Let not those, then, who are similarly circumstanced
with myself;
think that I address them in the spirit of arrogance, with a
pre-conceived opinion of my own sufficiency. I wish that all who teach
may be more fit for the situation than I am. I know many who are an
honour to their profession, as well as the situation they fill; but,
I
am sorry to say, I think they do not all meet with the encouragement
they merit. It is not always those who do their duty the best that are
most valued; but if a man's conscience do not upbraid him, he has in
its approval a high reward.
And now, as to a matter on which there is some difference of opinion,
viz ., whether women are or are not as fit for conductors of infant
schools as men; my decided opinion is, that alone they are not.
There should be in every school a master and a mistress. In the first
place, in an infant school, the presence of the man, as of a father
in
a family, will insure a far greater degree of respect and attention
on
the part of the children. This does not arise from the exercise of any
greater degree of harshness or severity than a mother would be capable
of using; nor is it to be attributed, as some suppose, to the less
frequent presence of the father in the case of many families, but is
rather to be accounted for by an intuitive perception of the greater
firmness and determination of the character of the man. To those who
deny this, I would give as a problem for solution, a case by no means
unfrequent, and which most of my readers will have witnessed, a
family in which the mother by no means incurring the charge of
spoiling the child, by sparing the rod is less heeded, less promptly
obeyed in her commands, than a father who seldom or never makes use
of any such means. The mother scolds, threatens, scourges, and is at
last reluctantly and imperfectly obeyed; the father, either with reference
to his own commands, or seconding those of the mother, speaks ,
and is instantly regarded. The idea of disputing his authority, or
neglecting or disobeying his laws, never once enters the minds of his
children. Exactly the same is it in an infant school, the presence of
a man insures attention and gains respect from the children, not only
at first, whilst the novelty of such control might be supposed to
operate, but permanently; as I am sure all who have candidly examined
the schools where two women preside, and those conducted by a man and
a woman, must have seen.
Another objection to the sole government of females (I mean the class
of females who are likely to accept such situations) in these schools,
is, they have not the physical strength, nor, at present, intellectual
powers, sufficient for the task. In saying thus, I trust I shall not
be suspected of wishing to offend my fair countrywomen. That they have
not sufficient physical strength is the intention of nature; that they
are deficient in mental energy is the defect of education. I trust,
therefore, that no offence will be assumed where no blame is attached.
It has been a point much disputed, whether there be really an original
and intrinsic difference in the mental powers of the two sexes, and
it
has been of course differently decided by the respective disputants.
With this I shall have nothing to do; but these things are certain;
that the minds of both are capable of much greater activity and more
important results than have been generally supposed; and that whilst
education has not done what it ought for man, it has done far less for
woman. This it is, then, which affords an additional argument in my
mind for a master and a mistress. For let it not be imagined, that
I would dismiss women altogether from the system that I think them
useless or even dispensable in an infant school. If, indeed, one
or the other must be done without, and I had my choice, I should
certainly give my voice for a woman; but to carry the system into full
effect requires both . There is ample opportunity for the offices of
maternal love, of which man is at best but a poor imitator; neither
can it be denied, that an active intelligent woman is a useful
auxiliary to the labours of the man in the duties of the school. The
authoritative presence of the man is the more necessary in the infant
system, because one grand object is, to rule without harshness, and
by that principle of love which is in no degree incompatible with the
respect felt for a kind but judicious schoolmaster. Some children,
indeed, so far as regards authority, might be very well managed by a
mistress only, but then it must be recollected that an infant school
exhibits every variety of temper and disposition; and even were it
otherwise, the objection as to intellectual incompetence and physical
strength, before adverted to, would still hold good.
Such, indeed, is the opinion of the unfitness of females for the
occupation of teaching, in Scotland, that in many places the very idea
of it is scouted. The people of that country have scarcely heard of
a
school-mistress , even for the youngest children; and certain it is,
that education is much better conducted in Scotland than in most other
places. If the minds of children are to be cultivated, and a firm and
decided tone given to their characters, say they, what can be the use
of sending them to a school conducted by a woman only? And I must
candidly admit, that I perfectly agree with them on this head, and
have therefore deemed it my duty to be thus explicit on the matter.[A]
[Footnote A: I am sorry to say that, at this time, the people
of Scotland have been led into the same error, of which I have
complained. I did hope they would never have allowed themselves to be
led away from their old, judicious, and workable plans, far the sake
of party, or fashion; but so it is, and it is much to be regretted:
however, it is a consolation to know that it is not universal.]
One thing I must add, by way of conclusion: to render any man or woman
competent to discharge the duties of the situation efficiently, the
heart of the teacher must be in the school. If there be not the zeal
of the amateur, the skill of the professor will be of little avail.
The maxim will apply to every species of occupation, but it is
peculiarly true as to that of an infant school teacher. To those who
can feel no other interest than that which the profit gives to the
employment, it will soon become not only irksome, but exceedingly
distasteful. But certain I am that it is possible to feel it to be
what it is an employment not only most important, but likewise most
interesting. It is one which a philosopher might choose for the study
of the human character, and a philanthropist for its improvement.
One word more, and I have done. I have seen what I could have wished
had been otherwise, viz., not sufficient discrimination used in giving
religious instruction ; improper times have been chosen, too much
shew has been made of it, too much freedom has been used with the
divine names; and I have sometimes been so shocked at the levity
displayed, as to have considered it little less than profanation.
I wish to lay the utmost stress on what has been stated, as a failure
on the part of a master and mistress is most grievous and lamentable.
I have seen schools, where little or nothing has been done, because
of
the inefficiency of the teachers. Moral and religious qualifications
are confessedly of the first importance, but those which are mental
are to be highly estimated. I differ with a gentleman who has written
on this subject, when he says, that any clever boy who has been
educated in a national school, will accomplish the end; because
the system through which he has passed neither gives a sufficient
knowledge of things nor of words , nor does it sufficiently develop
the faculties to prepare him for such a service.
One cause of failure in these respects has been undoubtedly the paltry
remuneration which some receive, and I would earnestly recommend the
supporters and conductors of infant schools to try the effect of
liberality by all the means they can command. Persons of talent ought
to be found for this work, and then they should be appropriately paid;
but if any are to be deemed suitable, and if the having them at a
low rate be a special reason for their engagement, it would be better
at once to revert to the old system, than to destroy, by such means,
the public confidence in the plans now suggested.
I entertain a full conviction that the infant system will flourish
most where I once least expected its adoption: I mean in Scotland,
because of the high importance attached to the essential
qualifications of teachers, and because of the attention and kindness
which they continually receive.
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