Vol. XLIII

The pulse of some of the readers of the Journal will be beating a little more rapidly than usual when this issue reaches them. They will then be planning for the opening of school. Many will be looking with high anticipation to another year of teaching the young idea how to shoot. But for others the view forward will not be so exhilarating. It is worth noting, however, that probably nine out of every ten teachers like their work when once they get into it. The writer has had testimonies from many novitiates who have declared they enjoyed the life of the schoolroom much more than they expected they would. Doubtless any capable teacher, one who has the personal and intellectual characteristics essential to success in the business,-will always find that the pleasures of teaching far outweigh the pains thereof.

Of course, there are hardships to be endured; but after all, human nature seems to be so constituted that one must have a certain amount of strain and stress in order to keep efficient and sane and optimistic. If you haven't thought of this, gentle reader, look about you and note who are the persons who are really getting the most out of life, and who are doing things worth while. You will not find that they are the people who have no problems to solve, or no obstacles to overcome. At the same time, they will not be those whose paths are choked with difficulties and barriers.

One sometimes sees teachers who are in conflict with their pupils most of the time; and they are always most unhappy. But in the majority of such cases, the trouble is due to the fact that the teachers lack those qualities which are necessary to win the confidence and good-will of the young. There are people in the teaching profes

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sion in our state who ought to abandon it for one in which it is not necessary to be a leader so much as a faithful and industrious worker. Industry, faithfulness, and reliability are of value in the teaching fraternity, but they are not the endowments of chief importance after all. The most vital requisite in a teacher is the quality of leadership, which will unconsciously secure the coöperation of pupils, so that they will be inclined spontaneously to work with the teacher rather than to plot against him.

THE TRANSITION PERIOD.

Since the beginning of the world, or thereabouts, teachers have been told that everything depends upon the course of events during the first few weeks of school. It is not our intention to repeat here the conventional advice so freely handed out to novices, though much of it is really of value. But we would like to call attention to one aspect of school work which teachers ordinarily overlook. September is the hardest month in the year for the teacher. The pupils come to school physically and mentally indisposed to adapt. themselves to the régime of the class-room. They drag themselves in from the open where they have been foot-loose for ten or twelve weeks, and they do not take kindly to being fettered for four or five hours every day. Most pupils see nothing of books during vacation, and they do not attack them with avidity in September. The love of school books is not very deep-rooted in human nature; or at least it has to be redeveloped in child nature every autumn. Now, the suggestion we wish to make is that teachers should keep this fact in mind, and be a little easy at the start in the demands they make of pupils in the way of application to book work.

Listen, young teacher: have a lot of concrete and manual work. and manual work. Have frequent relaxation

periods. Take as much of the out-of-doors into the school as you can. You can lay more and more emphasis on school work proper as the days go by; but if you start right in full blast the first day, and get mad because children will not apply themselves immediately, you will make life miserable for yourself and intolerable for your pupils.

MEMORY GEMS FOR NOVICES.

A novice ought to keep constantly in mind the oft-forgotten fact that there is a gulf, enormous in some cases but less in others, between himself and his pupils in respect to interests and capabilities. The younger the child the more dependant he is upon muscular activities, alike for health and for intellectual and moral development. Most of us have trouble in ridding ourselves of the notion that our pupils should do what we can or what we wish to do. Undoubtedly our children must be made to learn things and to perform actions which do not attract them strongly; but if we fill the pupil's day with tasks utterly foreign to his own tastes and inclinations, we will be certain to get into conflict with him sooner or later, or else we will have to crush individuality out of him. Of course, we can not let our pupils determine for themselves what and how they shall be taught; but at the same time it is absolutely imperative that we consider their point of view in administering discipline or in giving instruction. A novice who ignores the point of view of the child in making rules for his behavior or in assigning him intellectual or muscular tasks, can not by any possibility achieve the highest success in teaching.

Nevertheless, a novice should act on the principle that he is the leader of the school, and that things must go his way, though "his way" ought to be determined by the nature and needs of his pupils. But it is idle to suppose that young pupils will always choose to conduct themselves in the schoolroom in ways which will be of greatest service to them in the long run. So at the very beginning, pupils should be impressed in a subtle manner with the fact that the teacher is at the head of the school. He will be a good fellow, but still he will be master of the situation. Often pupils try out a novice the first week of school, in order to determine of what sort of stuff he is made. A teacher ought not to leave this matter

in doubt for any great length of time. The longer pupils are kept questioning whether the teacher intends to be leader and master of the school, or whether they may run it themselves if they push hard enough for it, the greater is the likelihood that they will take the reins in their own hands in due course.

THE CHIEF REQUIREMENT IN GOVERNMENT. But a novice ought to appreciate that first of all good government depends upon good teaching. One who can teach in a concrete, dynamic way never will have much trouble with government, at least not with his school as a whole. Sometimes, it is true, one will find among forty pupils a boy or a girl or both who can not by any kind of strategy be made interested in the legitimate work of the school. But nine out of every ten pupils are so constituted that they can be got interested in vital teaching of subjects suited to their stage of development.

When a teacher must be correcting children constantly; when the life and temper of the schoolroom suggest discipline rather than instruction, then it is practically certain that the teacher does not know how to teach. She either does not understand what subjects are adapted to children's interests, or she is unable to present her material in such a concrete, effective way that it will catch the attention, and seem to the pupils. to be worth while.

CARDINAL SINS IN TEACHING.

A novice especially will need to take particular care to avoid mere verbal teaching. The easiest thing for many of us to do is to require pupils to learn the words of a text "by heart," and then to insist upon their repeating without error what they have memorized. This sort of instruction seems definite, because pupils can be criticised if they do not reproduce precisely the words of their books. But this is deadly business. Sooner or later it will stifle the interest of pupils, and then the problem of correction and coercion will become a serious one. In some way or other, teacher must get his pupils into direct contact with concrete realities in every subject he teaches. As a matter of fact, the whole philosophy of good teaching consists in presenting material which has value for the pupil, and bringing him into such relations with it that he can not fail to

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grasp it, and to appreciate its significance. This means that he must see how he can use it, and he must be given an opportunity to apply it in some way in the class-room or outside.

A novice will have to fight against the tendency to place too much emphasis upon the technical aspects of the subjects he teaches. Suppose, for instance, he is giving instruction in history. He will be inclined to attach undue importance to dates and names unrelated to one another. It is comparatively difficult to deal with genuine human experience in history, because this is less definite than names and dates, and it requires greater skill to present the facts to pupils so that they will be clearly apprehended. But dates and names as such can not be made to appeal to pupils so that they will attack them with spontaneous vigor. The same is true of the mere technique of any subject,-of the learning of rules and applying them to more or less formal and remote cases in arithmetic or rhetoric or grammar, or any other study.

DON'T BE TOO SOBER.

There is a familiar principle in athletics which is applicable to the work of teaching. The principle is well illustrated in the game of golf. One who takes the game so seriously that he becomes tense in his efforts to make good strokes will rarely if ever succeed in difficult situations. Tension is always hostile to efficient action. And this is as true of mental as of muscular tension. So in teaching; one who becomes obsessed by his problems, and exerts himself too strenuously to meet them, is the one who is likely to fail in dealing with them. The over-tense teacher, always keeping his mind on his difficulties, will give the impression that he is not sure of himself; and in his voice, features, and manner he will suggest to his pupils weakness rather than strength. Even if he has difficult situations to meet, he will succeed best if he approaches them with an air of confidence, which will suggest that he is going to solve them as a matter of course. Doubtless a novice might be too confident of his powers; but the chances are that he will be too conscious of his troubles, so that they will get on his nerves. Of course, the only effective way to avoid this is to keep the mind filled with things to be done, and drive forward to their accomplish

ment, leaving little place in consciousness for the contemplation of disasters.

The beginner should keep in mind that people who never smile can hardly avoid becoming unduly tense. Laughter seems to change the whole set of the nervous system. A liberal allowance of this in the class-room will keep things better balanced than if it is excluded altogether. We know teachers who seem to feel that if they should laugh with their pupils they would be accused of levity, or the school would run away with them, or some other tragedy would overtake them. Then, of course, there are other teachers who never laugh because they do not feel like it. Life is just one blamed thing after another for them. Now, such persons might do very well in some professions, but they can not hope to succeed in teaching. Perhaps it is to be regretted that human nature is not different from what it is in this respect; but whether or not we deplore the tendencies of children, we must at least recognize the facts as they are, and be governed accordingly.

EDUCATION IN THE DESERT. Nineteen years ago, President Z. X. Snyder left Pennsylvania to take charge of the Colorado State Normal School at Greeley. At that time, the chief thing to be seen in Colorado in the neighborhood of Greeley was sage brush. It was an arid waste. But Mr. Snyder had a vision. He saw that when water was put on that soil, and intelligence was displayed in the planting and development of trees, shrubs, flowers, and crops, the earth would produce in abundance and in beautiful forms. The sage-brush land was cheap, of course, and the state set off a large patch for the normal school. The trustees told Dr. Snyder that he could have a free hand in developing that land according to his own designs. Today he has for his Teachers' College the most beautiful, though not the grandest or most extensive, grounds of any educational institution in the country. Within the boundaries of his campus one can see developed to perfection an extraordinary variety and wealth of trees, shrubs, flowers, lawns, and gardens, which serve alike for instruction and for aesthetic enjoyment.

And what is of chief importance, President Snyder has kept the professional fully abreast of the material development of his institution. The

school is provided with every facility for the effective training of those who are preparing to teach, and it is a source of light to the whole Rocky Mountain region. President Snyder has drawn upon all sections of our own country and of ather countries for men and women who have kept abreast of developing thought in regard to education, and who have skill in presenting modern views and practice to the rising generation of teachers. The school is certain to play a leading rôle in the educational advancement, not only of Colorado, but also of the entire country.

One reason for mentioning this matter here is to have a concrete case from which to point a moral. Progress issues out of effort and struggle, not ordinarily out of leisure. Some of the educational institutions of this country which have had the best opportunities in a sense have not contributed in the slightest degree to the development of educational thought or practice. They have had money and a "cultured" environment and clientele, and yet their work is purely formal, mechanical, traditional. But there is the Teachers College at Greeley, developed in the desert amid conditions which would have disheartened most men; but it is surging with life and hope and vitality to-day. In every detail it exhibits refined and cultured, but at the same time virile, effective, and progressive ideals.

THE STIMULUS OF EFFORT.

There is no doubting the fact that having everything ready to hand is not conducive to the best development of an institution or of an individual. And we can not resist the temptation to give expression to a conviction which has been gaining strength with us as the range of our observations has been extended. Children who are relieved from all strain and stress in the school as well as in the home are not at all to be congratulated upon their supposed good fortune. Nature evidently intended that any organ or faculty which is not needed for purposes of adjustment to the world about one should be eliminated. Where adaptation can be made without effort, nature will not mature the powers either of the mind or of the body. It is a matter of common knowledge that men of affairs who retire to a life of ease often go to pieces within a few months. Nature seems to say: "You don't need

an active mind or a strong body, and we may as well get rid of both." So she seems to say in the case of a child who is relieved of effort: "You do not need keen perception or clear reason or vigorous determination or enduring persistence, so what is the use of developing them." And she lets them lie dormant. Of course, this does not imply that difficulties should be created artificially in order to develop an individual; but it does mean that a pupil should be required to master by his own effort the knowledge and the skill which will be of use to him in maturity in adaptation to the complex world about him.

Sometimes one finds a teacher who has favorite pupils whom she excuses from the ordinary tasks which she imposes upon other pupils. In them she overlooks shortcomings and errors due to negligence, indifference, or lack of application. She thinks she is doing such pupils a kindness; but on the contrary, she is doing them the greatest possible harm. No one is a friend to a child who will bear his burdens for him when he could bear them himself with reasonable effort, or who will condone his errors when he could correct them himself by attention and perseverance. Many of us have to fight against the tendency to give an individual pleasure for the moment, without thinking of what will be the effect of our action in the long run. We must take the long view and give pupils experience which will get them ready in the best way for the life ahead.

A PREDICTION COME TRUE.

Several years past, we had something to say in these columns regarding certain ominous signs relating to the future of the N. E. A. We ventured to predict then that unless the policy of the association were modified in some respects, "insurgent" forces would either take possession of it soon, or it would break up into smaller societies. A number of our friends, among whom were two officers of the association, wrote us at the time,. saying that there was no ground whatever for our fears. They declared that the association had never been as vigorous as it was then, and it was constantly growing in favor with American teachers in every department of school work. They felt confident that there were not more than a dozen malcontents in the association, and their

voices were already lost amid the universal praise and commendation of the association.

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But the inevitable has happened. At the San Francisco meeting, the N. E. A. passed into the control of these who have not been pleased with its past management. In the popular mind there have been two factions in the N. E. A., the "Old Guard" and the "Insurgents." The latter now in the saddle. The men who have made the N. E. A., and who have shaped it according to their desires are down and out at last. The struggle for control has been hard, and in some ways a bitter one; and it has been a painful one for those who dislike to see personal politics brought

into educational associations.

But there is no reason why the new N. E. A. should not continue to be the largest and perhaps the most influential educational organization in the world, provided it can be made to support the newer and more progressive tendencies in American education. However, if those who are placed in positions of leadership devote their energies mainly to petty political manipulation of the association for personal exploitation, the reformed organization will go on the rocks much sooner than the old one did. Those who are doing things in American education to-day have no interest in political dickerings in educational associations, and they will not stand for that sort of business. What they wish their societies to do is to give men and women who are solving contemporary problems every opportunity to show what they are accomplishing. The time is past when an educational organization can be run very long for the purpose of affording a few of the elect a chance to exhibit themselves at every meeting, unless they have something to say which will be of help to teachers. Let the new blood in the N. E. A. make it a means of disseminating the best educational thought of the day without regard to the fortunes of particular individuals, and it will gain the hearty coöperation of all progressive teachers in this country.

OUR CONGRATULATIONS TO MR. PEARSE.

It should be regarded as a conspicuous honor to be made president of the N. E. A. It is still the greatest educational organization in the world. We say "still" because we have in mind the late unhappy years during which the character of the

association has been changed almost completely. It has lost many influential supporters,-men whose nmes are familiar to every well-informed teacher. These men occupy seats of the mighty; and many people have felt that if they should abandon the N. E. A. it would have to give up the ghost at once. Without doubt some of them will be sorely missed for a time; but one who knows the educational situation in this country, realizes that even if a hundred or more of the men who have been most prominent in educational affairs should suddenly be transferred to happier realms, the old world would still roll on, and no one would for long notice any difference in the course of events. There are strong men and women possessing qualities of leadership in every section one visits, even in the desert or in the heart of the mountains. Taken together, there is an army of capable students and practitioners of teaching in this country. Without doubt all teachers are strengthened and gladdened by the presence among them of men with whose names they have long been familiar; but when any one of these men turns up missing, there are a hundred ready to take up the duties which he has been assuming.

Thus are we able to congratulate Superintendent Pearse on being made president of the reformed N. E. A. Some of the "Old Guard" say they do not envy him his position. They say they would not take his place if it were offered to them on a golden tray. But we will see what we will see. If the N. E. A. goes to St. Paul next July, there will be a chance for President Pearse to make a program which will attract the teachers who are doing things, and which will summarize the best contemporary thought on teaching, and present it in such a way that teachers can appreciate it. Our best wishes to Mr. Pearse; may he have fine weather and calm seas!