Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1914-10-23
Qualifications of an Ideal Teacher.
Published by request.

The requisites which qualify an
ideal teacher are many, but to my
mind, the most salient are thor
oughness, discipline, discrimina.
tion, patience, the faculty of pre-
senting knowledge happily and
progressiveness.
To be thoroughly c~onversant
with every branch of a science, or
a number of sciences embraced in
that part of the curriculum as
signed to a teacher, gives to that
teacher self. confidence; and that
inspires the confidence Of the pup
il. The reciprocal advantage thus
obtained is invaluable.
BY discipline lido not mean ruth
less callous- hearted Pedagogy, but
that frmness which says to q pup.
il, you must ''obey them that:have
rule over you." Heb. 1917.
Discrimination is an essential.
1t enables the ideal teacher to dis.
tinguish failures on account of alb
solute neglect of duty on the part
of pupils from those failures which
occur after an honest effort has
been made.
Since nature has not endowed
all children alike, the ideal teach.
er needs patience where nature
has been less lavish; for it often
happens that those children in
whom the least is prognosticated
attain to a higher degree of culture
than their more favored compan-
ions. Hans Christian Andersen
was the "Ugly Duckling." The
father of some prominent man once
said: eff it pleases Almighty
God to take any of my children, 1
hope it may be Peter" This same
Peter was afterwards the star of
the family.
Teachers cannot learn for child
rem; they can only teach them hence
the faculty Of presenting knowledge
happily must be studied by the
ideal teacher. The following are
some of the means by which an
ideal teacher may be progressive:
By keeping apace with the new
methods or innovations in teach
ing, by availing himself of school
literature, school conventions, etc.
"All life is an education" and an
article on "Our Children's cul.
ture." says: "Whenever we can
train our children into the love OF
something that cannot be taken
from them, but which will remain
an enduring satisfaction to them,
we have conferred on them an in,
calculable benefit"
If children grow up to love nat.
ure and to love good literature,
they will be secure of two sources
of pure enjoyment which can new
er be taken from them, no matter
how untoward their outward lot
may be. ~ call no roof poor.n
says William Ellery Charming,
"when beneath it can enter, such
kingly guests as Shakespeare and
Milton" The good Canon Farrar
says, Ito know souls like theirs
to understand them and enjoy
them-is in itself an education and
a very liberal one" Hence, the
ideal teacher should strive to have
the pupils cultivate a love of good
literature. It has been said that
o love of nature greatly enchances
our appreciation of literature.
The person who notes or delights
in ''the bright orbs that shine in
Heaven" ''the volutes ofthe flow
err" s'the waving of grain fields y
"the blue distance of mountains, f"
"the grouping of Clouds" ssthe
twinkling of half. hidden brooks"
"the repose of sequestered lakes, .
appreciates the many exquisitely
drawn pictures of nature with
which we meet in poetry for more
having formed the habit Of accu-
rately noting the tirts and ont
tlines'pf aataFe, TheideAl tsscher