ties, when, as Mr. Page advises, the teacher has "imbued himself with a feeling of the importance of his work." This feeling, which every true teacher possesses, will lead him to avail himself of all the training for his high office that his time, means, and opportunity will permit. It will cause him to feel that his educational journal is a necessity. It will prompt him to procure and read books on pedagogics and school management. It will cause him to acquaint himself more fully with the master minds of the great literary world. It will lead him into the State Teachers' Reading Circle. It will send him to the university or to the normal school. He will not dare to come before pupils upon whom, he realizes, he is to make impressions which will last to eternity, unless he has availed himself of every possible aid within reach.

It is true, as Mr. Page remarks, that all this will inspire in his employers confidence in his abilities. But if he wishes to put into practice the ideas of method which he has received at the normal school, or which, as a result of his training, he has been able to work out for himself—if he wishes to put these into practice in a community in which the schools have not been in touch with the advancing thought of the educational world, I am sure there will be need for the greatest degree of tact. He wishes to use clay modeling, perhaps. It may be that he wishes to throw geography and history together, and so gain time in his work. Perhaps it is some form of manual training that he wishes to add. Perhaps he insists that spelling must be more than the memorizing of words of whose meaning the child has no more conception than of differential calculus.

aggregate enrollment of pupils is 1200 or more, there is need for a city superintendent, whose work is materially different from that of the principal of a graded school. The relations of the city school superintendent to the principals and teachers are discussed in books on school supervision. The county superintendent, like the city superintendent, is a school officer rather than a teacher, and is to be considered as the representative of a board of education.

SCH. INT. & DUT.-4

It may be that he wishes to provide on his programme a place for music and drawing.

He will find, in many school districts and towns, that unless he acts with great tact and discretion, there will be much looking askance at his innovations. By a wise procedure, he may bring the greater part of the community to see that he is not chasing "fads," but is really introducing into the school the things that will tend to its improvement and the good of the children.

Many a teacher, full of the enthusiasm of his high calling, has applied himself with much vigor to bringing about a revolution in the educational life of his school. Starting in with the confidence of the people, he has quickly turned their confidence to suspicion by attacking the old methods with sharp criticism. Unwittingly, he has struck at the pride of the community, which may be loth to be told of its ignorance and its ultra conservatism. More is accomplished by gentlemanly courtesy than by blustering or by stubbornness. It is better to go slowly and obtain what you want than to demand it quickly and fail to get it at all.

The Teacher an Adviser. - The teacher should be competent to give advice on every matter relating to the school. He should fully acquaint himself with its material and educational needs. He should become familiar with the leading principles of school architecture, lighting, heating, and ventilation, according to later authorities on these subjects. Unfortunately, these are matters upon which many who have been long engaged in educational work have but a very limited knowledge.

A teacher's thorough acquaintance with the requirements of good text-books, and with the comparative merits of various books in the same lines of work, will add to the confidence which the school officer will repose in his judgment. This is a matter upon which the actual teacher, of all persons, should be competent to pass judgment in the light of experience.

It is inevitable that text-books will be changed, from time to time. The change should be made always for a better and more suitable work. It should never be made without a careful investigation and comparison of the books under consideration.

The teacher should be a competent judge of suitable books for the general reading of children. The subject of school libraries and Pupils' Reading Circles is discussed elsewhere in this volume. The enterprising teacher will not fail to interest himself in the matter of a local supply of accessible and suitable books of general reading for the young.

The Teacher's Relations to School Officers. - The teacher should well understand his relation to the school officers. In the following chapter the history of the school officer is given, and his relations to the teacher are discussed. The question of the relation of the two is not clearly defined, as yet, by the legislatures and courts. It is recognized that the teacher has authority derived from other sources than the officer or the school board, but the scope of his authority independent of that which the trustee or the board confers upon him is not clearly defined.

It is well for the teacher to understand as clearly as he can his rights under the law, and his independent authority. It is not meant to be said that he must be a lawyer, but he should acquaint himself with the records in cases which touch upon this subject. There are several journals now published which make a point of presenting digests of all such cases. By a study of these, he can bring himself to a position where he can render unto the trustees the things that are theirs, and reserve for himself the things that are his own.

In all this there is no thought of encouraging or suggesting an attitude of opposition, or of defiance to the board. It must be clearly understood that this is not what is meant. On the contrary, the teacher should always yield a willing and ready obedience to the school board. In all matters of general management the directions of the trustees are to be

followed most implicitly, in so far, of course, as they do not violate the conscientious scruples of the teacher.

It is possible to secure the best results only when the school officers and the teacher are acting in hearty accord. The teacher's opinion should be asked (since he is an expert, or is supposed to be), in determining the final action of the board on matters which have a direct bearing on the educational side of its duties.

In this connection it should be said that, in a way not inconsistent with self-respect, the teacher should show respect to the trustee, as such, even though the latter be not the equal of the teacher socially and in point of culture. There is, of course, a kind of respect which is naturally shown for the man to whom one owes his place, and upon whose favor "bread and butter," perhaps, depends. But, it is insisted, respect is due to his position as an officer of the school district or city, aside from any selfish show of respect for an employer. This is a fact often lost sight of by young teachers, and sometimes by older ones.

It is often the case that the trustee is inferior in point of scholarship. He may be unlettered, indeed, and may be a good officer for all that. More often than otherwise it is the case that the trustee is selected on account of other qualifications than those of scholarship. Men of little or no erudition have fought their way to the front in spite of difficulties. They often make very good officers, because they are eager to do what they can to remove obstacles from the paths of the young people coming to manhood under more favorable circumstances. They may be good managers in matters of finance. Public funds should receive more care and should be regarded more sacredly than private capital. Too often men are extremely reckless in the disbursement or investment of public moneys, acting under a strange notion that when the owner is the many the trust is not at all so sacred as when the owner is a single person or a small number of persons acting as a company. Men of this class

should have no place on the school board. Very often school committeemen are selected who will be sure to handle with proper care the people's money.

Again, it may be that persons of recognized tact and skill in molding opinion are for this specific reason selected as trustees. These are usually gentlemen of long experience and sagacious insight, and they are expected to bring to bear upon the important affairs of the school the same critical judgment which they have been observed to display in the management of private affairs and the direction of public movements. The point we wish to make is, that there is usually a good reason behind the elevation of every man who is selected by the community to take charge of the affairs of the school.

Teachers sometimes lose sight of the fact that the officers are selected for the foregoing and other similar reasons. Before them rises the idea that scholarship is the essential attribute of the good trustee. Especially is this the case with the younger teachers, who are not apt to think much of other reasons for the choosing of officers. They are inclined to think that the business men and the professional men not trained in the university can have none but oldfashioned educational ideas.

His broad

The scholar should be on the board, it is true. view will work out clearly the ends to be accomplished, by shaping the course aright. He can show that the truest economy does not lie always in the direction of the least expenditure. But others than the scholar may be educated too. I have met many men who have had no conception of Greek roots, and who could not analyze a simple flower, but who have had a sufficient degree of culture to recognize the literary beauty, as well as to feel the moral uplift, of the twentythird Psalm, and to whom

"The meanest flower that blooms can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."

Are such men out of place on the school committee?