TEACHERS AND THEIR WORK

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3195, 20 September 1917, Page 5

TEACHERS AND THEIR WORK

EXPLANATION BY MR. CAUGHLEY. Mr. J. Caughley wishes us to state that it is evident- from the report of his address on Monday evening to the V/cmen Teachers' Association he unfortunately to some extent conveyed the impression that teachers often carried on their wcrk from selfish motives and with a view to their own advancement. This inadvertence is regretted, because, tbough. some of his remarks may have had tnat construction, it is not in accordance with Mr. Caughley's opinions nor with las experience of teachers. The mam pcint Mr. Caughley emphasised was that the tendenoy, shared not only by teachers but by most members of organised institutions, was. to give undue prominence to tho institutions and to the externals in comparison with that given to the human interests for the benefit of which the institution came to exist. Mr. Caughley suEgested.two tests of a teacher's attitude in. this respect.. After a successful year's work and during th» accomplishment of it, to what extent was tho teacher's satisfaction due to the fact that his work, his teaching, his class or his school had shown excellence, and; to what extent was it dne to pleasure concerning the fact that the various pupils had received lasting benefit and were richer in mind and character? On the other hand, when things went viong and the result of tho pupils' efforts weie unsatisfactory,' to what sxtent was the teacher's disappointment or displeasure due to a sense of thwarted effort, or personal embarrassment, and to what extent was it duo to a realisation that certain pupils were the poorer through missing the benefit of soino desirable form of mental or personal development? 'Mr. Caughley states that ho is sure the teachers whom he addressed would not think ho had described tho teachers as selfish, but that without his explanation teachers in general and the ordinary reader might from the report draw wrong conclusions regarding tho trend of tho speaker's remarks.