Principles and Methods by Lula Tarbell-Leary

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 12, 1908

Principles and Methods

By Lula Tarbell-Leary

The Teacher and His Work

“AND God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers.”

Does every teacher realize that God has called him to the place in which he finds himself? If he does fully realize that his calling is one of the great gifts from God, and sets himself at work to develop and discipline this gift in the service of God, he is on the right road toward success in his sacred calling.

The child’s first and most important teacher is the mother. This fact needs but the illustrations of some of the strongest Bible characters to prove its truth. Who was the first teacher of Moses? of Daniel? From daily lessons learned at the side of their mothers these men in their childhood gained lessons which made them men whom God could use to do his great work. “First impressions are the most lasting;” therefore it behooves every mother to be, if possible, the one who molds the minds of those whom God has entrusted to her care.

Next to the mother, the influence of the teacher is felt in the life of boys and girls, and of young men and young women. Nearly every young person who has attended school, and from the school has gone out to battle successfully with the duties of life, if asked, would say that his teacher’s influence had been one of the greatest factors in helping him to reach the goal of his ambitions.

I remember of hearing on one occasion one of my first teachers tell her early experience. When only a young girl, she left her home in the New England States, and went to Ohio to teach school. It was a hard school. Soon after it started, she found that the discipline was too much for her, and wanted to go home. She wrote to her brother, telling him her difficulties, and saying that she desired to come home. The reply came from the brother; but it was not a compliance with her request. Instead, he wrote to her thus: “Don’t you dare come home until you have conquered your school. Stick to your post!” The influence of that teacher who remained and conquered her difficulties could not but have been felt by her pupils. Teachers who overcome the difficulties which arise, help their pupils to overcome the obstacles in their way; and when these young people find themselves in actual service, whether in the foreign or in the home field, perhaps the remembrance of their teacher’s example will lead them to stick to their post.

The teacher’s work includes much more than the daily routine continued in the schoolroom. The true teacher’s chief aim is character building. Character is the one thing which we need to form in this world for eternity. The only aim and ambition we have is to prepare for eternity; therefore the one desire and aim toward which all the teacher’s work should tend is to assist his pupils to secure that one important thing—character.

The privileges and opportunities of the teacher in helping his pupils to build character are many and varied. In the schoolroom, on the playground, one who is observant can find many lessons to teach besides the lessons taught from books. It is the little things in life which are oftentimes the most important, and go to make up the great things. The teacher has a great work; but it is the little things in his work that help to accomplish his stupendous task.

The church-school teacher, as well as those in our higher schools, will find that his work extends far beyond the doors of his school. His opportunities in the church, in the Sabbath-school, among the parents, and in missionary work afford him privileges for effective work for the Master. But in this he should not neglect his profession, but make that work first,—the one important thing,—do that work well, and then as he has time, let him lend a helping hand.

Let the teacher not forget that to a great degree his pupils will be what he is, and that “the opportunity for doing good is not greater in any other calling, unless it be the ministry of the gospel—and a Christian teacher’s work is a holy ministry. Many of the world’s greatest, wisest, and best people have been teachers.”

LULA TARBELL-LEARY.