I have spoken much of blackboards, maps, pictorial cards, natural
objects, and apparatus of various kinds, as among the urgent wants of
the teacher. But there is one thing which he wants more than all these,
and that is EYES. A good pair of eyes are to the teacher, in the
government of his school, worth more than the rod, more than any system
of merit or demerit marks, more than keeping in after school, more than
scolding, reporting to parents, suspension, or expulsion, more than
coaxing, premiums, and bribes in any shape or to any amount. The very
first element in school government, as in every other government, is
that the teacher should know what is going on in his little kingdom, and
for this knowledge he needs a pair of eyes.
Most teachers, it is true, seem to be furnished with this article. But
it is in appearance only. They have something in the upper part of the
face which looks like eyes, but every one knows that appearances are
deceiving. They look over a school or an assembly of any kind, and are
vaguely conscious that things are going on wrong all around them, just
as people sometimes grope about in a dark room filled with bats, and are
aware that something is flitting about, but they have no power of
seeing distinctly any one object. It is amazing how little some people
see, who seem to have eyes.
The fact is, there is an entirely mistaken notion on this whole subject.
Having the eyes open, and seeing, are two distinct things. Infants have
their eyes open, but they do not see anything, in the sense in which
that word is generally used. Light comes into those open windows, the
moving panorama of external nature passes before them, but distinct
vision, which recognizes and individualizes objects, is something more
than a mere passive, bodily sensation. It is a mental act. It is the
mind rousing itself into consciousness, and putting forth its powers
into voluntary and self-determined activity. Nothing in the history of
childhood is more interesting than to watch this awakening of the mind
in infancy, to notice how the whole face brightens up when the little
stranger first begins actually to see things.
The misfortune with many people is, that in this matter of vision they
seem never to get beyond the condition of infancy. They go along the
street, or they move about in a room, in a sort of dreamy state, their
eyes open, but seeing nothing. A teacher of this kind, no matter what
amount of disorder is going on before him, never sees any one particular
act. He sees things in the mass, instead of seeing individual things.
The difference between teachers in this faculty of seeing things is more
marked probably than in any other quality that a man can have. Two
teachers may stand before the same class. One will merely be aware that
there is a general disorder and noise throughout, being unable to
identify any scholar in particular as transgressing. The other will
notice that John is talking, that James is pulling his neighbor's hair,
that William is drumming on the desk with his fingers, that Andrew is
munching an apple, that Peter is making caricatures on his slate, and so
on.
To have this power of seeing things, it is not necessary that one should
be sly, or should use stealth of any kind. Knowledge gained by such mean
practices never amounts to much, and always lowers a teacher in the
estimation of his scholars; it weakens instead of strengthening him.
Whatever a teacher does in the way of observation of his scholars,
should be done openly and aboveboard. And after all, more can be seen in
this way, by one who knows how, than by any of the stealthy practices
usually resorted to. Darting the eyes about rapidly in one direction and
another, is not a good way to make discoveries. Seeing is accomplished,
not so much by the activity of the bodily organ, as by mental activity.
The man's mind must be awake. This in fact is the secret of the whole
matter. The more the face and eyes are quiet, and the mind is on the
alert, the more a man will see. Seeing is rather a mental than a bodily
act, though of course the bodily organ is necessary to its
accomplishment. To be a good observer, one must maintain a quiet and
composed demeanor, but be thoroughly wide awake within.