THE ART OF TEACHING.

TEACHING is an art, and it must be learned as much as any other art. To give instruction in the best manner, to conduct and govern a school so as to make it answer its chief end, is a work of great difficulty and importance. Tact in teaching is in fact the art of so communicating knowledge, that the pupil shall understand subjects sought to be imparted; and associating what is thus received with other and previous attainments, he may be led at one and the same time "to cultivate his original faculties," and store his mind with useful knowledge. Says one, "he who would be an accomplished physician, must study principles, as well as see cases. In like manner, he who would be a successful teacher, must look beyond systems to the principles on which they rest. The man who imagines himself a teacher, qualified for the responsible duties of an instructor, merely because he has seen others teach in a particular way, is just as much an empiric, as a pretender in medicine, who occasionally walks through the wards of a hospital. The art of communicating knowledge has its principles-principles which lie deep in the philosophy of our nature.

Some of the best minds in our country and in Europe have for several years been employed in elucidating these principles, and in discovering the best methods of imparting instruction. The day for quack pedagogues is passed. A teacher to be successful in his high calling, must not only be thoroughly acquainted with all branches which he proposes to teach, teaching principle as well as facts, but he must possess extensive general information, have a good knowledge of human nature, possess good common sense and prudence, ease of communication, the ability of inspiring in his pupils an enthusiastic love of knowledge, the power of maintaining good government, self-control, an amiable disposition, attractive personal accomplishments, and a character eminent for purity and excellence.

A thoroughly accomplished teacher is as rarely to be met with, as an individual of the highest merit in any of the professions or other responsible callings of life. And no person can excel as an instructor, who does not make some special preparation for his work, and acquaint himself with the philosophy of teaching, and the art of conducting and governing a school.

Is it not the case, that too many of our district school teachers, particularly in the smaller towns of our Commonwealth, come directly from the common school of their native district, and assume the responsible office of school-teaching, without having made any special effort to learn the art of instructing, or having received any special training to fit them for their responsible duties?

Of late years, the State of Massachusetts has done much, through the instrumentality of Normal Schools and Teachers' Institutes, to educate and send forth an efficient corps of teachers. But is it not the case, that many who pretend to teach, neglect all special preparation, and take no manner of interest in seeking out the best methods of school-keeping? Is it not even true, that many teachers, occupying important situations as teachers in our cities and large towns, do not avail themselves of opportunities presented by Teachers' Associations for improvement in their calling, teachers, many of whom are continually complaining of the low state of the profession, while they never make an effort to sustain and encourage associations, calculated not only to improve the teacher, but to interest the community in the cause of education, and give dignity and importance to the profession of teaching?

It is not every good scholar that can teach a good school. Genius and eminent scholarship are sometimes unfavorable to the highest success in teaching, for they disqualify their possessor from appreciating the gradual processes by which common minds and beginners in any branch of study need to be conducted to conclusions which they have scaled at a leap, or at least without any mental recognition of the intermediate steps. For this reason, Sir Isaac Newton and Dr. Bowditch would have made but poor instructors in the elementary branches of mathematics. Their very eminence as mathematicians, and that wonderful power which enabled them to solve with rapidity the most difficult problems in the higher departments of mathemati cal science, unfitted them to appreciate the difficulties which would beset common minds in their studies, or to endure with patience the many and slow steps which young students would be compelled to take in reaching conclusions which they had accomplished by a single and vigorous effort of their comprehensive minds.

Although an acquaintance with all the branches of study which an instructor undertakes to teach is indispensable to success, yet scholarship, important as it is, is not all that is requisite.

No young man, or young lady, can in this day expect to excel in teaching, without some direct professional training, some special study of the best methods of governing, classifying, and instructing a school. Let teachers, then, if they have any noble ambition to be worthy of their calling, carefully study some of the most approved works on the philosophy of teaching and the art of school-keeping. Let them visit the best schools, and aim to gather useful hints, and learn the best methods of instructing from the most experienced teachers. Let them become subscribers for some educational periodical, and careful readers of approved works on the principles of teaching and requisites

for success in school-keeping. Let them hold meetings with other teachers for mutual counsel and improvement, and attend, when possible, the meetings of Teachers' Institutes and Conventions. In this way an interest will be created; changes and improvements in the best modes of instruction will be introduced and adopted; teachers will become animated, enthusiastic, and better qualified for their important duties; our schools will take a higher rank, and the teacher's profession will become more generally respected and honored.

CONDUCTING RECITATIONS.

AMONG the most important requisites for success in teaching, is the faculty of conducting recitations in such a manner, as to give an interest to every recitation, render profitable each lesson, lead the young student to investigate, to express his thoughts with ease and freedom, and think for himself. Many teachers during recitations, confine themselves too much to the text-book, and their pupils answer in the fewest words possible, in fragmentary sentences, and often with a low voice and indistinct utterance. In this way, they do great injustice to themselves, as well as to their teacher. This manner of reciting is not always owing to ignorance of their lessons, though it has this appearance. Every recitation should be conducted in such a manner as to create in the pupil an interest in his school, an enthusiasm in his studies, a bringing out of the powers of thought, a readiness and clearness of expression, and a freshness and energy of mind. So minute is the questioning, oftentimes, by which a monosyllable or two is pumped from the pupil, that it would seem, that any one who had never seen the lesson, if he possessed a moderate share of Yankee shrewdness, might guess at the answer. Hence the teacher is made far more prominent in recitation, than the pupil, and at examinations, instead of showing how well he has taught them to use their wings in exploring the surrounding atmosphere, he only shows how well he himself can cut the air, with the whole nest of them on his back. In this way, too, one of the great ends of school-going is defeated. Children are not sent to school, or ought not to be, to get them out of the way, or to keep them out of mischief, but to be educated. But a child who studies diligently, and has acquired all that is written in the several text-books used in the school, is only half educated, if he has

not been taught the art of reciting what he has learned, and to prize the time spent in a well-conducted recitation, as the most valuable part of school hours.

We are all acquainted with men whose information we know to be extensive, and yet who lack so much the art of communication, that they are scarcely more useful than the uninformed. They never learned, when attending school, to recite well. It is in acquiring a correct mode of recitation in school, that men lay the foundation for those habits of imparting what they know, when in future years they may be called upon to occupy conspicuous stations in society.

We maintain, then, that teachers cannot be thoroughly furnished to their work who fail in conducting recitations in an instructive and interesting manner. Scholars should be made to understand principles, and taught to state them clearly. One great object of a recitation should be to accustom scholars to tell what they know, to express their thoughts in a concise, clear, and happy manner. For the accomplishment of this object, every wise teacher will require abstracts on given subjects of lessons. Such a course, daily pursued at the hour of recitation, will soon enable most pupils to express their thoughts with readiness and ease, make them acquainted and familiar with the proper use of language, and fix principles and facts in their memories, which can be stated and explained in after years with intelligence and satisfaction.

No teacher should at his recitation confine himself to any set of printed or written questions, but he should draw out the minds of his pupils by questions of his own, proposed at the time. This will accustom them to think for themselves, to inves tigate subjects suggested by their lessons, and will lead them to go to other sources besides their text-books, for facts and principles on the subjects of their lessons. Thus will they form that wise and improving habit of reading by topics, of studying by subjects. This useful habit, when once formed, they will carry with them through life, and it will be of incalculable value in accustoming them to seek for clear ideas, and a thorough knowledge of every subject which interests them, or which they have occasion to investigate.

Every teacher is liable to slide into a set and formal way of conducting the exercises of his school, and prone to adopt certain fixed methods and set plans, in reference to instruction and government. As he is necessarily obliged to "beat and beat the beaten track," and engage month after month, and year after year, in treading the same round of instruction, and in attending to recitations as familiar to him as the alphabet, he is liable to sink, gradually and almost imperceptibly, into a stiff and mechanical uniformity. Now the teacher who would faith

fully meet the responsibilities of his station, who would excel in his office, who would rouse the energies of his pupils, must resist this tendency. He must, indeed, avoid sudden innovations and fitful changes, and indulge with caution a disposition to make experiments in new methods of instruction. Still, on the other hand, let him guard against settling down into a rigid uniformity, and a dull, technical mannerism, as to his methods of teaching.

The teacher should ever strive to possess enthusiasm and freshness of feeling, a love for his employment, and a noble desire to guide his pupils in the way of intellectual and moral improvement. Avoiding a mechanical formality, and a dull adherence to old methods of imparting instruction, he should seek to inspire his scholars with new enthusiasm, to impart freshness and interest to his instructions, and give to his school a pleasing air of intellectual life and vigor. He should connect with his instructions, as far as possible, what is interesting and attractive, so that associations formed in the minds of his pupils, will leave them in love with the subjects of investigations, and subsequently and frequently bring them back to the pursuits of science with readiness and alacrity. He should strive often for new methods of illustration, and adopt a variety of expedients to excite the curiosity of his scholars. A right use of this principle of the mind by the teacher, is of great importance. The teacher should be careful that awakened curiosity be not gratified too soon by unnecessary and superabundant aid, leaving no motive and no opportunity for effort on the part of his pupils. It is a great mistake to suppose, that in order to make learning pleasant to the young, difficulties must be removed out of the way. It is by teaching the pupil to overcome difficulties, that the teacher will be most likely to create an interest he so much desires to call forth. Even topics somewhat beyond the knowledge of the young pupil, without being above his comprehension, should occasionally be presented for consideration.

But, on the other hand, let the teacher be careful that curiosity be not suffered to subside or end in despair, for the want of timely, suitable, and necessary aid to enable his pupils to overcome appalling difficulties. With this view, he should intermingle with text-book instruction, a due proportion of familiar lecturing, calculated to rouse his pupils to make still further investigations, and acquire still more extensive knowledge.

Every instructor will have his own ways of conducting his recitations, and his own methods of instructing, but if he would be successful in his station, he will study to give variety and interest to the exercises of his school.

Were some such improvements as we have suggested intro