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the mercy of the thousand accidental circumstances which may occur.

In a word, be, in the government of your school, yourself supreme, and
let your supremacy be that of _authority_; but delegate power, as freely
as possible, to those under your care. Show them that you are desirous
of reposing trust in them just so far as they show themselves capable of
exercising it. Thus interest them in your plans, and make them feel that
they participate in the honor or the disgrace of success or failure.

I have gone much into detail in this chapter, proposing definite
measures by which the principles I have recommended may be carried into
effect. I wish, however, that it may be distinctly understood that all I
contend for is the _principles_ themselves, no matter what the
particular measures are by which they are secured. Every good school
must be systematic, but all need not be on precisely the same system. As
this work is intended almost exclusively for beginners, much detail has
been admitted, and many of the specific measures here proposed may
perhaps be safely adopted where no others are established. There may
also, perhaps, be cases where teachers, whose schools are already in
successful operation, may ingraft upon their own plans some things which
are here proposed. If they should attempt it, it must be done cautiously
and gradually. There is no other way by which they can be safely
introduced, or even introduced at all.

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