will
not be accepted; and, that the teacher
will be paid for attending, and taking
part in the exercises at an association: IN
other words, to have statutory provision
compelling them to attend and partici-
pate in the discussions.
This could be done by allowing the
teacher as much per day while attending
the association as, he would have received
had he taught that day in his own
school; the penalty for failing to attend,
bad weather, sickness, and unavoidable
accidents to always be acceptable excuses,
to be: that the teacher Oh his part, not
being able to furnish one of the excuses
above mentioned, to forfeit from his
monthly salary, as much as he would
have received, had he attended and per-
formed what ever part had been assigned
him. This would be just, since it pays
the teacher for coming, and, at the same
time, provides the penalty for non-com
pliance.
Whenever we can get the teachers
walked up to the fact, "That there Is
time to keep silence, and time to speah
is when they attend the association, w
have opened the way for rapid advance
ment all along the line.
Knowing, then, that they must taxi
part at the association, would cause then
to prepare themselves thorou ghly upor
tie subjects assigned them. In Thu
preparation they will be compelled t.
think; thinking will teach them how t.
analyze; Analysing will aid them t.
select the strongest points; they must U.s.
words, sentences, and paragraphs will
which to communicate them to others.
| This, adds to their knowledge b.
the study and reading of the variou
educational works, which it compels
They must, in order to present anythin,
worthy of notice, become thorough.
acquainted with all its advantages ant
, disadvantages, it's standing in tn
educational world; and, who of the lead
ing educators maintain it, and who rejcc
it. All of which requires much patien
and un-remitted investigation.
Having searched for, and found
authorities upon their subjects, it teache
them to do defend the assertion they hav
made. This calls forth all their energies
the use of we'll chosen sentences, loglca
arguments, elegance of expression ant
, the avoidance of grammatical and rhetor
cal errors. This, then, is really lessor
in composition and rhetoric.
But this is not all it teaches. w
, have only to show the good it does IL
compelling preparation for delivery. d
the day of the association, the teache
who is prepared, comes into the roon
feeling that, il he should not be able t
sustain all that he is going to say or rea
he has, at heart, tried to do his part t
, make the meeting profitable to himsel
, and his fellow teachers. He is prepare
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