The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1908-10-14

Change Of Teachers-The frequent
change OF teachers is constant
brake and clog on the progress %
the school. 1t robs them OF anything
like an unbroken course OF work ana
fxedness Of policy. Every new
teacher introduces some new feature
into the work OF the school-per-
baps "a good feature in itself. yet nc
better than what it displacss. Il
requires readjusrment to install an--
thing new, and the time and fric-
ton are loss, unless the change is
decidedly for better. GENERALLY
speaking our best schools are those
which have the fewest changes II:
the teachers. It requires at least
one full session for g teacher to
become acquainted with his patrons
BY becoming acquainted with patron:
I mean far more .uan mere social
knowledge of them. I mean an ap-
probation Of their tastes and the;!
ideals and their ambitions, and
NENh NS SLSAA W So-><~A NSNNo' -
you please Until he understands
these ne is not in position to serve
them and to lead len, and a teacher
who can net lead is OF but hit; !;
force. Not lntil after teacher
has taught from four to six years IL
a community is he prepared to give
it his best services. Yet hew few
teachers remain Is one schoo. thres
years.
Some places e0ange teachers every
year simply because they have &C.
oaired the habit Of doing SO. Like
any other bad habit, this one grows
upon people. The trustees and the
patrons frequently realize that Their
school is far inferior to some other
school, and rush to the conclusion
that they need change Of teachers,
when the truth is ruat ley AVE
already injured their school, By C,o
many changes. Have any Of my
readers ever seen pupil, at the be
ginning Of each Of three successive
seasoas-each time by new teach
er? Is it probable that this would
have been done by any one reason
able teacher teaching the school the
three sessionse
This evil of change reigns in The
town and country schools alike.
have in mind one town in this Stat.
which had six principals in eigh
years. Change was the only remedy
it knew, and it believed in heroic
doses. A great many rural school:
rarely have the same teachers tW
years in succession. Many Of these
changes, il both town and countr!
schools, are due to the neishborhc }:
jeaIousies and Quarrels already dis
cussed. Many community has It
chronic critics Of the schools, wh'
are dyspeptic by nature and sour ,,
habit. A teacher never satisfies then
longer than one year. They knoE
all about schools, and their owl
children are paragons Of perfection
If any teacher finds one Of thes
children anything; but a paragon
straightway there: ls trouble. T
listen to these disgruntled fathe
and mothers with their tales Of VIC
requires patience and grace. Il
their eyes there is but one remedy
change teachers. Not two month
ago I heard a man not far from slxt
years Of age declare that he intende
to break ur the only school in hi
district. unless the trustees dismisse
the present teacher. 1t had neve
occurred to him that perhaps tn
trustees were in the right. Sue
man is in a small way an ana:
chist.
In some instances faultfnders an
dissatisfaction are unwittingly en-
ccuraged by the board of trustees
The board. either ignorant Of 1t
function or disposed to dodge a!
unpleasant duty, asks the patron
to elect the teacher. Such cours
is an invitation to division and tn
disappointment consequent to defea'
and will inevitably bring about dis
cord. What is the board appoint1'
for, II not to manage the school b,
,ssening the occasions for discord
A good many towns make 1t
20 pua eq2 2e pus 'slsqogsl ps2UsE