Some Essentials of the Successful Teacher

SOME ESSENTIALS OF THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER By Dr. J. E. Greaves, of the Utah Agricultural College I was visiting in a large hospital with a leading surgeon when he asked me if I cared to witness an unusual operation which was to be performed that morning. I accepted the invitation. We started for the operating division. On reaching the elevator, I noticed that the nurses had just brought in a small boy. He was greatly emaciated. His cheeks were bright pink with fever. Although his little features were pinched from suffering, yet they radiated hope and confidence. A young father and mother accompanied him and their eyes caught his every movement. It was easy to see that their sole concern was for the welfare of their boy. Either would gladly. have changed places with him. Yes, they would have given their lives for him. There was a studied look on the face of the surgeon as he carefully sur- veyed the features of the boy and then the faces of his parents. Not a word was spoken as the elevator slowly moved upward. On stepping from the elevator, the surgeon turned to me and said, "This surgery is mighty serious business when one realizes that on his diagnosis and on his action often hang a human life. I have used the most refined methods known to modern science in the diagnosis of this case, yet there is a possibility of error. However, I do know this — that his only hope is in an operation, yet I keenly sense my responsibility." As he spoke I could not help reflecting, "Nature in time will heal the wound which his knife will make. Sooner or later Mother Earth will cover the scar. Anything that he may do with his scalpel will reach only the mortal body. His knife cannot reach the soul. The operations of the teacher mould not only the body but also the spirit." I am just old-fashioned enough to believe that the child has a soul and that the teacher may make or mar it for eternity. Hence I ask: Whose is the greatest responsibility? I once heard a story which, although jokingly told, vividly por- trayed to me the responsibility of the teacher: Two inhabitants of this earth had died and first met in Purgatory, so the story goes. The attendant stowed each away in a large kettle under each of which he started a brisk fire. Now and then each would look over the top of his prison wall and converse with his neighbor. On becoming tired of this they would settle back and enjoy the heat. After some time, one came to the top and called to the other. No answer. He called again. Still no answer. Was it possible that his- companion even in this region had succumbed to the heat? When the attendant

ESSENTIALS OF THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 535 came to stir the fire he was asked, "What has become of the other prisoner ?" "He has been liberated." "Then why am I being held?" "Your friend while on earth was a robber. All who suffered from his crime have passed on. He has atoned for his sins. But you, while on earth, were a teacher and you taught false doctrines. These are being handed on from generation to generation with the result that it will be ages before the harm done by you is made right." I shall lay down as the first essential for the successful teacher — he must sense his responsibility. I was riding on the range with a friend and stopped at the home of a rancher for dinner. After lunch we chatted with the rancher a short time, and as we went to saddle our horses the ranchef bantered my friend for a trade. The trade was soon made, the new horse saddled, and we started on our journey. On reaching the gate my friend called back, "By the way, you haven't told me the name of my horse!" "His name is Tracy. We named him after the great Idaho outlaw. When he gets loose, it requires a dozen men on horses to capture him, and even then they are not always successful." My friend manifested no concern over the fact that he had traded for an outlaw horse, but rode joyfully away. After that day I did not see him for some time, but when I next met him my first inquiry was, "How is Tracy?" "Come with me and you will see." I followed into the yard and in the distance I could see a horse. My friend commenced to call, "Come, Tracy, come." The horse looked up and soon briskly galloped toward us. He came up to us, and my friend gently patted the horse and said, "I can jump off that horse anywhere and leave him standing. He will always wait for me. I can ride him on the range and turn him loose anywhere, always knowing that he will come when I call." "But how did you do it?" "Kindness — love, if you please. That horse has perfect con- fidence in me?" I could not help reflecting, "If love and kindness will work such marvels as to transform a dumb animal from an outlaw into a useful and trustworthy servant of man, what wonders it will work when applied to mankind!" Through love, sympathy, and fair play Judge Lindsay of Denver, Colorado, has rescued thousands of wayward boys and girls, and by so doing has gained the undying gratitude of the nation. Lincoln, although cast in a maelstrom of war and suffering, always used love and sympathy, and when he erred it was always on the side of mercy. His life is a wonderful example and becomes more brilliant as the years

536 IMPROVEMENT ERA roll by. Napoleon ruled with an iron hand and cast everything to the wind that interfered with his ambition. Even the love of a faithful wife was sacrificed on the altar of his ambition. One may admire his genius and his meteoric rise, but one would not point him out as an example or as a truly successful man. The greatest teacher of all time was Christ. The principle actuating his work and teaching was love. Few recognized him during his life, but each year adds to the number of his followers, until today he is recognized by nearly everyone as mankind's greatest benefactor. The ex-Kaiser of Germany ruled by force, and at the height of his power he was one of the most powerful individuals the world has ever produced. His word was absolute, and on it depended not only the life of his subjects but the fate of the nation. Today his name is a hiss and a byword among the nations of the world. The motivating principle in every act of tEat most beloved man of his time, Louis Pasteur, was love — love of country, love of man- kind. The child who is guided by love will develop an amiable disposition, the one driven by anger or by fear, a remorse. The organs of the body in the first case function normally, those of the second secrete a poison which injures nerves and tissues and which, during the height of a fit of anger or fear, can be detected by the chemist with his test tube. Some time ago I was riding in the mountains, when suddenly I came upon one of those dangerous quagmires sometimes found in that region. The place seemed dry and safe enough to the eye. My horse hesitated, but I urged him on. After considerable urging he plunged forward, and instantly the dangerous nature of the bog was evident. He sank to his shoulders, and the treacherous nature of the place could be seen from the shaking of the whole mass. In some mysterious way the horse soon extricated himself and we were again on firm ground. On the very edges of the quagmire I could see a beautiful mountain flower — white, innocent, pure, as love which blooms in every heart and when correctly used moves mountains. It was love at home and love of country which made of the American boys an army of which the Germans are reported to have said: "No one could whip the Yankees. They did not fight according to modern military tactics, for they kept on fighting after they were defeated." Hence, I shall lay down as the second essential for the successful teacher — he must love his work and have sympathy for the ones with whom he works. Some one has said, "The training of the boy is like the catching of a colt." There is considerable truth in this statement, for as I look back now on the horse which, as a boy, I used to ride, I see that most of her meanness was due to my training. When a colt she ran with the other horses in the pasture. I caught her with a

ESSENTIALS OF THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER 53 7 pan of oats. One day I wanted her but had forgotten the oats. I called. She looked up but did not come. By the gate was the pan ordinarily used in catching the horse. I picked it up and called. She came. I caught her and rode happily away. This process was repeated a number of times, but one day the colt failed to come for the empty pan. I followed her, but it was of no avail. I dipped up a handful of sand in the pan and commenced to shake it. The horse came, and I joyfully rode away. This method worked for some time, but she soon learned the deception and would shyly look into the pan and then trot off. Even when the sand was replaced with oats she would either fail to come or quickly slip up, take a mouthful, and before I could catch her quickly run off. I had learned that one cannot continually catch a colt by rattling an empty pan nor by deception. Since then I have learned that the teacher cannot long hold the confidence of a student by deception, nor by the rattling of an empty skull. The teacher must know his subject, or if confronted with an unanswerable question, he must honestly admit it. I like the rule which is used in health education: "When you do not know what is best in the education of a child from a hygienic viewpoint, let him alone." So we reach the third essential for a successful teacher — he must be master of his subject. , The great evangelist, Lyman Abbott, had given a lecture on the life of the Savior, after which he passed among the audience shaking hands with each. As he grasped the hand of a timid little girl he asked, "Would you not like to be like the Savior P"' "Kind sir, I do not know. But, oh, I would like to become like my teacher." Each boy and girl has his hero. Sometimes it is the world's greatest pugilist, football or baseball player, or movie actress. But still more often, in the tender years, it is the teacher. We find our fourth essential for the successful teacher — by words and action he must be an example to his pupils. The admirers of Longfellow were crowded around him one spring day, when one of them asked, "How is it you keep looking so young?" Longfellow pointed out of the window and said, "Do you see that tree all in bloom? Each year it grows new wood on which it bears its fruit." It is said that the pine seedling pruned back just one inch in its native bed soon loses out in the struggle and dies. The teacher who ceases to study is soon replaced by a younger and more progressive one, or hangs on at a mere pittance and becomes dead wood and a hindrance to the teaching profession. Hence, the fifth essential for the successful teacher — he must con- tinue to grow,

538 IMPROVEMENT ERA That teacher who senses his responsibility, who is actuated by love, masters his special field, is sincere, and continues to grow, is and always will be a successful teacher. Logan, Utah . WHAT ARE WE WORKING FOR? By Joseph S. Peery A clergyman said to a "Mormon" missionary: "Your position is wrong, when you urge works. Works have absolutely nothing to do with it. St. Paul said, 'For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast'." (Ephesians 2:8,9.) The "Mormon" missionary answered: "True, St. Paul made that statement, but in the very next paragraph he says: 'For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.' (Ephesians 2:9.) St. Paul also said, 'Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.' (Philippians 1:12.) The Master, who is greater than St. Paul, said: 'My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.' (John 5:17), 'I must work the works for him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.' (John 9:4), 'For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works,' " (Matt. 16:27.) Yes, through the atonement of our blessed Redeemer, we all will be saved from our graves. Of course we are helpless to come forth. Through the grace of God, all will rise in resurrected bodies, but our exaltation depends on ourselves. Not all rise at the same time, and all do not go to the same place. The good book tells us, "Every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labor." (I Cor. 3:8.) "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Gal. 6:7.) President Brigham Young said: "I am for life eternal." That means to rise in the morning of the resurrection and to make celestial glory. We do not want to wait a thousand years for our bodies, to make the kingdom of the stars — servants unto others forever. Youth of Zion, your destiny is to be kings and princes unto the Most High — worth working for! Let us all up and "be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only." (James 1:22.) No one can fill our mission but ourselves. The heaven we get will be the heaven we earn, but, to earn a good place, we must have the help of the Lord continually. In all our works, we must remember of ourselves we are nothing. We must pray for God's guidance and assistance, in all that we do, for his Spirit to lead us, and to the Lord we must give the praise and glory forever. Faith combined with works is the keynote of "Mormonism."