The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-01-05
SCHOOL INCENTIVES

r :
One of the many very interesting
papers read at the recent Teachers
Conference in Roanoke was that by DIR.
Chandler. of Richmond. on school In
centives.' After a few words Of intro
duction, DIR. Chandler said:
l am asked to speak on School In
centves. The term seems to me sus-
ceptible of three Interpretations. BY
it may be meant the incentives to the
taxpayers of the State to maintain
public schools as n matter of economic
State policy; or 1t may mean the In
centives to young men and women to
engage in school work: or 1t may refer
to the sort of schools and teachers and
teaching demanded in order to attract
the pupils, arouse and maintain their
interest in school life and school con-
Germs SO as to train for the best posi-
BILE citizenship. I shall consider only
the last phase6of interpretation.
The short limit of my time forbids
any extended discussion of the many
points THAT ought to receive considera-
| ton as bearing so vitally on school in
| centives for our children. can do
little more than call to your attention
| for fuller subsequent investigation and
consideration some Of the more promi-
nent items which help to make up a
| i've, pIcS, IeSSlNe,. ~ dSlltfti
life-training school, which every child
in Virginia is entitled to attend.
| shall try to be practical and spe-
cific. Understand that we are now
| thinking of this problem from the
viewpoint of the teachers obligation
| to his school and to the uplft Of his
community. 1t is a fact of which T.,
| as teacher. am proud that in Virginia
| the teacher is leader of thought
| mr. II 10 al n q
which I, as teacher, am not proud
that more frequently than otherwise,
| he Is too diftident and reserved In his
|disposition, and disinclined to take the
Initiative necessary to lead needed re-
] forms. This is true in spite Of his
fitness for such task by reason of his
! accurate acquaintance with the re-
i forms needed and his superior intelli-
gence. It ought not so to be. The
teacher Is a natural leader He should
! cease to cruelty himself and the dear
l children Of Virginia upon the cross OF
submissive silence. Let him speak out,
and everywhere assume the RESPONSE
bility which Is upon him of leading his
people out of the wilderness of igno-
rance. Of lethargic inaction. into the
realm Of higher ideals and higher &C,
complishments. There is no place for
laziness or idleness-no sinecures, II
you please, in a Virginia school. Every
school ought to be busy beehive OF
cheerful toll, of constant and sustained
interest, Of hopeful effort, of definite
purpose and of continual growth. Life
is growth: stagnation, death.
If the teacher Is, or by right ought
to be, a most potent factor in training
for life-tasks and useful citizenship the
children Of Virginia, 1t necessarily fol.
lows that it makes all the difference ir
/ the world In determining the value o1
those tasks and the character OF thai
citizenship what sort of school the
so will be the school. This brings mi
Z more definitely face to face with TIL.
4 point am trying to press upon you
Our query Is. "How may the teacher
make school life and work attractiv,
to the child?""What Incentives may b,
properly held out to him that he ma!
love school rather than hate 1T?
what Is the teachers part In thi
problem?''
! know that this is large and diff
cult problem. 1t Is at tho same tim
perhaps tho most important and inter
esting ono now confronting us as
body of teachers. Do not misunder
stand me. We can. OF course, by va
rious devices of schoolroom fippanc
and claptrap convert the schoolroor
from life-training camp which 1t |
intended to be, to frivolous meetln
}, house for entertainment and levity
which 1t is not intended to he. An
yet u child ought to be happy In hi
work.
And we are considering how tn
school may provide for the child
physical moral and mental develor
ment, so that he may he full of buoy
nnt happiness during the process; S
that he may he conscious Of no confli'
or hostility between his aims and pul
poses and those Of his teacher; so thu
his school experiences may be ioyf,