THE THREE INSEPARABLES
In the preceding chapter we discussed the type of person that should be
in evidence everywhere in the teaching profession. Such a type is
absolutely necessary to the attainment of genuine success. In rural
schools this type is by no means too common, and in the whole field of
elementary and higher education it is much more rare than it should be.
Because of the frequent appearance of the opposite type in colleges and
in other schools, the teacher and the professor have been often
caricatured to their discredit. There is usually some truth underlying a
caricature; a cartoon would lack point if it did not possess a
substratum of fact.
=The "Mode."=--Now, there is often in the public mind this poorer type
of teacher; and when an idea or an ideal, however low, becomes once
established, it is changed only with difficulty. The commonplace
individual, the mediocre type of man or of woman, is by many regarded as
a fairly typical representative of what the teacher usually is; or, as
the statistician would express it, he is the "mode" rather than the
average. The "mode" in any class of objects or of individuals is the
one that occurs oftenest, the one most frequently met with. And so this
inactive, nondescript sort of person is often thought of as the typical
teacher. He has no very high standing either financially or socially,
and so has no great influence on the individuals around him or on the
community in general. This conception has become so well established in
the public mind, and is so frequently met with, that all teachers are
regarded as being of the same type. The better teachers, the strong
personalities, are brought into this same class and must suffer the
consequences.
=The "Mode" in Labor.=--This same process of classifying individuals may
be seen in other spheres also. In some sections of the country it is the
method of estimating the worth of laboring men; all in the same class
are considered equal; all of a class are reduced to the same level and
paid the same wages. One man can do and often does the work of two or
three men, and does it better; yet he must labor for the same common
wage.
=The "Mode" in Educational Institutions.=--The same is to a great extent
true of the popular estimate of educational institutions. In the public
mind an institution is merely an "institution." One is thought of as
doing practically the same work as another; so when institutions come
before legislatures for financial recognition in the way of
appropriations, one institution is considered as deserving as another.
The great public is not keen in its discriminations, whether it be a
case of educational institutions, of laboring men, or of teachers.
=No "Profession."=--The fact is that, in the lower ranks of the
teachers' calling, there is really no _profession_. The personality of
many who engage in the work is too ordinary to professionalize any
calling.
=Weak Personalities.=--This condition of affairs has grown partly out of
the fact that we have not, in the different states and in the country at
large, a sufficiently high standard. The examinations are not
sufficiently extensive and intensive to separate the sheep from the
goats. The unqualified thus rush in and drive out the qualified, for the
efficient cannot compete with the inefficient. The calling is in no
sense a "closed" profession, and consequently in the lower ranks it is
scarcely a profession at all.
=Low Standard.=--There is also established in the public mind a certain
standard, or test, for common school teaching. This standard has been
current so long that it has become quite stable, and it seems almost
impossible to change it. As in the case of some individuals when they
become possessed of an idea, it is almost impossible to dispossess the
social mind of this low standard.
=The Norm of Wages Too Low.=--In regard to the wages of teachers it may
be said that there is fixed in the social mind also, a certain _norm_.
As in the case of personality and of standard qualifications, a certain
amount of wages has long been regarded as representing the sum which a
teacher ought to receive. For rural schools this is probably about fifty
dollars a month; in fact, in most states the average wage paid to rural
school teachers is below that amount. But let us say that fifty dollars
is the amount that has become established in the popular mind as a
reasonable salary. Here, as in the other cases, it is very difficult to
change ideas established by long custom. For many years people have been
accustomed to think of teachers receiving certain salaries, and they
refuse to consider any higher sums as appropriate. This, of course, is
an egregious blunder. The rural schools can never be lifted above their
present plane of efficiency until these three conceptions, (1) that of
personality, (2) that of standard, and, (3) that of wages, are revised
in the public mind. There will have to be a great revolution in the
thought of the people in regard to these inseparable things.
=The Inseparables.=--The fact is that, (1) strong personalities, (2) a
high standard of qualifications, (3) and a respectable salary go hand in
hand. They rise and fall together; they are reactive, one upon the
other. The strong personality implies the ability to meet a high
standard and demands reasonable compensation. The same is true of the
high standard--it selects the strong personality and this in turn cannot
be secured except at a good salary. It may be maintained that if school
boards really face the question in earnest, and are willing to offer
good salaries, strong personalities who are able to meet that high
standard can always be secured. Professor Hugo Muensterberg says: "Our
present civilization shows that in every country really decisive
achievement is found only in those fields which draw the strongest
minds, and that they are drawn only where the greatest premiums are
tempting them."[2]
[Footnote 2: Psychology and Social Sanity, p. 82.]
=Raise the Standard First.=--The best way, then, to attack the problem
is, first, to raise the standard. This will eliminate inferior teachers
and retain or attract those of superior qualifications. It is to be
regretted that we have not, in the United States, a more uniform
standard for teaching in the common schools. Each state has its own
laws, its own standard. It would not, we think, be asking too much to
provide that no person should teach in any grade of school, rural or
elementary, in the United States, unless such person has had a course
for teachers equivalent to at least three years of work in the high
school or normal school, with pedagogical preparation and training. In
fact, a national law making such a uniform standard among the teachers
in the common schools of the country would be an advantage. But this is
probably more than we can expect in the near future. As it is, there
should be a conference of the educational authorities in each state to
agree upon a standard for teaching, with a view to uniform state
legislation.
=More Men.=--One of the great needs of the calling is more men. There
was a time when all teachers were men; now nearly all teachers are
women. There is as much reason for one condition as for the other.
Without going into an analysis of the situation or the causes which make
it desirable that there should be more men in the teaching profession,
it is, we think, generally granted that the conditions would be better,
educationally, socially, and every other way, if the number of men and
women in the work were about evenly divided.
=Cooeperation Needed.=--Educational movements and influences have spread
downward and outward from above. The great universities of the world
were established before the secondary and elementary school systems came
into existence. Thought settles down from leaders who are in high
places. We have shown in a former chapter that the state universities,
the agricultural colleges, the normal schools, and the high schools have
had a wonderful development within the last generation, while the rural
school has too often lagged perceptibly behind. The country districts
have helped to support in every way the development of the higher
schools; now an excellent opportunity presents itself for all the higher
and secondary educational influences to unite in helping to advance the
interests and increase the efficiency of the rural schools.
=The Supply.=--The question is sometimes asked whether the right kind of
teachers can be secured, if higher salaries are offered. There can be
no doubt at all on this point. Where the demand exists and where there
is sufficient inducement offered, the supply is always forthcoming. Men
are always at hand to engage in the most menial and even the most
dangerous occupations if a sufficient reward, financial or otherwise, is
offered. For high wages men are induced to work in factories where
mercury must be handled and where it is well known that life is
shortened many years as a consequence. Men are secured to work long
hours in the presence of red-hot blast furnaces and in the lowest depths
of the holds of ships. Can it be possible that with a reasonable salary
the strongest kind of men would not be attracted to a calling that has
as many points of interest and as many attractions as teaching?
=Make It Fashionable.=--A great deal depends upon making any work or any
calling fashionable. All that is needed is for the tide to turn in that
direction. It is difficult to say how much salary will stop the outward
tide and cause it to set in the other direction; but one thing is
certain, we shall never completely solve the rural school problem until
the tide turns.
=The Retirement System.=--Strong personalities will, then, help to make
teaching attractive and fashionable, as well as effectual. There is a
movement now becoming quite extensive which will also add to the
attractiveness of the teacher's calling. A system or plan of insurance
and retirement is now being installed in many states for the benefit of
teachers who become incapacitated or who have taught a certain period of
time. This plan gives a feeling of contentment, and also a feeling of
security against the stress and needs of old age, which will do much to
hold strong people in the profession. The fear of being left penniless
in later life and dependent upon others or upon the state, induces,
without doubt, a great many persons to leave a calling so poorly paid,
in order that they may, in more generous vocations, lay something by for
"a rainy day." The truth of this is borne in upon us more strongly when
we remember that teaching is different from law, medicine, or other
professions. In these vocations a man's service usually becomes more and
more in demand as he advances in years, on account of the reputation and
experience he has gained; while in teaching, when a person arrives at
the middle line of life or after, school boards begin to say and to
think, that he is getting too old for the schoolroom, and so they seek
for younger talent. The consequence is that the good and faithful public
servant who has given the best years of his life to the education of the
young is left stranded in old age without an occupation and without
money. The insurance and retirement fund plan is a movement in the right
direction and will do something to help turn the tide of strong
personalities toward the teachers' calling.
=City and Country Salaries--Effects.=--The average salary for rural
school teachers in one state I find to be $45 a month. In that same
state the average salary of teachers in the city and town schools is $55
a month. Now, under such conditions, it is very difficult to secure a
good corps of teachers for the rural schools. If the ratio were reversed
and the rural schools paid $55 a month, while the cities and towns paid
only $45, there would be more chance of each securing teachers of equal
ability. Even then, teachers would prefer to go to the city at the lower
salary on account of the additional attractions and conveniences and the
additional facilities and opportunities of every kind for
self-improvement.
In the state referred to, the average salary of all teachers in the
common schools was $51 a month. It is utterly impossible to realize a
"profession" on such a financial basis as this. Forty-five or fifty
dollars a month for rural teachers is altogether too low. This must be
raised fifty, if not one hundred per cent, in order that a beginning may
be made in the solution of the rural school problem. Where $50 a month
seems to be the going wage, if school boards would offer $75 and then
see to it that the persons whom they hire are efficient, an attempt at
the solution of the problem in that district or neighborhood would be
made. Is it possible that any good, strong, educated, and cultured
person can be secured for less than $75 a month? If in such a district
there were eight months of school this would mean only 8 x $25, or $200
more than had been paid previously. For ten sections of land this would
mean about $20 a section, or $5 a quarter section, in addition to what
they had been paying with unsatisfactory results.
This sum often represents the difference between a poor school and a
good school. With a fifty-dollar teacher, constructive work was likely
lacking. There was little activity in the neighborhood; the pupils or
the people had not been fully waked up. There had not been enough
thinking and talking of education and of schools, enough reading, or
talking about books, about education, about things of the higher life.
Under the seventy-five-dollar teacher, wisely chosen, all this is
changed.
=The Solution Demands More.=--Instead of $75, a community should pay to
a wide-awake person, who takes hold of a situation in a neighborhood and
keeps things moving, at least $100 a month. With nine months' school
this would mean $900; and it is strange, indeed, if a person in the
prime of life who has spent many years in the preparation of his work,
and who has initiative and push, is not worth $100 a month for nine
months in the year. To such a person the people of that neighborhood
intrust their dearest and priceless possessions--their own children. If
we remember that, as the twig is bent the tree is inclined, there need
be no hesitation about the value of efficient teaching during the
plastic period of childhood. In fact, it may easily be maintained that
the salary should be even higher than this. But, if this be so, how far
are we at present from even a beginning of the solution of our rural
school problem!
=A Good School Board.=--A good school board is one whose members are
alive to their duties and wide-awake to the problems of education. They
are men or women who have an intelligent grasp of the situation and who
will earnestly attempt to solve the educational problems of school and
of life in their community.
=Board and Teacher.=--If a poor teacher and a good school board are
brought together the chances are that they will soon part company. A
good school board will not retain a poor teacher longer than it is
compelled to do so. A poor school board and a good teacher will also
part company, for the good teacher will not stay; he will leave and find
relief as soon as possible. Under a poor school board and a poor teacher
nothing will be done; the children, instead of being educated, will be
de-educated. Quarrels and dissensions will be created in the
neighborhood and a miserable condition, educationally and socially, will
prevail. If a good school board and a good teacher join hands, the
problem is solved, or at least is in a fair way to being solved. This
last condition will mean an interested school, a united neighborhood, a
live, wide-awake, and happy community.
=The Ideal.=--It is as impossible to describe a successful solution of
the problems of any particular school as it is to paint the lily, the
rose, or the rainbow. All are equally indescribable and intangible, but
nevertheless the more real, potent, and inspiring on that account. Such
a situation means the presence of a strong life, a strong mind, and a
strong hand exemplifying ideals every day. This is education, this is
growth, this is real life.