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order by the use of the rod than not to secure it: and the skill and ability necessary to control, without resort to force, the ungoverned and misgoverned children of many homes cannot be expected from teachers of the limited experience of many that must be employed in our schools. Nor is it certain that the most experienced and capable teachers will never find cases which can be treated in no other way so effectively as by judicious use of the rod. The teacher, however, who makes this the ordinary resort, the chief dependence, will inevitably fail to govern well. The chief power must proceed from the teacher himself. There must be the going out of virtue from his own inner life. High moral sentiment cannot be begotten in pupils by a teacher who is himself devoid of moral fervor. And even though there be integrity of character and uprightness of purpose, there may yet be many traits of character and habits of life utterly incompatible with true success in governing. If there is a want of thorough selfdiscipline, self-subjugation; if through ill health, disappointment, or other cause, there is a disposition to look on the dark side, to magnify the faults of pupils, viewing them as personal insults, as offences against the authority and dignity of the teacher rather than against propriety and right, there will be abundant opportunity for the exercise of discipline-discipline, too, which will be fruitful in kind.

He is not always the best disciplinarian who secures the highest degree of order in the school-room. That discipline is best which goes farthest in securing self-discipline, which does most to make the pupils capable of governing themselves.-Samuel Findley.

The internal government of a school is essentially an autocracy. The teacher's own inner life and character is the source of power; and no teacher can exert power which he does not possess. It becomes one who would be a teacher to develop in himself the strongest and purest character. The power to control children well is largely the power of personal presence, and this is an outgrowth of character which comes with ripening culture and experience. The teacher whose manner is at once affectionate and dignified, and is economical of speech, enters a school-room with the odds in his favor.

There is little which can be done to help a teacher who lacks in governing power. No one can learn from another the secret of success in school government. Whatever attainment is made must

be wrought out mainly in the secret laboratory of each individual soul.-Id.

A prime necessity of every good school, and one of its highest excellences, is a judicious discipline. The ability to govern a school

wisely and well, without the waste of valuable time, and without resorting often to corporal punishment, is one of the rarest and most valued qualifications of a teacher. The highest literary attainments will be of little avail without it. There are more failures from in

competency in discipline than from all other causes.

While rightful authority should always be maintained, and should be respected by prompt and cheerful obedience, it should never be forgotten that children have rights which should never be infringed. They should be subject to no more restraint than is necessary to maintain good order, and to secure the successful working of the school. That kind of petty tyranny in the school-room that would inflict pains and penalties for the infraction of needless and arbitrary rules, and that does not distinguish between willful and obstinate resistance of authority and mere childish thoughtlessness, cannot be too strongly condemned.-D. Leach

We should not over-govern, we should never multiply commands, nor needlessly repeat one. Our governing force should be regarded by us as a bank reserve, on which we should be afraid to draw too often, because it may become exhausted. Every good ruler economizes power, and never puts it all forth at once. Children should feel, when they see us exercising authority, that there is a great reserve of unusual strength and resolution behind, which they can neither see nor measure. It is not the visible exercise of power which impresses children most, but the unseen, which affects the imagination, and to which they can assign no limits. And this is most fully felt when the manner of putting forth strength is habitually calm and quiet, when you abstain from giving commands in regard to things which are indifferent, and where such commands as you give are few and short. "Even a grown man," says Richter, "whom some one should follow all day long with movable pulpit and stool of confession, from which to hurl sermons and anathemas, could never attain any real activity and moral freedom. How much less then a weak child, who at every step in life must be entangled with a 'stop,' 'run,' 'be quiet,' 'do this,' 'do that'? Your watch stops while you wind it up, and you everlastingly wind up children and never let them go." We have not to think of a scholar merely as material put into our hands to mold and manipulate, but rather as a responsible human being whom we are so to help that as soon as possible he may regulate his own life and be a law unto himself. Keep clearly in view

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your own responsibilities, but the less display you make of your disciplinary apparatus, and the more freedom you can leave to the pupil,

the better.

Reduce as far as possible the number of formal rules; and remember that the perfection of government is to effect the maximum result with the minimum of visible machinery.-J. G. Fitch.

Beesan, a noted French writer on education, says that "a teacher does not govern by ideas, but by the exercise of a firm and constant will." This is a truth worth considering by all teachers. No man or woman ever succeeded in governing a school or family successfully without the aid of a will which was not only firm, but fixed in its purpose and constantly in exercise.

The failure to recognize the value of the word constant, in this connection, is, we think, the cause of the failure of many a teacher. Some teachers govern fairly, but for some cause, physical, mental or moral, the exercise of their will power becomes an intermittent thing.

One day they come into the school-room fully charged with the needed force and energy; the next, the connection with their moral batteries seems to be broken. The teacher makes no effort to hold up the standard of discipline when in this state; children get out of order again and again, and he seems not to see, or seeing, not to

care.

So the discipline of several days to come is made difficult by the remissness once permitted.

The teacher should use a steady, even, regular and uniform control. The exercise of a constant controlling power like this has such great moral force that it is felt even when the teacher is not present. It sways the playground as well as the school-room, and goes with the children even to their homes, and is felt about the most turbulent hearths. It may give the young minds an impress for good that will be felt by them through time and through eternity.-American Journal Education.

The Teacher and the Parent.

Nothing is more essential to securing the best results in public schools than a good understanding between the teacher and the parent. If possible, this should embrace both of the great interests involved-discipline and instruction. To secure this good understanding both the teacher and the parent have important duties to perform; but here attention is called only to the teacher's duties, and mainly to a single one.

The teacher should, from time to time, inform the parent of the

work and progress of the pupil. This is all important when said work and progress are not what they should be. The rules made by the Board of Education require the teacher to give information of absence, tardiness, etc., and the teacher should, of her own motion and without a formal rule or direct instruction, furnish information of habitual indolence, indifference and neglect of study on the part of the pupil If the teacher discovers such indolence or indifference, she will earnestly strive to correct it. If her effort is successful, well and good. But if unsuccessful, she should, in a courteous and kind way, lay the facts before the parent, with a request for the parent's co-operation. She may not, in all cases, receive such co-operation; she may, sometimes, receive something very different; but no matter what she receives, she will have performed her duty. In a large number of cases she cannot fail, however, to receive both the cooperation and the thanks of the child's parents.

It is common for parents to express surprise at the failure of their children to secure promotion. Sometimes the teachers themselves are surprised at the same result. But the following is a common experience at the superintendent's office:-A parent calls to inquire why his child has not been promoted. The promotion sheet is hunted up, the low standing on examination given, and the case is closed with stating and explaining the fact that the pupil is on the non-recommended list. The parent expresses surprise at finding that his child is at, or near, the foot of the class, and charges the teacher with unfaithfulness. "If the teacher had only let me know such was the case, I could have remedied it" is the reply. The teacher may be able to explain in some cases, that she had sent information which was not delivered; or that information was sent which was not kindly received; and these explanations may be perfectly correct. But there are cases in which teachers do not take the pains that they should to secure the parent's co-operation. The teacher has a duty to perform to the pupil and to the pupil's parents, and this duty she is morally bound to perform, even at the risk of communicating information that may not be received in the spirit in which it is tendered. It is very true that some parents are very sensitive to unfavorable news about their children, that some have no conception of their duties and relations to teachers, supposing that teachers are to do everything and they nothing, it is even true that stronger language can be used of some parents; but as the superintendent is here addressing teachers and not parents, he does not enlarge upon these topics. It is easy to say that parents should seek

information on such matters. The fact is, many do not and will not do it. Teachers must do their duty no matter how remiss parents may be.

The above remarks will not be constructed as meaning that none of the work described is now done, much of it is done. The remarks are made for those that need them.- Cleveland School Bulletin.

Repressing Badness.

By C. V. OLIN.

There is no getting over the fact that there are a great many bad boys in the schools. In some they are in the majority, and this makes it very hard for the teacher to preserve order, and if he cannot do this, they will not make progress. I have learned three things that have been of much service to me in dealing with bad boys: First, they are always capable of learning-in fact, they are really the smart boys of the school. Second, they are capable of being made into pretty good boys; I will not say they can be made as clean and nice as if they had never been tarnished. Third, they need a firm but robust treatment; the ordinary boy may be fed with "taffy," but these know too much.

1. Avoid suspicion. The bad boy knows he is bad, thinks you suspect him of it, and keeps away, so there is quite a space between you and him. When you see a boy keep away from you, draw him up to you; let him know that you depend on him to perform certain things just as much as the good boys. If you think he is bad, tell him so, out and out; he will feel better and do better.

2. Do not pick at boys who fail to come up to your standard. "There you are, at your tricks again," will not cure a boy who is pulling the hair of his neighbor; it may stop him just then, but you want to do more than that.

3. Give plenty of work. The cure for almost all badness is work, and many a boy that has been despaired of, has been reclaimed by putting him into a shop. Hence the crying need of industrial employment in the schools; but as these cannot be had, the teacher must make the class-work fill the gap.

4. Get your boys to work with you. I have two societies in a class of forty-five boys, one literary and one political. Each has its President and other officers; each meets weekly; each has committees to meet. Besides these I have committees on order, on improve

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