THE IDEAL SCHOOLMASTER.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 May 1925, Page 4

THE IDEAL SCHOOLMASTER.

, liy Cyril Norwood. M.A., Master ol Marlborough College, in London “Daily Mail.’’) The si hiiolinaster cannot Lat be un-

easily conscious that his hrolher-mei have given him Idicral upporl unities ol seeing hilnsell as others see him Iron: the pedagogue in Shako.-pcaro ol whom it w a ■ said. He lias < orre.pt rd tlm couth of our town : lie lias opened a grammar school.” to I hose private and secondary .school u-liers whom Mr Wells invariably holds up to contempt. “Dull dogs of invincible meilioei'il y. lie calls us, “mortally afraid ol anything unorthodox in religion, ethic*.

But a schoolmaster may liavo an ideal, and lie may even put it high, tcding that there have hoot) men in tilt* past who have been captains and leaders in their generation. What are the qualities that go to make tip that ideal? Like other ideals, it is sevenfold, and these fire tlm seven lamps of the school master :

lie must have power to eommuud. so lliaL when he lads this one go 'and that one uiiiir they do not leel illelmed to do the opposite, lie dries not need the stick, or a cutting longue, or a violent temper, but lie niu-i he i icily obeyed. Xext, he must keen the heart of a boy. which, after all. is not a rare tiling among .Knglishmcn ; for without it lie will lose understanding and sympathy and love. To tench hoys lie must love llirin. and he cannot love them unless he is tili something of a buy himself.

Thirdly lie must be open to tic- appeal of games, of adventure, ol the open air. or lie will not understand the normal healthy hoy; the muddied oaf and the Manm-lled fool turn frequently into very tine school master - Fifth, sixth and seventh, he must honour and strive alter beauty, truth, and goodness, for these are the sup-, reme spiritual values, and all true edu-| cation is contained therein. Hence I come culture and knowledge and cha*racter. and lie will not impart any of these unless he seeks them lir-t lornself. The fourth quality lias been oinii’.eil bemuse u is the central lamp, and sheds its light all round. It is humour, mid without i; the possessor ol the first three qualities can be a I’lidi.st ine and the seeker of the last three may he a prig. There are iliree deadly sins lie must slum. The first is idleness, for whenever the sehool mas ier is idle Satan works overtime, 't he second is hypocri ,y ; it is easier for tile camel to go through Iho eve of a needle than lor the selioolmaster never to be a 111 puerile. l ie* third is mibeliei. Deadliest of all, i; “hardens all tin* heart, and petrifies the feeling.'’