The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-09-11

wide acquaintance, or anything which
shows energy and ability, except study.
Is valuable"
The root of the trouble is stated by
a member OF tho Princeton faculty:
"Ph. DIS arc as thick as blackbcrries.
and real teachers are scarce as they
were two thousand years ago" The
college chairs are too frequently filed
by learned men who are inefficient and
! uninspiring teachers Too often men
are chosen to college faculties because
they are distinguished scholars or the
authors Of learned books" Too often
the professor is deeply interested In
his subject, but regards class room lee
lures as necessary evil, and makes
the students take the same view by
his conduct as a teacher professor
Palmer of Harvard has said: WhNe
no doubt 1t is we'll for a teacher to pc
a fair scholar, that is not the mann
thing. What constitutes the teacher is
the passion to make scholars; anu
again and again 1t happens THAT the
great scholar has no such passion
whatever"
Interesting. indeed, are the facts set
forth by Mr.. Page as to the methods
successfully applied by certain COL
lege professors in order to awaken ana
hold the interest Of their students.
The preceptorial system in vogue at
Princeton is, in his opinion, lons
stem in the right direction. 1t brings
faculty and student together IN
friendly way that helps the student 10
become a better student. Some pro-
fessors have stressed the fact upon
their students that what they shy III
class room is not to be found IN some
book in the library.
The whole problem is to eaten lhe
interest of the student; and 1t seems
that the best way to do that as 10
convince him that what is peihs
taught is not dry-as-dust and to Dc
| found in the printed notes Oh soitio
| tutor or coach"
Mr.. page concludes his findings:
The men who have shown the way
out of this dilemma are the men who
| teach, who number their works py
J men and not by books. men capable
| enough to inspire confidence and with
| enthusiasm enough to kindle in their
| students latent desires for learning:
| and no others should be entrusted with
! the handling OF the most difficult raw
| product in the world. II workmen III
| steel mill did not make the most
| Of the material given them, they
would lose their jobs-even II they
knew more about steel than Bessemer
and Carnegie combined A professor
| material given him and does not take
| a joy in the process ought to share
| the same fate, though he know more
| than an encyclopaedia contains
The colleges are public service cor
| porations and the public-wh!ch sup
ports them in one way or other-has
right to the best service that can
| be had And it has right also to
know whether the teaching be good or
! be perfunctory.
The droning scholar, talking with
his eye upon the clock, is not the sort
of teacher who is needed in our higher
educational systems. 1t is the man
/
! who can inspire him with a thirst foI
more knowledge, who can make hin
realize the bearing of the questions
under study upon live issues and live
people--it is this man who is the rea
teacher. the fisher of genuine students
Those of us who can look back
through the years to bright days
spent on the campus can single our
from the faculty of those days. with
out difficulty, on the one hand, the
/ men who were teachers and on the
other hand the men who We're jus
learned professors, who had no RICH
to profess teaching. Those who wer,
real teachers-and they We're in TIL,
minority-made their subjects have al
intellectual zest for us and made III
stop to think" Into their work
they threw their kindly personality
what they taught was useful in tn
after years; and their memory i
blessed.
TO THE MAYOR.