ck in trade, is determined by their
immediate ancestry. 'We inherit our parents' tempers, our parents'
conscientiousness, shyness and ability, as we inherit their stature,
forearm and span,' says Pearson."

The teacher who would really appreciate the feelings and responses of a
boy in his class must be aware, therefore, that the boy is not merely
one of a dozen type individuals--he is a product of a particular
parentage, acting as he does largely because "he was born that way."

We shall point out in connection with environmental influences the
importance of a teacher's knowing the home condition of his pupils; but
it is important here, in passing, to emphasize the point that even
though a child were never to live with its parents it could be
understood by the teacher acquainted with the peculiar traits of those
parents. "Born with a bent" is a proverb of such force that it cannot be
ignored. To know the parental heritage of a boy is to anticipate his
reaction to stimuli--is to know what approach to make to win him.

Because of the fact that in many of our organizations we are concerned
with the problem of teaching boys and girls together, the question of
the influence of sex is one which we must face. There are those who hold
that boys and girls are so fundamentally different by nature that they
ought not to be taught coeducationally. Others maintain that they are
essentially alike in feeling and intellectuality, and that because of
the fact that eventually they are to be mated in the great partnership
of life they should be held together as much as possible during the
younger years of their lives. Most authorities are agreed that boys and
girls differ not so much because they are possessed of different native
tendencies, but because they live differently--they follow different
lines of activity, and therefore develop different interests. To quote
again from Norsworthy and Whitley:

"That men and women are different, that their natures are not the
same, has long been an accepted fact. Out of this fact of difference
have grown many hot discussions as to the superiority of one or the
other nature as a whole. The present point of view of scientists
seems well expressed by Ellis when he says, 'We may regard all such
discussions as absolutely futile and foolish. If it is a question of
determining the existence and significance of some particular
physical sexual difference, a conclusion ma