Page:An introduction to ethics.djvu/259

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242
AN INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS.

pupils, unless he possesses the mysterious power of personality. Mysterious it is, like everything great and real; but though it is more easily felt than defined, some of the elements which go to constitute it may be mentioned. It includes a generous sympathy, combined with an acute moral insight; tact and prudence, combined with frankness of spirit and candour of heart; a sense of fairness and justice manifested in self-discipline and in a genuine respect for the rights and the infirmities of others; and, above all, a consciousness of vocation. The personality of the teacher is centred in his sense of vocation. A reasoned enthusiasm for education and a conviction of its value, a firm faith in goodness and in the possibilities of training in goodness, lofty ideals which repeated disappointment and failure cannot shatter, and a whole-hearted loyalty to the cause to which he has dedicated his life—these, and nothing less than these, are the essential qualities of the teacher who hopes to exercise an influence on the development of character.

But the best teacher is the first to recognise that the school cannot do everything. While the concentration of the school on moral education does give special power to its work, it is, after all, only one of the institutions by which the child is influenced; and it is only when it is leagued with the others that it performs its own proper functions most effectively. In particular, the school looks to the church for assistance in the task of inspiring children with noble ideals, and furnishing them with a real driving power towards good. The religious spirit may be present in the school; indeed the power of many