Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1925-07-23

WHAT DOES THE LITTLE
GIRL SCHOOL TEACHER
DO TO GEORGIA
Over Half of Georgia. Teachers
Have Not Had More Than a
High School Education.


How many times have all of US
seen young girls graduate from high
school-or maybe not wait to gradu-
ate-and sally forth to teach school,
with not experience either in life or
teaching and no intention of taking
up school work as a permanent vo-
cation?
How often have we known these
things to be utterly lacking in lead
ership ability, frivolous, without
serious thought, and woefully ignor-
ant of the problems they face in un-
dertaking to teach a country school?
How frequently have we heard
these girl teachers treat their work
lightly, laugh about the shortcomings
of their pupils as though they were to
be expected; and seen them look up
on their work as something unim-
portant more temporary source of
income to fill the gap between school
marriage or the entering upon
some more serious occupation
sometimes seen them treat the whole
thing as lark?
Yet every time one of these mex
perienced, unframed girl teachers
goes into a school to teach, the lives
of group of children are effected.
The foundations of the careers of
those in that school are improperly
laid. And such failure to lay the
foundation right may mean tragedy,
failure, poverty or crime later in life.
A sad feature of this situation is
the fact that these inexperienced
young teachers usually go to rural
one-room schools, of which Georgia
has so many. They select them eth
er because they do not feel compe-
tent to teach in a graded school or
because the certificates they are able
to get will not permit them to do
so--or, somtimes, just for the fun
of going to live in the country. Yet
any experienced school teacher will
tell you that the problems to be solv-
ed in the one-room school are greater
by far than those of any other; that
the demand there for real ability
leadership, executive ability, judy
ment, general acknowledgement ex-
ceeds the graded school where the
teacher has fewer problems to solve
unaided.
Georgia has larger number of
, these transient teachers than most
| states have, for one-third of her
| teachers are in schools of the one
room variety, and over half of her
teachers have not had more than a
high school education-many less
to be exact, So per cent.
How many of us ever given a
thought to just what this means to
Georgia? Her children are her fu-
ture citizens, her future leaders. If
the state is toy be developed along
proper lines, is to take advantage of
her great opportunities, these citi-
zens of the future must be taught
to think and plan and do; they must
be given vision, Imagination, breadth
OF mind, good balance; they must be
given incentive to gather knowledge
and use it. And most, if not all
competent education will agree that
the most important period in teach
ing them these things is at the be-
ginning of their school work--that
the foundation built them is of ut
most value.
When the child has inexperienced
or incompetent teachers during this
period, he learns to go through books
instead of gaining knowledge and
mind training. School becomes a
matter of distasteful routine and he
develops an aversion to it that af-
fects his whole school career. Unless
he learns to learn and think early in
his schooling he does not get much
out fit. His mind does not devel-
op and he is not the useful citizen
ne might be under different condi-
tons. If many of our citizens have
their minds undeveloped and leaders
are not brought forth in sufficient