HAVE TEACHERS EASY TIMES ?

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6819, 25 September 1883, Page 6

HAVE TEACHERS EASY TIMES ?

TO TUE KDITOB. ■ Sir,—'Tho much-vexed question', of school holidays should be considered chiefly with r<gar<l to the health and progress of the children, but the decision of the Board that "holidays should not' be curtailed is quite .defeasible on the ground of the maintenance the efficiency ot teachers. A common but very unfair parallel bstweeri the work of the Siin'il ay-school and that ""'of the public school was drawn by one of the, members of the ' Board. ' I know . that many ,do not find the work'. of a; Sunday-school teacher such child's play as he pictured it; yet there r are several points that he and many others lose sight of: -The conditions of work in the two spheres are not alike. 1. Because ■a work, causes no strain when taken up at intervals as a.relaxation, it does.not .follow that it will not do so when pursued continuously as one's serious business and life work.' 2; It should also be remembered that much of the Sunday-school teacher's work is done for . him by the public school teacher. - The latter 1 communicates Ithose'instrumentary branches of knowledge such as reading and writing, besides. training to habits of attention, accuracy, and '.general' intelligence,' without which , the ''' duties of tho Sunday-school ''teacher:'., -would■ '.'■ neither .-.:.. be ".so''..', lightnor so pleasant as- tliey now are. ■3: -The comparison fails- as to the amount of knowledge to imparted.' The average Sunday-school teacher is satisfied if -he can hold -the: attention of.' his class for an ■hour,- and well'pleased.-if .ho-finds that of them retainvageneralldea of the strain of his remarks ; but if the results of his work were tested' by comprehensive written examinations, and if his bread, and butter depended on the result, it is scarcely too much r tti say thai;be would find his work would be- ■ seriously chauged...':.i4v The comparison fails asti> the numbers to be instructed. Most Sundayschool teachers; consider that their hands are quite full enough it they have to teach a dozen children, bat the average number entrusted to. each public schoql . teacher is about forty. In the larger schools the classes ofteD number over sixty. Much of this work ■is dpne by- pupil' ' teachers, . .who are not ■Always: competent;: ..and the head teacher has. to b: for thiir work as well as his own to parents, committees, inspectors. Boards, 'and a thousand .other .masters, who all know 'exactly how, his work should be donf 1 , and wish to show him his duty by complaints, .censures, fines, rules and Acts of Parliament, &c., ad infinitum: By the way, this thing is overdone in Aucklaud, for one of the clauses of the English Education Act says that teachers are not to be hampered with niiupr regulations as .to the : details of their work. How would a Sunday-school teacher like such an instruction asl see the Board gives to its examining, .inspectors,.' "Has the writing, the- pernicious quality of beingncarlyright ?'' ■ .Of; having to -teach his ; class in a ■ year not only the mountains and rivers of tho world, but to have thein ready with 1 the 1 various peaks and tributaries,''which 1 , might be- asked-- for ?■-. - Also. of; taking. up: English history, and-finding that at the etid of their first year the' class was expected to know the names of every battle, treaty, and Act of Parliament, from the time of. the Romans to that of Queen Victoria ? Another most unfair way of. looking at the. teachers'.. ■ work is to regard simply- the time ' during which it lasts. Ho must be an extremely obtuse person who does not see that, .the number of hours spent in various occupations is a. most fallacious test of their relative severity.. . Muscular ; exertion has a . greatj show of toil about." it.bufc, if. not. carried to excess, it is self-repairing. Tne exorcise of the mental powers is far moire exhausting, ■But the true teacher lias a still, more .trying oflice, namely, to kindle and keep alive the sacred 11 ioie of knowledge in dull, often unwilling,: souls; " For mind - grows not. like a. : ■ vegetable (by having," 1 its. roots litteredw ith' ; etymological compost),.but like, a spirit, by' mysterious, contact of spirit; thought kind* liug itself at the fire of living thought." This taicesah':l:drains'the mentaland nervous powers, as severely as almost any work a-man can' Undertake. Look into any statistics as to the ,average lifetime' of .those , following various professions, and you will see that teachers are short lived. One argument on this point is incontestable...... If teachers enjoy suchspecialprivileges, and aresuch anenviablc class, why do not tho young men find it out, and crowd, tho ranks of candidates ?■■ About two-thirds of the talk concerning the .easy lot. of. the. teacher is ignorance, and I think the other third ia hypocrisy.—l am, &c., Teacher.