The _first_ thing that matters is what is commonly called the
personality of the teacher; she must be a person, unmistakable from
other persons, and not a type; what she has as an individual, of gifts
or goodness, she should give freely, and give in her own way; that she
should be trained is, of course, as indisputable as the training of a
doctor, but her training should have deepened her personality.
Pestalozzi's curriculum and organisation left much to be desired; what
he has handed down to us came from himself and his own experience, not
from anything superimposed: records of his pupils constantly emphasise
this: it was his goodness assimilated with his outlook on life and
readiness to learn by experience, that mattered, and it was this that
remained with his pupils. The teacher's own personality must dominate
her choice of principles else she is a dead method, a machine, and not a
living teacher. She must not keep her interests and gifts for
out-of-school use; if she has a sense of humour she must use it, if she
is fond of pretty clothes she must wear them in school, if she
appreciates music she must help her class to do the same, if she has
dramatic gifts she must act to them. Her standard of goodness must be
high, and she must be strong enough to adopt it practically, so that she
is unconscious of it: goodness and righteousness are as essential as
health to a teacher: for something intangible passes from the teacher
to her children, however young and unconscious they may be, and nothing
can awaken goodness but goodness.
Part of her personality is her attitude towards religion. It is
difficult to think of a teacher of young children who is not religious,
_i.e._ whose conduct is not definitely permeated by her spiritual life:
young children are essentially religious, and the life of the spirit
must find a response in the same kind of intangible assumption of its
existence as goodness. No form of creed or dogma is meant, only the life
of the spirit common to all. But of course there may be people who
refuse to admit this as a necessity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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