The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1916-03-29
viii be taught by trained teachers.

will be taught by trained teachers.
There has never been a time in the
history of our state and country
when we so much needed trained
teachers. Life has become so comph-
Gated that no one but a well trained
teacher can prepare the child to live
clean, honest and wholesome life
in the environment in which he IS
forced to live. To prepare a child to
live completely now requires much
more skill than formerly;for not only
is life more complex, but many of the
duties that used to devolve upon the
home are being unloaded on the schol
| 1t is ObviOusthat the school has gotten
| to be a very complex affair, and the
work of theteacher is correspondence
more difficult. The time has been
when he was expected to teach,
Reading, Riting and Rithmetic" but
now he must train the hand, head and
| heart.
1t is a common argument that tea
cheers who have a strong personality,
common sense and tact for teaching
will succeed anyway, and this we are
| forced to admit, but since these are
| largely the results of some kind of
professional training they cannot be
used as argument against profession
al training.
A teacher may have scholarship
and kind of professional training
and still be a failure. He must not
only know what to teach and how to
teach, but must know whom he is
| teaching. The teacher is put in the
place of the parents. He must repre-
sent the authority of the father and
the love of the mother, and how can
he exercise the duties of this impor-
tant position without some knowledge
of the child and his environment?
In the past the children have been
sadly misunderstood and neglected,
and would have continued to be neg
lected still if some had not taken the
time and trouble to make a study of
child life and its relation to the life
of the. adult. Society reaps in the life
of the adult just what it sows in the
life of the child. If it is understood
and taught in a way to develop the
better side of his nature, he becomes
citizen and a blessing to society,"
but if he is misunderstood and neg
lected he may become a slave to vice,
cause of shame and disgrace to his
parents, a disgrace to his country, a
dishonor to God.
A good teacher must not only read
good books on child study andbecome
familiar with what authorities say of
the subject, but he must study the
child at first hand both individually
and collectively. He must put himself
into the child's place and see how
things look from the child's point of
view. This aptness in teaching that
is so much talked of is the result of
understanding the stuff with which
we work and the stuff is always
children.
The only door to a child's life is
love and sympathy, and no one can
sympathize with a child who knows
nothing about his life and his environ
ment. The teacher, if possible, should
know the home conditions of every
child whom he teaches. 1t often re-
quires much time and trouble on the
part of the teacher, but those who
are not willing to do anything but
hear classes recite and keep order
should not enter the profession.
These seem to be great require
ments but they are only part of the
qualifications of a good teacher and
we are successful to the extent that
we approach this ideal state.