The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-08-22
THE WELCOME scHooLMAAM.

VIII be in keokuk this week. The oc-
casion is the annual Lee county
teachers institute, and it is expected
| she will be present in large number.
Keokuk, ever appreciative and al
ways polite, will take off its hat to
| her, welcome her to "our midst" ex-
press becoming interest in her well
fare, feed her on fried chicken with
ice cream and angel food cake for des-
sert, and assign her to the best bed
in the spare ROOM If there is any
thing she wants and doesn't see all
she has to do is to ask for it, Keo-
kuk is hers to command as long as
she stays, and when she feels that
she "just must go, there will be
many pressing invitations to come
again and stay longer next time.
There's reason" as Mr.. Post says
| in his advertisements.
Time was when the school teacher
was man, and was known as the
MASTER And he was master" in
very truth and deed. If anyone en-
tertained any doubts on the subject
they were speedily and effectively
| dispelled the moment his authority
was called in question. He ruled
not with rod of iron, exactly, but
with no less formidable instrument
with ruler. 1t was made of hard
wood, was two feet long and quite
heavy. So indispensable was it con-
sidered as an aid in the inculcation
of valuable knowledge that it was sell
dom out of the masters hands dur
| ing school hours. In practice it was
Lapplied to the palms of the hands
| with considerable force and more or
less eclat, and it never failed to
/ evoke eloquent response. AS a devel-
oper of lung power it may be doubted
/ if it ever had an equal. This shows
| Git Is to be remarked in passing) that
even the crudest instruments, in
proper hands, may be made to yield
notable results. If an especially i'm
1 portant lesson was to be impaired
the ruler was set aside temporarily
and hickory "wythe" employed in
4 stead. This was generally about the
thickness of ones finger and four or
five feet long. Prior to use it was
roasted briefly in the fire. The effect
was to make it much more pliable
and Tasting" AS it was sometimes
called into use several times every
day the practical economy of such
preparation becomes apparent at a
glance. What time the ruler and rod
were not in active use was devoted to
study and recitation, for want of
something better TO do This afforded
the desired element of variety to the
exercises. 1t was not altogether I'M
common in those days for the mas
ter" to announce as part of the regu-
lar program that "after we hear the
spellin' class and lick Johnnie Jones
we'll have recess"
Conditions have changed since
then. The master, has been sup
/ planted by the miss. He ruled by fear,
she rules by love. He was stern, for
bidding, autocratic and tyrannical.
She is amiable, attractive, reasonable
and just. The old master, knew and
taught "readin, ritin', speliin' and
| arithmetic to the rule of three" 1t was
all he was expected to know and
! teach. He knew nothing and cared
less about child nature and the pro-
cesses by which child's mind are
developed. If those processes happen
ed to run counter to the hard and
1 fast rules he had laid down for the
4 government of the school-as they
often did,-so much the worse for the
child. Nowadays the elements Of an
English education are only a frac-
| ton of the things a school teacher ig
expected to know. It is not expected
that she will teach them to primary
pupils, but she must know them in
order to be able TO inpart knowledge
of any kind successfully. Not the
least of the requirements OF the COM
petent teacher is her knowledge Of
& psychology. Without this knowledge
4 she would be a blind leader Of the
blind With 1t she combines a love
for the child and very sincere inter.
est in its welfare. She adapts herself
TO the viewpoint of the child and leads
ii by easy stages from the simple to
the complex. She realizes the child's
limitations as well as its possibilities
: and proceeds accordingly She knows
9 that observation is the first faculty
S developed and ratiocination the last;
a that judgment must wait upon obser-
Yation, perception and comparison.
s She knows also that imagination
n plays large part in child life and
If doesn't hold the little ones to too
it strict an accountability for what they
e. think they have seen or experienced
All these things and many more the
ng modern schoolmaam IS expected to
he hhoW and profit by in her daily work
ms WIN them goes a personality that Is
go. most engaging and an enthusiasm
loo .haV is most inspiring. Along with the
parents parents she is the upbuilder of the
not e tnaa Of the Americans of the flu
us ~. ~ N no small measure she holds
osi- the destiny Of the country in he,
for smail, shapely hands. All honor 10 the
aw. schoolmaiam, Anoi W 'ns