CHILD STUDY AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS. 447 
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CHILD STUDY IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROFES- 
STONAL TRAINING OF TEACHERS. 
BY MARGARET K. SMITH, OSWEGO STATE NORMAL TRAINING SCHOOL. 
THE teacher, as much as any other artist or artisan, is a workman. 
For the same reason that the painter or the carpenter must know the 
-ools with which he works, the teacher must know the subjects of instruc- 
sion which are to be presented to his pupils. 
Besides knowing his tools, however, the painter or the carpenter must 
«now the nature of the material to which he applies his tools ; and by 
;arefully noting the effect of this application, he gains a knowledge, the 
ase of which results in a skill in fashioning, which insures a great saving 
»f time and energy, as well as a great increase in the value of his products. 
fn a similar way the teacher, in addition to knowing the subjects of 
struction, must know the nature of the material upon which he works, 
7iz., mind in general, as well as the nature of the particular mind with 
which he hasto deal. In addition to this, he must be able to observe accu- 
cately the effect of any subject of instruction, as well as the effect of the 
manner of its presentation upon the mind of the pupil. 
Having knowledge of the subjects of instruction, knowledge of the 
aature of mind, and power to observe the effects of the application of 
shese subjects to mind, together with the effects of the manner of present- 
ing them upon mental growth, the teacher is in possession of the condi- 
tions for gaining a skill that must result in a great saving of time and 
anergy, in a constant renewal of interest in his work, as well as in a finer 
evelopment on the part of his pupils. 
The effective skill of the artist or artisan is not to be gained incident- 
ally, however. It means years of work, of observation of results, and of 
-enewed work to secure better results. It means training under the criti- 
sism of masters, as well as training under self-imposed criticism. It also 
means training under the criticism of tyros, who, while they may know 
ittle or nothing of the subject under discussion, are yet very effective in 
keeping an expert up to the mark. 
For the work of his profession, just as truly does the teacher need a 
period of special training under the direction of masters, by whose criti- 
cism he learns to measure himself correctly, and to estimate accurately 
she value of his own work. 
The teacher in training needs to review the subjects of instruction with 
a view to presenting them. He needs a training in the observation of 
human beings, as well as a training in self-observation, with a view to 
discovering the laws of psychic action, and to recognizing the effect of 
motives under different conditions. Also, he needs training in the obser-