Evening star., 1947-09-07

and in keeping
DR.. Corning. with our tradi-
tional re-pect for the uniqueness of
the individual. has become aware OF
individual differences. she has be-
come skilled in adjusting the way
she teaches and the content of what
che teaches to the child's capacity
for learning.
Teaching has become, accordingly.
highly complex profession; it is no
longer a routinized activity consist
ing only of the importation OF
knowledge. Itrequires, rather, UNDER
standing of the nature of child psy-
chology, the laws of growth, the
effect of experiences upon the child;
it requires insight into the drives
and compulsions that are responsible
for behavior. The, good teacher
knows the child in his entirety be-
cause his health his home back
ground, his strengths and weak
nesses, his interests and aversions
must be studied and understood, If
educational achievement Is to be at
its best. ~
The teachers of the Washington
schools represent the profession at
its best. The parents of the COM
munity know this to be true, and
accord teachers the support and re-
spect that their professional ac-
complishments merit. Indeed, many
q parent has said of teachers, Il
don't know how they do so much for
so many" All Of us who are parents
know the difficulties sometimes en-,
countered in understanding our own
children and planning wisely for
their rearing, and hence, marvel at
the skill. and adroitness of teachers
responsible for the education OF
large numbers of children in classes
admittedly too large for the most
effective teaching.
1t is generally agreed that despite
the fact that individuals differ in
many respects, there Is, nevertheless,
a high degree of similarity among
them, which makes 1t reasonable to
expect them to develop certain skills
and understanding in common.
In the matter of the maintenance
of health, each child, With few
possible exceptions, my he expected
to learn the essentials of bodily
care, including care of the teeth,
maintenance of cleanliness, the de-
velopment of good dietary practices,
and habits of regularity as to the
time and amount of sleep.
All children, as another example,
may be expected to acquire skill
in reading and in writing, although
in some instances, functional liter
acy will occur on a low level OF
achievement. Not all children will
be able to read and understand the
philosophers, but all educable chill
dren should be able to read the
printed material common in the
daily life of the American citizen.
Similarly, though few children will
aspire to become learned mathemati-
clans, all children should become
proficient within the limits Of their
in the use of the number
system in its ordinary and manifold
in daily life.
Don't Underrate Capacity.
Children are different, then, but
in some respects they are also SIM
liar. Let no child returning to school
leave the period of formal education
without command of fundamental
skills and understandings! Make
certain that none Of us, as teachers
or as parents, shall assume too low
an opinion of any child's capacity to
learn, nor in any way neglect doing
all that can be done to equip that
child for useful membership in our
highly complex culture.
AL of us want children to be
happy. But sometimes we go far
afield in our definition of happiness.
1t is believed by some-such are few
in number-that child is happy
only when he does what he wants
to do, and conversely does nothing
that he does not want to do. Occa-
sionally it Is well, for us to settle
down to a careful reinterpretation
of values in order to determine what
is good and what is bad, either from
the point of view of the individual
or from the point of view Of society,
because happiness can be achieved
only upon the basis of sound sense
of values.
There was a time in education
when all that might be called work
was good, and anything that might
be called play was bad. This was
an extreme and untenable position,
to the proper develop
ment OF a well-adjusted personality
and often rather fruitless in terms
of educational achievement. The
conception of the teacher as a stern
visaged taskmaster, an occasional
cartoon to the contrary, has long
since disappeared-and with good
reason, too.
Teacher No Playmaster.
On the other hand, there has been
some tendency in recent years to
regard the teacher as one whose
major function In life was to amuse
children, to keep them entertained
with this or that device; to act, in a
sense, as a playmaster. This point
Of view Is also untenable as applied
either to education or life in general,
because it Is based upon an unsound
of what is good and be-
cause it presupposes that happiness
is derived chiefly from doing those
(see CORNING. Page E-61