Principles of Teaching | Page 9

has been looked upon as a
certain indefinable possession enjoyed by the favored few. In a certain
sense this is true. Personality is largely inherent in the individual and
therefore differs as fully as do individuals. But of recent years
educators have carried on extensive investigations in this field of
personality and have succeeded in reducing to comprehensible terms
those qualities which seem to be most responsible for achievements of

successful teachers. Observation leads us all to similar deductions and
constitutes one of the most interesting experiments open to those
concerned with the teaching process.
Why, with the same amount of preparation, does one teacher succeed
with a class over which another has no control at all?
Why is it that one class is crowded each week, while another adjourns
for lack of membership?
The writer a short time ago, after addressing the members of a ward
M.I.A., asked a group of scouts to remain after the meeting, to whom
he put the question, "What is it that you like or dislike in teachers?"
The group was a thoroughly typical group--real boys, full of life and
equally full of frankness. They contributed the following replies:
1. We like a fellow that's full of pep. 2. We like a fellow that doesn't
preach all the time. 3. We like a fellow that makes us be good. 4. We
like a fellow that tells us new things.
Boylike, they were "strong" for pep--a little word with a big
significance. Vigor, enthusiasm, sense of humor, attack,
forcefulness--all of these qualities are summed up in these three letters.
And the interesting thing is that while the boys liked to be told new
things, they didn't want to be preached at. They evidently had the boy's
idea of preaching who characterized it as, "talking a lot when you
haven't anything to say."
Still more interesting is the fact that boys like to be made to be good. In
spite of their fun and their seeming indifference they really are serious
in a desire to subscribe to the laws of order that make progress possible.
A principal of the Granite High School carried on an investigation
through a period of four years to ascertain just what it is that students
like in teachers. During those years students set down various attributes
and qualities, which are summarized below just as they were given:

Desirable Characteristics Congeniality. Broadmindedness. Wide
knowledge. Personality that makes discipline easy. Willingness to
entertain questions. Realization that students need help. Sense of
humor--ability to take a joke. Optimism--cheerfulness. Sympathy.
Originality. Progressiveness. Effective expression. Pleasing
appearance--"good looking." Tact. Patience. Sincerity.
Among the characteristics which they did not like in teachers they
named the following:
Undesirable Characteristics Grouchiness. Wandering in method.
Indifference to need for help. Too close holding to the text. Distant
attitude--aloofness. Partiality. Excitability. Irritability. Pessimism--"in
the dumps." Indifferent assignments. Hazy explanations. Failure to
cover assignments. Distracting facial expressions. Attitude of "lording
it over." Sarcasm. Poor taste in dress. Bluffing--"the tables turned."
Discipline for discipline's sake. "Holier than thouness."
Desirable Capabilities They also reduced to rather memorable phrases
a half dozen desirable capabilities:
1. The ability to make students work and want to work. 2. The ability to
make definite assignments. 3. The ability to make clear explanations. 4.
The ability to be pleasant without being easy. 5. The ability to
emphasize essentials. 6. The ability to capitalize on new ideas. 7. The
ability to be human.
A number of years ago Clapp conducted a similar survey among one
hundred leading school men of America, asking them to list the ten
most essential characteristics of a good teacher. From the lists sent in
Clapp compiled the ten qualities in the order named most frequently by
the one hundred men:
1. Sympathy. 2. Address. 3. Enthusiasm. 4. Sincerity. 5. Personal
Appearance. 6. Optimism. 7. Scholarship. 8. Vitality. 9. Fairness. 10.
Reserve or dignity.
George Herbert Betts, in his stimulating book, How to Teach Religion,

says there are three classes of teachers:
"Two types of teachers are remembered: One to be forgiven after years
have softened the antagonisms and resentments; the other to be thought
of with honor and gratitude as long as memory lasts. Between these
two is a third and a larger group: those who are forgotten, because they
failed to stamp a lasting impression on their pupils. This group
represents the mediocrity of the profession, not bad enough to be
actively forgiven, not good enough to claim a place in gratitude and
remembrance."
Mr. Betts then goes on with a very exhaustive list of positive and
negative qualities in teachers--a list so valuable that we set it down here
for reference.
Positive Qualities Negative Qualities 1. Open-minded, inquiring, broad.
Narrow, dogmatic, not hungry for truth.
2. Accurate, thorough, discerning. Indefinite, superficial, lazy.
3. Judicious, balanced, fair.