The Recitation

ISBN: 9781331320593 出版年：2016 页码：37 J N Patrick Forgotten Books

It is an old saying that as the teacher so the school. The best meaning for this is, that the pupil's mind, in the act of learning, becomes like the teacher's mind; it takes on the tone and coloring of the teacher's thought. The teacher builds his own thought structure into the mind of the pupil; begets him with his own purity, strength, and sweep of emotional life; breathes into him the breath of his own ethical nature. The teacher may resolve to train to accurate, thorough and methodical habits of thought; but unless these are habits of his own mind his efforts will be unavailing. The stream cannot rise higher than its source. If the teacher thinks loosely and slovenly he cannot hope to realize anything better in the pupil so far as the teaching goes. The narrow pedant and dogmatist can never secure scholarly habits and liberal culture. The teacher who has not a rich and full range of emotional life can expect nothing but a withered soul born'of his teaching. The man who has not strength and purity of character Jcannot strengthen and purify character. The teacher builds his life into that of his pupil; and it is absolutely essential that his life be all that he expects the pupil to become. The quality of a teacher's life is a part of his professional equip ment. Arnold tompkins.