Evening star., 1942-11-23
Instructors
Endurance
Limited
Policy of Adding
Neu Duties Is
Harmful
By angelo Patri

After the wise men have laid
down the laws and made the laws
and made the plans for the latest
thing in education, after the head
of the school has passed them along
the line to the teacher, their fate,
and the fate OF the long suffering
children, rests with that teacher.
Authority may thunder from Sinai
but the Interpretation and the
application and the labor are the
teachers.
The teacher is facing the children
hour after hour, day after day and
she must get from them, these 80
or 40 differing individualists, the
result required by those on high.
Nobody but teacher who has gone
through the experience can know
what it means to draw a lessons
results out of a class. of children,
1t takes every ounce Of energy,
every atom of power a teacher has
In him, and leaves him fiat and
exhausted.
Today as never in all the history
Of the schools Of the country de-
mands are being made upon the
teacher for every conceivable kind
of work Registering, rationing,
surveying. checking, reporting, chart
ing; serving milk to children, serving
lunches, selling tickets for this and
that, selling stamps and bonds;
keeping children interested and
happy and usefully occupied. This
goes on day after day, month after
month.
Then the teacher is called on to
appear at evening meetings, make
speeches, arrange programs. Next
day he must be in his place on
time, looking fit and able for any
thing. All day long requests come
from the Office for reports, informa-
ton about absent children, ailing
children, backward children.
The janitor wants to know who
opened the windCw and the head
of department wants to know who
made that noise on the floor and
the principal wants to know how
many children live on the north
side of the last block in the district
and please give the messenger the
information right now.
Tommy must leave the room
and Maybelle has headache:
Susie pinched Maryanne and how
about it? Somehow, somewhere
lessons must be taught. The super
- Grnuy u,l,a l,a
10 points in Nature Study are and
the attendance Office says the at
tendance is down two-tenthS of a
per cent and please look into it
and word comes from the outer
Office that unless the teacher pulls
up the class average in spelling
this month the school will lose its
place on the district honor roll and
please attend to it. And those les
sons are still waiting.
Then come the conferences, one
after the other. After day filled
with detail and WEAKNESS, the
teacher must go usually long dis
tance, to attend a conference. Too
tired to hear or comprehend what is
said, he sits there hoping for the
end Of the long recital. Tomorrow
is another day and another confer
ence.
Teachers are the pillars of the
schools and of their communities.
Their strength should be conserved.
They should be given time for spirit
ual refreshment and chance for a
peaceful hour of rest. Instead Of
burdening them with new duties,
more conferences, more annoyances,
We should be endeavoring to relieve
them OF every unnecessary task, of
every unnecessary interruption. We
should make it possible for them to
teach. Just now teaching seems to
be the last thing they are allowed
to do. Conserve the teachers
strength and get somebody else to
serve the milk and the lunches and
sell the stamps and bonds and do
the other chores. Let the teacher
teach.