The sun., 1916-10-22
Personality the Great
Factor in Education
By THOMAS F. CLARK,
Rrineipal. CLARK School for ConeanAYaSion

cellent courses OF study outlined
by the New York state Board Of Re-
gents we should have ten times greater
results in teaching than are being at
tanned. The wonderful modern school
buildings. with their complete equipment.
The painstaking oversight Of supervisors
and the standardization OF studies count
for little unless the teacher himself radi-
ates the write force OF compelling per-
0onality in the classroom.
Nothing liz the matter with the boy
r. you meet him haif way. " course
he isn't like Ms father. Times have
changed. and boys change with them.
II h. Is perhaps more difficult TO control.
TO interest and to enthuse, certainly as
educators we are, or should be. all the
better prepared for the task. The plastic
mind OF youth Is keenly and almost In
stantly susceptible TO the influence OF
kindly personality. and II educators
would Air rrst to make a friend and
then a student our task would be far
less difi, ul'.
AZ Andrew s. Draper. who was one
Of the leaders Of this generation In de-
veloping our present school system, took
the modern school out Of politics. so
should ". aim to take teaching out OF
tho hands .. the slothful. the Indifferent.
the lcthare,c or the doniineering In
structor.
In :he curse oil an address delivered
before a larg. body Of educators COM
missioner Draper said Education that
has lie aud enters into life education
that makes a living and makes life
worth living: education that csn use
English to express itself education that
doesn't assume that the doctor must be
an educated man and tina: the mechanic
OF farmer cannot i've; education hat
appeals to the masses ana that MAKE.
better citizens and "A greater State edu-
cation that supports the moral position
Of the State and that inspires education
In all of the Statcs-.hat IL the educa-
ton that concerns New York
Ore OF his comm 'ttic's wrote of him
"Judge Draper was truly a pioneer Of
educator. He united the schoo, system.
he established better educational stnnd-
ards. he improved In quality the teaching
force. developed school libraries, moved
The vG"'o Stat" school system q ~ ard the
realization OF his Ideals. and made popu-
lar the great educational university
Education needs no apologist. II eGu-
Gators d.. the fault Is theirs. Instruc-
ton ia not. and never has been. al exact
science. yet we have progressed iar along
the road to knowledge. II 10 as idle for
us to criticize past generations o. educa-
tors for the short, on!ngs OF prescr. 81 -
TENS as IL would be to c~ri:icise Calico
for not discovering the principles Of cleo
tricity, or blame Newton for failure to
evolve the Morse alphabet.
In q recent ar,ic t. Tro.. Morton Sny-
der Of the Newark Academy seemed
prone to blame his predecessors fer the
weak points when are far too evident in
present day methods Of instruction. Man.
ifes:ly IL wou'd I've far better to blame
ourselves. The greatest obstacle In the
schools Today is tie teacher who puts
lack of progress UP 70 nature. or 10 the
undevcloped mind Of the individual pupil.
Our schools are filled with so-called edu-
Gators who are slaves TO textbooks. Their
minds are hazy. netulous. incoherent--
they sit at their work and yawn. Many
Of them seem wholly unfamiliar with the
fundamental principles OF Interest. atten-
ton, assoc.at lion or concentration. Worse
still. they evidence no consuming desire
for better n equals aince. The self-sats-
fed teacher who Is happies; when the
clock strikes four. or when he receives
his salary, is one Of the most efficient
time wasters In the employ OF the state.
The siN great basic factors OF success
IN any walk of life are preparation. pre-
sentation. Imagination. application. de-
termination and concentration. Master
these and you have education. The
greatest educators past and present arc
opt!mlsts. Observation-Disclosures. II you
will. with them the greatest study OF
mankind is man." To watch the mind
develop. to teach the young idea to
shoot. 20 shoot with II and thus TO pass
II on and out into the great school OF
The world. .,om which no one ever grad
yates alive. Is the Genes happiness OF
the true educator. Dull purlS are I
him an incentive - greater effort. . I've
awaken their interest, compel" iheir ~
,.n,!on and commands theii ,.rsS!"ii W.
.tclIcct 20 better thinxs with tht ieSi
endowment which an Athlete finds wher
winning a race. TO such a man al
things seem possible. lie IL a master
OF minds. seldom does he fall 10 MAKE
an impression. and II the impression II
slight or Heeting 1t is by no means tht
faul, OF his enthusiastic and persistent
efforts.
systems may lie faulty. textbooks
heavy and didactic. pupils Inherent!
law and Indifferent. but the teacher WHIT
has personality, force. nm patience
concentration and an abiding faith "
his own ability to fnd the point OF con
tact between his mind and that OF th'
pupil will make first friend and then 9
student.
To find Il has been the air cf maal
great minds. Rabela!s In the hfteen''
century, Rattle in the sixteenth. Come
MUS. Milton and Locke In the seven
teenth Rousseau and Pestalozzi In tn
oIghteen,h. and Horace Mann and An
draw s. Draper in the nineteenth nc
compl,shed much IN their studies o
educational systems for which we OF 70
day lave them 10 thank. Radicals on
deayored to fnd q short cut 10 iearhlni
through ridicule. He worked under IN
delusion that realism. the use OF tn
senses, tho influence Of nature. sugges
ton. emulation, physical environment
and self "a tyity would blaze a pain y
learning that would prove most agree
able. .,
Rathe boldly proclaimed that he u
teach any language. ancient or 'nooerr
n six months. Although he failed !
prove his case his failure MAS due
Dart to his inability to get proper ca.
lie borators. PROBABLY Comenius cam
nearer to the goal than any OF the pic
neers. He simpliied textbooks. shor'
ened methods of instruction. announce
the broad principle that girls should o
educated as well as boys and made nj
subjects Of study more Interesting ina
they had over been. His weakest poin
was that he made his students slaves I
the sensations ana bound them TO n,
rather nebulous and indefinite Pre-
xramme called 1.-THE Order OF Nature"
John Milton. living In the same cor
fury az Comenius. attacked all system
then In vogue and declared that HI
course Of study, which embraced Latii
arithmetic, natural philosophy. %trigonon
etry, architecture, engineering naviBa
tiou, anatomy and medicine, could b
COMPLETELY mastered at the age Of II
the great Johnson. In commenting o
Milton's snort cut TO the royal road
knowledge, said Those who make t!ics