What does all this new life mean in the work of the teacher and her
preparation for it?
Miss Drummond, President of the Incorporated Association of Assistant
Mistresses, spoke thus on the subject[2]:--
"In a lesson in a good school there is most often a
happy give and take between the teacher and the class.
The teacher guides, but every girl is called on to take her
part and put forward individual effort. The homework is
no longer mere memorizing from some dry little manual,
but requires thought and gives scope for originality. The
whole results in a rigorous mental discipline, real stimulus
to power of original thought, eager enthusiasm in learning.... It
means an enormously increased demand upon the teacher." Again, "it
must not be thought, however, that the work of the school is limited
to lesson hours. We aim not only at giving a definite intellectual
equipment but at producing independence and self-reliance together with
that public spirit which enables a girl quite simply and without
self-consciousness to take her part in the life of a community."
Besides games, which may be organised by a special mistress (see p.
59) or by ordinary members of the school staff,
"there are nearly always several societies, run again by
the girls as far as possible, but almost always with the
inspiration and sympathy of some mistress at the back of
them. Thus there are social guilds of various kinds.
These vary from mere working parties for philanthropic
purposes to large organisations which embrace a number
of activities.... Of something the same kind are the
archaeological and scientific, the literary and debating
societies.... These societies are among the most interesting
and important parts of the work of a teacher, as they are
also among the most exacting. Games and societies together
tend to lengthen the hours of a school day, but even on
leaving school, her work is not finished. There are always
corrections to be done.... Still this is not all if lessons
are to be kept as alive and stimulating as they should be.
First and foremost, it is absolutely essential that the
teacher should not be jaded. She must get relaxation,
she must mix with other people and exchange ideas, she
must go about and keep in touch with all kinds of
activities. But at the same time she has to read in her
own subject, she has to keep up with modern methods of
teaching,
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