Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1903-08-06
From a School Teacher.

From a School Teacher.
Ed. Register:-I am glad to see
that there is an upward tendency
in the grading of teachers in Mis-
souri,. 1t is a profession which
should know no stand-still, but
should eve be upward and on
ward. Commissioner Buford says
that he is mo more exacting than
they are in other countless" etc.
which seems right to keep the
grade of the teachers in all the
counties alike. But while the
standard is being raised is the
salary being raised at the same
ratio? Now let us see what the in
ducements are to teachers to better
fit themselves for the profession,
first they must spend eight or ten
years in the common schools, then
attend the training school at con-
siderable expense, then go through
that nerve-trying ordeal of an x
amination-I am now speaking of
those who cannot or do not attend
the Normal School and graduate
therefrom-and if successful, get a
school by undertaking a fellow
teacher at S25 or $50 per month for
from four to six months in the
year, netting them, after paying
expenses, from $50 to 500 a year,
which is not enough to keep soul
and body together, so they must
seek other employment for the
remaining months in the year
which may not be of a literary
nature, therefore they shall have
forgotten some of the technical
answers to many of the book ques-
tons, hence the necessity of that
training school in order to get an
other certificate. But where is the
incentive to repeat this process
from year to year? The true
teacher is born and not made. The
essential prerequisites for success
are appropriate natural endow-
ments-such as an innate love of
children, aptness to teach and good
talents, together with a preparatory
course of training. There are
many who can answer all of the
questions glibly who are lacking
in the true fundamental principles
of a teacher. What is the true
mission of the teacher? Before the
artisan converts rude masses of
wood and stone into edifices of
symmetry and magnificence; be-
fore he rears the walls or lays the
foundation, he inquiries the de-
sign and use of those structures
and then shapes the rough timber
and marble into appropriate forms
of strength and beauty. And be-
fore the teacher moulds the plastic
minds of his pupils, he, too, should
know something of the ultimate
purpose of their lives that he may
train them to answer that purpose;
and something of their high
destiny, that he may more success
fully lead them on to it's full
achievement.
The teachers highest mission,
the most essential branch of all
education, is moral education.
This consists in a right direction of
the natural sympathies and affec-
tions; includes a cultivation of the
moral senses, such as those of
honor and shame, right and wrong,
and implies the formation of good
habits and principles. How shall
this moral education be taught?
not by ~lecturing on ethics, but by
an upright example,, which is ever
more impressive than words.
Though our lips be silent our pres
ence and manners ever radiate an
influence, subtle and enduring and
corresponding to our true char
acter. Would we enforce the prin-
ciples Of purity and truth, we
should not only love these prin-
ciples but be ourselves the the liv-
ing embodiment of purity and
truth. Not SO much what we say
what we are, impresses them.
Character should have heavy
weight in granting certificates-a
child naturally looks to the teacher
as a %guide-then the Boards of
Education should select such teach
ers as they desire their children to
be in character. Past success
should have weight in granting
certificates, for a live teacher can
not grow less capable while he is
in the work; hence why the neces-
sity of these annual examinations
for teachers who have taught sue
cessfully for a number of years.?
the standard high, but raise
the salary correspondingly and you
will have better teachers.
ONE OF THEM.
CNy,tl N-e-.l-1 Gu ar |