392 . INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF EDUCATION. 
Wordsworth struck the keynote of true teaching when he said of his 
Wanderer : 
“<< His limbs 
And his whole figure breathed intellicence.” 
And again, 
‘ He had rehearsed 
Her homely tale with such familiar power, 
With such an active countenance, an eye 
50 busy, that the things of which he spake 
Seemed present.” 
The mistake too often made is that of placing a young teacher in charge 
of children to experiment with them before her body has learned to breathe 
“intelligence.” While her ideas are somewhat indefinite, her expression 
faulty, her manner hesitating and conscious, she has none of the ¢¢ familiar 
power ” which makes things seem ¢ present” and vivid to children. Chil- 
dren detect the crude work and become unteachable. That such practice 
with children does not make a perfect teacher, or supply the familiar 
power ” just mentioned, is abundantly proven in the fact that the poorest 
:eachers are often those who have spent their lives in the schoolroom. By 
continued practice, without attention to the guiding principles of the art 
of teaching, they have degenerated into mere plodders, and it is common 
to hear a teacher criticised as having taught so long that he ““ runs in a 
groove.” 
It is well known that mere action without regard to the laws of mental 
or moral growth or of physical development engenders weakness instead 
of strength in either of these phases of our being, and that action in any 
iine develops power and skill only when it is inspired by correct ideals and 
8 in harmony with the laws of development in that line. It follows that 
-eaching will be a vague process, a waste of time and energy, until the 
teacher has incorporated much of knowledge and theory into her person- 
ality. Some practice with children may, indeed, accompany such acquire- 
ment of theory, as the illustration of an idea, for, while true practice 
applies the knowledge that guides it, it also interprets and makes that 
knowledge clearer, and the theoretical side is better understood when 
supplemented by intelligent practice. But a young teacher can take no 
step wisely in practice work until she has made a threefold mastery for 
herself : in a knowledge of the subjects to be taught, in a knowledge of 
approved processes of teaching, in acquiring correct ideals for herself as a 
teacher. 
There are those who argue that if one have teaching ability she will 
seach successfully without training in a special school, but modern require- 
ments in the schoolroom demand a professional appreciation of the needs 
of the education of to-day. Experience shows that young ladies from 
high-schools and from country schools have only a school-girl appreciation