[Sidenote: Getting the News]
Some executives have a fine ear for school news; they catch what is
passing, seemingly with little effort. They are not eavesdroppers or
spies, they do not employ informers, and yet they know everything that
goes on.
There is a good reason for their success; they are sought-out
counsellors. Their pupils have a sense of being team-mates with the
superintendent or principal and so are frequently in his company.
The scope of official jurisdiction is by no means sufficiently wide to
cover all the useful points of comradeship in school management. There
need to be occasions of voluntary assistance that extend beyond the
range of ordinary school routine. This coöperation is unofficial and
very powerful in dissipating mild antipathies between teacher and pupil.