Pupils watch keenly to see if a teacher is over-conscious of his
authority. Possession of power easily leads a teacher to over-emphasize
rules. Faultfinding is the chief error into which this teacher has
fallen. A wise caution says things are not so bad as they seem, and
waits for the worst evils to appear before adopting radical measures.
Eagerness to reform generally hits upon the most obvious faults, not
upon the most serious ones. These facts together may overwhelm a
thoughtless teacher with disastrous blunders.
Prison rules kill men. School rules crush childhood if their importance
be too greatly magnified.
Pupils expect to follow a teacher’s example. “Children do not like to do
wrong better than to do right. They like to do the things they
themselves plan to do. They like to do the things that are interesting
to themselves.” If the teacher without public demonstrativeness first of
all acts in the manner she recommends, a strong suggestion is lodged in
the pupil’s mind. The most suitable bridge between the teacher’s ideal
of action for her school and the mind of those pupils is not a rule, but
coöperative action. Let her work with the pupils and induce them by
example to try gentle tones and kind words, while doing that which
interests them.
A foolish teacher attempts to cure every moody pupil by applying drastic
remedies to the specific attitude of mind which seems to her to be
undesirable. The wise teacher nurtures the good impulses and finds to
her delight that most of the evil ones ultimately drop out.