The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-02-02
SCHOOL MATTERS

Continued from First Page)
generation. The young we have al
ways with US. and / do not know of
any higher calling than that OF the
teacher. There is no more useful pro-
fession-when we consider the profess
siOns here in this community-Of the
clergy, the medical profession, the le-
gal profession, and the journalist as
deserving of honor and respect as they
are. l know or none more deserving
OF respect or honor none more faithful,
energetic or efficient than the teachers
OF the public schools in Honolulu.
IT. the dark days of the German
Empire, when Prussia was overrun by
the troops of Napoleon /, old Baron
Won Stein said to the King: Give me
the boys and I will give you back your
empire" and it is the Prussian school
system that has given Germany its
high position among the nations of
Europe.
And we say: Give us the youth OF
Hawaii and the problems of social and
political life will be rightly solved
Our young people must be taught in
telligence and virtue, TO have the power
of self-control, and to be loyal sup
. DOIIeIS OF SOOu IHty
must enter upon their career as citi-
zens with an adequate knowledge Of
their duties and responsibilities. Then
will the safety of free institutions be
assured and government of and for and
by the people will have an abiding
place in Hawaii nei.
What / might say upon this subject
Will seem trite-mere truiSmS-thingS
familiar to you all.
But by comparing experiences we
may learn from each other, deduct u
few rules and discover the underlying
principles.
The great principle is love. If you
are to be a successful teacher you
must have an earnest desire for the
highest good of the pupils in your
charge. The object of all government
is the good of the governed Much of
your success depends upon personal
work The superiority of Christianity
over all other faiths is because of the
personality of the Great Teacher. You
must do personal work and each pupil
needs a different treatment.
God has given us all the body, the
physical being, the mental being, the
moral being, or the spiritual being
No one of these is to be cultivated at
the expense of the rest, but all are
to be developed in harmony. True ed
ucation is the symmetrical develop
ment of the whole being, the heart
and soul and mind and strength.
In the Bible are the signs of the
highest culture and the highest life,
and the formation of character is the
first object of instruction.
That has it's place in connection
with this phase of a teachers work;
and the principle is perhaps best ex-
pressed in the old and homely adage:
can ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure" The teacher who has
the wisdom to foresee and be on hand
to prevent a difficulty, finds little or
no punishment necessary, and conse-
Quently there are no hard feelings en-
gendered on the part of parents or
pupils.
There must be punishment, of course,
but the teacher should remember that
THE quality of many is not strand"
We use the word punish in the alb
sence of a better word. We do not
mean unnecessary infections of pain,
but, as Herbert Spencer says: "Benef-
icent checks to actions that are essen
TALLY injurious"
The same philosopher recommends
that all punishments shall be, as far
as possible, suffering the legitimate
consequences of the wrong act
Every teacher must know when to
be firm and when to relax.
Virgil, in describing Aeolus, the god
OF the winds, speaks of him as king
who knows
when to hold them firmly in hand
And when to give loose reins.''
There is much in the school room
which the wise teacher should not ap-
pear to see. Over-exacting training,
too great stringency, produces laXity
in the end. We remember in English
history that the license of Charles IFS
day followed the Puritan rule.
The teacher should commend as we'll
as criticize. Everybody likes to have
patient effort appreciated, and children
are no exceptions to this rule. The |
teacher should be strictly impartial, |
of course, in enforcing school discip- |
line. but the same rules of life hold |
good in the little world of the school |
that are observed in the greater world |
outside.
There are two boys, one of whom ap- |
preciates what is done for him; he is |
kind and shows by his conduct that !,
he is my friend. The other is stolid |
and Indifferent toward me; he returns |
all kindness by rudeneSs. Now. we |
cannot help liking the one more than |
the other. You cannot be absolutely |
impartial. You would pretend to be |
what you were not. The first boy would !
feel that he was not treated fairly. and /
the second would despise you for pre-
tending what was not true. Children
are quick to see straws.
Above all things. the teacher should /
cultivate the habit of being prompt.
How can one who is habitually behind |
time correct a pupil delinquent in this
respect? You may waste your own
time. but you have no right TO waste
other pupils.
Mr.. J. L. Dumas and Professor
Woodward closed the series of talks