Teaching as a Vocation

TEACHING AS A VOCATION By L. John Nuttal, Jr. Dean of College of Education, Brigham Young University Teaching is work and has attached to it all of the benefits of a hard job. It requires the complete services of real men for its satisfactory accomplishments. One who selects to teach can well remember Carlyle's words: Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness. He has a work, a life purpose; he has found it and will follow it. There is a perennial nobleness, and even sacredness in work. Were he never so benighted, forgetful of his high calling, there is always hope Jin a man mat actu- ally and earnestly works. Books are needed, but yet not many books. A few well read. An open, true, patient, and valiant soul is needed; that is the one thing needful. The choosing of a vocation demands thought on several ques- tions. The first of these is, "Can I succeed?" Young men should choose teaching when they feel sure they can succeed, for failure here affects too many lives to be lightly thought of. We are at times stirred up by stories of the suffering and loss of opportunity of little children because of parental or industrial imposition of hard labor. The young person who does not weigh these same consequences on the child must realize that when he attempts to teach, as a stepping stone to his success in some other line, he is equally cruel to children. If preceding this attempt to teach he really prepares for it, he can do good teaching, but this process is wasteful in the life of the person aiming at some other calling. The prospective teacher must love children and be happy with them. He must be able to see hopeful manhood in each boy, and a young lady of promise in each girl. Teachers must be able to guide young people in growth toward maturity so that they are guided by noble ideals, have habits of wholesome living, know enough to appre- ciate and love life in all its phases and be skilful in some useful art. Each teacher each day must contribute to this end. A county super- intendent has stated it thus: 'TIS THIS TO TEACH A. F. HARMAN County Superintendent of Education, Montgomery, Alabama To take a child in gentle hands And lead him into mystic lands, Where veils no longer shroud the past And each new hope o'erglows the last — 'Tis this to teach.

TEACHING AS A VOCATION 653 To light new fires where old have burned. With brave, good hearts, as roads are turned. To find new stars where darkness sways, Whose light one day shall mark the ways — 'Tis this to teach. To fill the child-world brim with joy. To charm and hold some errant boy With stern ambition, or some song Of right triumphant over wrong — 'Tis this to teach. To move dread mountains dark with fear, By faith of young hearts drawing near The paths the fathers long have trod, The narrow paths that lead to God — 'Tis this to teach. In deciding whether to teach or not, settle first the question: "With my ability, can I do this kind of work?" The second point to consider is the preparation needed. In most of the western states and rural schools generally the minimum rapidly being adopted is high school graduation and one year of college work. In cities and the more favored rural sections two years of college are required, and the New York Rural School Survey urged three years of training for all schools in the state of New York. For high school work College graduation is required. The preparation is not meas- ured alone by the amount. Teaching is one of the most specialized of the arts. This is being emphasized more and more as compulsory attendance regulations force children into school. To teach these pupils of varied ability successfully requires thought, power, and skill in several lines. First is the ability to interpret child motives and tendencies and to understand their behavior, especially to know what the learning of behavior is; second is the knowledge of subject matter and the ability to select and organize this for effective teaching; third is skill in organizing a classroom with all its routine and variable fac- tors so that every child will learn; fourth is that power to know what to say and do as a teacher in a given learning situation that makes progress by the pupils certain. These are the technical, professional requirements made a part of the college work. Their transfer value to other professions is not great, so young men should choose carefully before going into this preparation for teaching work. A year ago a young man came into the office and asked what he would need to do and how long it would take him to become a successful superintendent of schools. He was told the preparation would take about twelve years, and should in- clude a two-year normal course, followed by two or three years expe- rience in the elementary schools, part of the time as principal, it pos- sible; next, some additional schooling to complete his college course, followed by a similar experience in the high schools; finally, he should take at least one year of graduate work in Educational Admin-

654 IMPROVEMENT ERA istration, — then he could consistantly and hopefully become a super- intendent. He went away somewhat discouraged, but this fall wrote a letter which read about as follows: "Kindly reserve a place for me in training. The young man to whom you said last year that it would take about twelve years to become a suc- cessful superintendent of schools, is now about to begin the long journey." Here is the prospect of a great school man, because the selection of the profession has been properly made. The third big question in choosing a profession is that of re- muneration. To a young man who wrote to the National Education Association, asking the question of pay coupled with the significant query: "Would you advise your best friend to teach?" the reply was sent in the following words:. Our overstrained materialistic age, it is true, gives its most sought-for sanctions to material success. This would not be so unfortunate were it not for the correlative fact that low material rewards tend inevitably to brand an individual as a "failure," and an occupation as unworthy of serious pursuit. We agree with those who deny that money is the sole measure of worth in American life. It is not. It is only the basic standard — which is just as bad, if not worse. Marked success in medicine, engineering, law, authorship, journalism, invention, and other occupations brings not only distinction but a relatively large share of material prosperity. This is something relatively new in human history. The time was, and not so very long ago, when highly successful writers, artists, and musicians were likely to be penniless, when keen lawyers wore shabby clothes, and when good physicians had about the same social and financial status as flunkeys. But all this has been changed. Even successful preaching may now make a man a millionaire, as Mr. Sunday's career so spectacularly proves. The financial rewards of teaching are not as high as those paid to the most successful in most of the other professions, but people are becoming more willing to £>ay adequately for good teaching, so this question can be answered with a promise for better pay. To the fourth question: "Is the social status of the worker desirable?" there is nothing but joy and pleasure to hold out to the prospective teacher. People respect the teacher for the work he is doing and realize its importance in all life activity. About the only serious difficulty a teacher meets in this regard comes when some in- dividual or small faction desire the teacher to further their own special activities. The future civilization rests in the work of the teachers of today. The weight of this responsibility makes the choice of this vocation a serious one, but the glory of achievement raises one to the highest rank among those respected for great service. Is the personal life of the teacher a satisfactory one? This is the fifth question to consider. Unfortunately, in most communities in the past and in a few places yet, there has been a tradition that a short tenure for a teacher was desirable. That day is changing. Men and women who teach well are being encouraged to stay, and are being

TEACHING AS A VOCATION 655 rewarded for staying. With this point of view predominating, so that teachers can get a home and feel that there is a certain surety of tenure as well as promotion, being a teacher is pleasant. Contact with young TRAINING TO BE TEACHERS A fourth year high-school class studying English under the direction of a practice teacher and the supervision of experts at the Brigham Young University, Provo. The two men standing by the board are William H. Boyle, principal of the secondary training school, left; and Amos N. Merrill, professor of secondary teaching, right. Maud Dixon Markham, the regular teacher, stands by the door. people is uplifting and keeps one optimistic and youthful. The activ- ities engaged in keep the teacher in contact with recreational agencies. Always looking for something good to teach causes one to see good in everything. In the May number, 1922, of the Journal of the Na- tional Education Association these advantages are summarized: 1. Teaching pays. Besides ever-increasing financial compensation, the teaching profession offers the highest social sanctions and rewards. 2. Teaching is a growing profession. The nation now requires the services of 700,000 teachers. There is a strong demand that teachers be better trained. As training increases, the financial and social rewards likewise increase. 3. Teaching offers a growing career. The well-trained teacher need have no fear of unemployment, but may look forward to increasing oppor- tunities commensurate with added training and growth in personal fitness. 4. Teaching offers mental and moral growth. The soundest mental and moral processes are involved in the making of good citizens.

656 IMPROVEMENT ERA 5. Teaching is building. The teacher shapes the unfolding life of childhood and radiates ideals and purposes that in the citizenship of tomor- row will become the fabric of an improved social structure. 6. Teaching inspires high ideals. There is nothing nobler or more practical than to shape and to guide the ideals and practices of the young citizens who are soon to be the nation's responsible leaders. 7. Teaching is service. Those who enter this high calling enjoy the spiritual development and true happiness that come from rendering real service to the republic. 8. Teaching insures big opportunities. With growth and inspiration come multiplied opportunities for self-improvement, for rearing the family in a wholesome atmosphere, and for living and building on life's best side. 9. Teaching is practical patriotism. Inspiring young citizens and direct- ing problems of citizenship practice is a ministry essential to a democracy. 10. Teaching is the profession of professions. Measured by the stan- dards that make life genuinely rich and happy, teaching offers opportunities beyond those of other professions. Teaching is the clearing-house of the past, the guide of the present, and the prophet of the future. It is therefore necessary that the nation's finest talents should be consecrated to public educa- tion upon which the perpetuity of American ideals and the salvation of the republic depend. Summing it all up, the outlook is such that today we can safely say that teaching is an occupation to which manly men can dedicate their lives. Provo, Utah. Peaks Mighty peaks resplendent with the glory Of a sun arising blithely from the east. With each recurring day I read a story Engraven en your time-worn rugged faces, A tale that tells of love and joy and sorrow. Lived long ago by prehistoric races, Who from your heights looked out on laughing waters, Or angry waters as they chanced to be. And I wonder, did you give unto those others, The strength that you each day give unto me? The winds wage fiercest battle at your summits, About your beetling crags the lightnings flash, Their keenest thrust of poignant, fiery lances; The sombre clouds their weight of tear-drops dash Against your brows, yet you do stand unriven; Great stalwart waTdens of now fertile land, The power is yours to bear whate'er is given, And a ceaseless source of inspiration be, To souls that cringe beneath life's stormy conflict, If they but will to upward look and see. Provo, Utah. GRACE INGLES FROST.