BV 1520 .S35 1895 Schauffler, Adolphus Frederick, 1845-1919 Ways of working Ways of Working OR HELPFUL HINTS FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL OFFICERS AND TEACHERS. By A. F. SCHAUFFLER, D. D. FORMERLY SUPERINTENDENT OF OLIVET SUNDAY SCHOOL, NEW YORK. New and Revised Edition. BOSTON AND CHICAGO W. A. WILDE COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1895. By W. a. WILDE COMPANY. All rights reserved. WAYS OF WORKING. PROLOGUE, All the methods of work suggested in the following pages have been tried and approved by the author. There is nothing that is merely theoretical. Many things other than those alluded to have also been tried, and, having proved failures, have been laid aside. Nothing but what came through the fire of experience unscathed has been dwelt upon. Not aU the methods recommended have been originated by the author. In fact, the land was ransacked during the time of his actual superintendency for helpful methods, and, wherever these were found, they were adopted. Some- times they had to be adapted, as well as adopted, and this will probably be the case in many schools who try to take up with some of the reforms suggested. But if the suggestions given here serve to stimulate others in the line of advance the aim of the book will have been accomplished. A. F. SCHAUFFLER, New York City, May, 1895. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. CHAPTER VIII. CHAPTER IX. CHAPTER X. CHAPTER XI. CHAPTER XII. CHAPTER XIII. PACK. CHURCH AND SCHOOL 7 THE PASTOR IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 10 THE SUPERINTENDENT— ^-^w^ r/^ar- acteristics, bad and good 20 THE SUPERINTENDENT — His cabinet — Visiting other schools — Taking tiotes , 29 THE SUPERINTENDENT— ^-/ar/m^— Continuing — Stopping the school ... 39 THE TEACHER'S MEETING— /^F^«/ /V should not be — What it should be ... 51 PRIVATE LESSON STUDY — i^^/;^j- — Maps — Illustrations — Object lessons , . 63 PRIVATE LESSON STUDY — Bible outline 76 THE ART OF QUESTIONING— Tc? /^x/ — To fix— To classify thought — How ? 87 TEACHER OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL — Visits — Letters — Sickness 97 OBJECT TEACHING — Principles — Il- lustrations 105 THE BLACKBOARD —Directions — Ex- amples 118 THE BLACKBOARD — ^^^;//^«a///^// J- . 129 5 CHAPTER XIV. CHAPTER XV. CHAPTER XVI. CHAPTER XVII. CHAPTER XVIII. CHAPTER XIX. CHAPTER XX. CHAPTER XXI. CHAPTER XXII. CHAPTER XXIII. CHAPTER XXIV. CONTENTS. MUSIC — Leader — Hymns — Tunes— Wor- ship 137 -^-^^YMO'LY.'^QY.— Weekly— Intelligent . 145 THE GRADED ^CWOOl. — Necessity — Advantage — Method 152 A POINT OF ORDER — i^^ gained — How kept — Teacher's help 164 PREMIUMS AND REWARDS — Prin- ciples 172 ENTERTAINMENTS — Christmas— Sun- day school Concert — Sociables , , . , 176 THE LIBRARY — <9r/^/«— What books- How get them — How deliver them . . . 187 THE LIBRARIAN— What kind of a per- son — How he may help the teacher ... 193 THE PRIMARY CLASS — Its needs and how to meet them 205 PRIMARY CLASS WORK— 77?^ teacher's tools and their use 218 THE HOME DEPARTMENT .... 231 WAYS OF WORKING. CHAPTER I. THE CHURCH AND THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. THE church is not a branch of the Sunday school, but the Sunday school is a branch of the church. It makes a great difference whether we start with right ideas with regard to this matter or with ideas which are wrong. There are Sunday schools in the land where officers and teachers act as though they were entirely independent of the church. In this they make a great mistake. On the other hand, there are churches who treat their Sunday schools as no man would treat his own child. They allow the Sunday school teachers to raise the money for the current expenses of the school. They do not supply the needs of the school with regard to music books, lesson helps, library books, or any other of those needful paraphernalia of Sunday school work, and yet these churches expect the Sunday school to be subservient to the church officers. Not unnaturally the Sunday school workers feel that if they raise the " sinews of war," they are able to direct with regard to their expenditure, unassisted by church elders or deacons. 8 WAYS OF WORKING. As a matter of fact, every church ought to provide for all the wants of its Sunday school with liberal hand. From the ranks of Sunday school scholars, the future membership of the church must largely come. Whether that membership is to be intelligent and well instructed in the Bible or not depends upon the work of the present generation of Sunday school teachers. These teachers ought therefore to be reinforced by every facility at our command, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege of the church to provide all these means of education. If the church takes this attitude with regard to its school, it may be very sure that the school will look to it as its rightful guiding authority. There will be no conflict between teachers and elders, and no feel- ings of jealousy will arise. The church has a perfect right to say who shall superintend its own school, and though it may not elect the superintendent and his assistant officers, it ought to have the power of nomination, or at least of veto. The pastor of the church is (or at least should be) pastor of the Sunday school as well. It is a fatal mistake if his face is unfamiliar in the school, and his voice rarely heard. Few Sundays in the year should pass without his presence to cheer the heart of the teacher, and arouse the conscience of the scholar. That pastor whose school is loyal to him will find that from the ranks of the school he gets his verv best workers. THE CHURCH AND THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 9 In case of mission schools, where there is no church in the immediate vicinity to lean back upon, the school may be autonomous or self-governing, but just as soon as in such a case a church is formed out of converts of that school, the church ought to assume its rightful position of authority. It will not be a hindrance to the school, but a help to have this take place. CHAPTER 11. THE PASTOR IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. IN THE First Place, the pastor must be a thorough beHever in Sunday-school work. I remember well going to make an address at a Sunday-school conven- tion held in the church of the most prominent pastor of the town. Before going into the pulpit, this pastor took me aside and in a most solemn way seated me in a chair, and, taking another chair, sat in front of me. He then said, **I believe that the Sunday school is doing more to make infidels than any other organization in exist- ence." I looked at the man in blank amazement, for it seemed to me that I must be dreaming. The idea that in this age any intelligent man could give utterance to such a sentiment seemed preposterous. How such a man could expect to be a helpful pastor of a Sunday school surpasses my comprehension. Of course this case is exceptional, though there are many ministers whose idea of the efficiency of the Sunday school is so low that they look upon it as an entirely secondary mat- ter. The pastor should not only believe in the Sunday- school work generically, but specifically. His faith must be of the kind spoken of by James, which is per- fected only by works. That pastor whose faith in Sun- day-school work is not strong enough to take him THE PASTOR IiN THK SUISDAV SCHOOL. II frequently into his own school will never accomplish very much. The Pastor Must of Necessity Love children and young people. I regret to say that there are some men who live so much in lofty philosophical realms that the ways, and wants, and vagaries of children fail to inter- est them. They are ill at ease when thrown into a crowd of young people, and neither know how to amuse them nor be amused by them. Such a man will have but little influence in the Sunday school of the church over which he is placed. He who does not love young people cannot be drawn by five yoke of oxen to gather with them and enter into their sympathies, and minister to their manifold wants. Indeed, I think that a man who does not love children never ought to go into the ministry. One of the sweetest characteristics of the re- nowned Phillips Brooks was his childlike spirit, and his keen sympathy with the boundless enthusiasm of child- hood. I have an impression that all truly great men love little children. The Pastor Should Realize that the Sunday school of to-day is the church of to-morrow. Where are we to secure our future church members if not out of the ranks of the children? More and more, educators are coming to understand that in childhood are all the hopes of humanity. If this be so in things secular, how much truer is it in things spiritual I In childhood, heaven lies around us, and only when we reach maturer 12 WAYS OF WORKING. years does it seem to fade away. If a pastor realizes that these boys in front of him in the primary class are one day to "be elders, deacons, ministers, and that these Httle girls are to be mothers and teachers, he will then begin to understand the superlative importance of work among the young. As a matter of fact, the larger part of our church membership of to-day has been drawn from the Sunday school of yesterday. And what has been true in the past is bound to be true again in the future. The Pastor Should also Realize his personal re- sponsibility for the welfare of the school. Whether he feel it or not, it lies at his door. In the last analysis he must be the motive power in the school of his church. Some pastors are so fortunate as to have competent leaders for every department of Sunday-school work ready to their hand. Some college graduate is ready to act as superintendent, and public school teachers may be found to handle Sunday-school classes. These pas- tors are to be congratulated. The majority, however, are not so fortunate. They find the superintendent a man of good impulses, but poor preparation for the work. They find a corps of fairly consecrated, but not thoroughly competent teachers. What shall such pas- tors do? Their very first step must be to realize that it is their duty to remedy the state of affairs, and to in- troduce one reform after another in as rapid succession as their schools will stand it. To do this the pastor need not be actually superintend- ent, but he must be the power behind the throne, so THE PASTOR IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 13 shaping things as to bring them, as far as possible, up to his ideal standard. In Order to do This, the ideas of the pastor him- self must be thoroughly clear. He must know what he wants to accomplish, and at the same time must famil- iarize himself with the means by which his ideal is to be reached. Our theological seminaries give men a most inadequate training in this respect. Indeed, some of them give no training at all. They work away like beavers on the dry bones of ancient church history, and fail to make their students understand that to create new church history is of more importance than to understand old. The Pastor, Therefore, who would have a good Sunday school must read up, he must find out what the best schools are doing, and familiarize himself with the methods of successful workers. He must understand, at least, the first principles of pedagogy, so that he may grasp the lines along which all his efforts must run in order to be successful. If the leader does not know whither to lead, how shall the follower be profited? I commend very strongly, therefore, to all pastors who want to be " Workmen who need not to be ashamed," to familiarize themselves most thoroughh^ with every detail of Sunday-school work. Judging by my own experience, this is a far more complicated line of study than that of the mere preparation of sermons, to which most ministers give so much time. H WAYS OF WORKING. Supposing, Now, that a Pastor Finds his superin- tendent willing but incompetent, what shall he do ? Generally, it would be unsafe to set the man aside, and often if he were set aside, there is no better man avail- able to take his place. The only thing, therefore, to be done is to fit the present incumbent for better work. This can be done by frequent conferences between the pastor and his superintendent. They can then talk matters over, and the minister can impart to his co- worker the ideas which he himself has gained from study and attendance at any of the summer schools for Sunday-school workers. The pastor can also commend to his superintendent such literature as he has found helpful to himself, either giving him the books or lending them to him. By his own personal enthusiasm he can arouse that of the superintendent, who then feels that he and his pastor are, in the truest sense of the word, colaborers. Many a superintendent has felt discouraged because he found his pastor took no vital interest in his work, but left him to *' paddle his own canoe " as best he could. The result has been that the superintendent has gone to his work poorly prepared and languid in interest. What the Pastor Does for the Superintendent he ought proportionately do for his teachers. In reality his teachers are probably the most devoted workers he has in his church. Willing to do whatever they can, they find themselves hampered by lack of preparation for their work. If the superintendent is not the proper THE PASTOR IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. I5 man to instruct his teachers, the pastor must do this for him. Here comes in that oft-recurring question of the teachers' meeting. Every minister ought to be able to conduct a successful teachers' meeting. Here he becomes acquainted with his workers, finds out their deficiencies and excellencies, and meets their wants to the best of his ability. Here, also, they learn to know their leader, to love him, and trust him as they can in no other way. Here in the teachers' meeting the most spiritual workers unite their hearts in fervent prayer for the conversion or for the spiritual culture of their scholars, or for God's blessing on the families represented in the school. Nothing, yes, I say nothings can take the place of a teachers' meeting, and in no other meeting can the pastor so multiply him- self in the spiritual dynamics as here. An evening spent regularly with the teachers is far more fruitful than the same time spent in visiting among the people. To Do THE Very Best Work among His Teach- ers, the pastor should visit them in their homes fre- quently. The influence that they exert is greater than that of the average church member, for they come in close contact with several persons each, in their classes. If, then, the spiritual life of the teacher be low, it is evi- dent that that of the class cannot well be high. It will not require much knowledge of his school to enable the pastor to find out who are his least spiritual teachers. As soon as he knows this, his privilege will be to visit thcni^ and try to deepen their inner life. In this way, 1 6 ^^^\YS of working. he will reach not them only, but those to whom they are ministering in the school. I have seen most encourag- ing results to flow from visiting of this kind. Too many pastors do much desultory visiting, from which little good results. Better spend your time in specific visits, such as are suggested above, for you will get much more fruitage from them than from pastoral visits of the ordinary kind. Every Pastor Ought to Visit his school frequently. By this I do not mean rushing into the school just before its close, and rushing out again, nor do I mean such a visit as serves to raise a disturbance. I remem- ber well, in a school in Boston, seeing the pastor come into the school and pass from class to class, shaking hands with the teachers and with some of the scholars, and inquiring as to the health of various relatives who had been sick. In this way he simply broke up, one after the other, the work of each class and ruined the effect of that day's session. I suppose he thought he was showing proper interest in the welfare of the school, and in his ignorance felt he was doing good. What would that pastor have said, if, while he was preaching, one of his elders had been charging up and down the aisle, shaking hands with A, B, and C, and inquiring as to whether relatives had got well of small-pox, diphtheria, or some other disease ? What I mean by the pastor visiting his school is that he should go in, con- forming to the regulations of the school, cooperating with instead of interfering with the work of the teachers. THE PASTOR IX TIIi: SUNDAY SCHOOL. 1 7 By these visits it would be made clear that the pastor was the pastor of the school as well as of t!ie church. The Right Kind of a Pastor will see to it that the ranks of the teachers are kept filled. Every super- intendent has difficulties along this line. Church mem- bers w^ill not respond to the call of the superintendent as they will to that of the pastor. The minister wdio keeps watch of his church membership, and who picks out available material for teaching force, will be a tre- mendous help to his superintendent along a line where all superintendents need aid. Since the Worship of God in Song is so impor- tant a part in Sunday-school work, the pastor w^ill see to it that the singing in his school is not harmful, but helpful. He will watch the character of hymns and tunes used, and use his utmost influence to secure the best in this line. Nor Will the Wide-awake Sunday-school Pas- tor forget the library. He will see to it that the books which come in are suited to the wants of his scholars. He will know the contents of that library intelligently, so that he can sometimes refer to the books, which the scholars are reading, in his sermons. In this w^ay he would gain additional influence in his school. If the School be not too Large, the pastor ought to know^ every scholar in his home. Of course 1 8 WAYS OF WORKING. in a school of one or two thousand pupils this may not be possible, but in a school anywhere below five hun- dred strong it is perfectly possible. That is a privi- leged man who has five hundred young people with whose home surroundings he is perfectly well acquainted, and who love to welcome him as he comes into their houses. If, However, the School be too Large to permit of this, at least let the pastor know his church-member scholars intimately. They are in the formative period of their lives, and if properly cared for now and nur- tured, will make splendid workers in the years to come. For this reason he should know them intimately, and help them to guard against those temptations to which the young is exposed. I Know a Good Pastor Who Found one little device most helpful to him. From time to time he sent to each teacher a blank properly filled out, which read as follows : — '* The following scholars in your class are members of this church." Then came the names of the scholars who were church members. " Please watch over them with peculiar care, and as soon as you see anything calling for my pastoral aid, let me know promptly." Hardly a week passed in that school without some teacher calling his attention to the needs of some little church member. In this way he was kept in active THE PASTOR IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 19 touch with all the believers in his Sunday school. Any minister who adopts a course like this will find that his teachers are to him like nerves to the body, conveying instantly such information as is vital to the welfare of the scholar. Many a backsliding boy can be reclaimed in this way before he has gone too far, and many a dis- couraged child enheartened by prompt attention. Of Course, All This Entails Much Work upon the pastor, but I bear witness that it pays a thousand- fold in the fruitage which the long run of years will bring into the garner of the church. Let any pastor try it honestly for five years, and he will bear exactly the same witness. CHAPTER III. THE SUPERINTENDENT. IN speaking of the officers of the Sunday school, of course the superintendent must be placed first. No one person can so strongly influence a school for weal or woe as he. Many fail to realize this, and the result is unfortunate for their schools. Now, I would like to draw the picture of some superintendents whom I have met, and ask you to consider them carefully. The Easy-Going Superintendent. — Care sits lightly on this brother. He never lies awake half the night thinking of some way in which his school can be made better. It is already good enough for him, so he lets well enough alone. This man comes to the school in time, as a rule, but he is not much put out if he is a moment or two late. When he does come, even if it is time for the ser- vices to commence, he stops near the door and has a chat with some teacher who, like himself, is not any too prompt. Then he wends his way to the platform, and rings the bell for order. While the classes are coming to order he is turning over the leaves of the hymn-book to find some appropriate hymn with which to begin. Of course the scholars have to wait for him, THE SUPERINTENDENT. 21 and the chances are two to one that the hymn that he selects is not the best one in the book for that day's les- son. But that does not disturb him, for it is not a serious matter, after all. Having thus set the keynote of easy-going ways, he carries the same all through the school exercises, and closes with about as much vim as he began. No plan, no method, no variety ever characterizes him on the platform. The school drawls along this year just about as it did last year, neither growing nor falling off, and to his mind all is serene. The Fault-Finding Superintendent. — If the first brother had too much sugar in his composition, this one has too much lemon. Scolding seems natural to him, and one cannot help pitying his wife and children. As soon as the hymn is given out and one verse has been sung, he stops the pianist and scolds the school for not singing better. The result is never favorable, but that makes no difference to him ; he scolds on just the same. If any of the classes strikes him as unusually unruly, he will call attention to that class, and scold them for their behavior. When he gives out the notice for the teachers' meet- ing he will scold them for not attending better, thinking that in this way he will win them to a better observance of their duty. If there has been an unusual number of scholars tardy, he will make mention of that in a kind of "lemon squeezer " way, that has no effect on any one, unless it be to disgust them with him and his ways. 22 WAYS OF WORKING. I do not say that he will scold at all these delinquents on the same day, but that in the course of a month nearly every one but himself will come in for some measure of public blame. If only this brother would some time give the teachers a chance to turn the tables on him, he would soon see how useless all this scolding from the platform is. To all such superintendents I would say, *' Is not an ounce of praise better than a pound of blame ? " The Talkative Superintendent. — He is a good- natured kind of a man, whom nature has afflicted with the gift of speech. This gift he thinks it his duty to exercise, for is it not his talent? So he begins with exhorting all to sing every time a hymn is given out. Then he makes a *' brief " introduction to the reading of the lesson by the school, and perhaps even comments on the verses as they are read. In giving out the notices, he dilates on them and repeats them ad nau- seam, I heard him once give the notices for the annual picnic of the school as follows : — ** Our annual picnic will take place on Wednesday of next week, and will be held at Park. You can get there by the horse-cars or by the railway. Remember that the date is next week Wednesday. Those scholars , who have baskets that they want to have taken to the park can be accommodated if they will bring them to the chapel on Wednesday at eight in the morning. Don't forget, — eight o'clock sharp. And you can go by horse-car or steam-car, as you THE SUPERINTENDENT. 23 please. Bring all your friends. Tickets are only twenty-five cents apiece, and we want all to go on next Wednesday at eight o'clock sharp, and if you want, you can leave your baskets here, and they will be cared for." This is enough to show how this one did it. In reality he was longer than I have indicated above, and all the school was wearied out with his ceaseless flow of language. But the Gibraltar of the talkative superintendent is the review. In this he comes out strong, and his school always comes out weak. When it comes to the practi- cal applications of the lesson, he gets to sermonizing ; and, though the teachers see a good many places where he could very well stop, he does not seem to see them himself, but spins things out so that one is reminded of the poet's words, *'Men may come, and men may go, but you go on forever." The Softly Superintendent. — He has nothing very positive about him. In fact, his whole manner seems apologetic. He has no confidence in himself, and, as a consequence, no one else has any confidence in him. When he mounts the platform the school is hardly aware that he is there. The bell is feebly rung, and the hymn so softly announced that not one third of the school can hear what the number is. The exercises are gone through with in a gentle way that savors more of weakness than of force, and the whole school feels much as a man might whose backbone was suddenly 24 WAYS OF WORKING. withdrawn. If disorder arises, he remonstrates in a softly tone of voice, which of course has no effect u.i the rebels. He prays in such a tone of voice that you cannot hear what he is saying, and hardly know when he has said "Amen." Scholars have to guess at the nodces that he whispers, for there is no ring in his voice. Bless this dear brother, how ever did he get the office that he holds? Better put a manly woman into the place than a womanly man like him. We hope that we may soon be able to say, " Peace be to his memory." The Self-Conceited Superintendent. — He stands at the opposite extreme from the brother just mentioned. He knows more than seven men that can render a reason. He will never see this criticism, because he does not need helps or hints as to the man- agement of his school. He knows it all already. No one can start a new idea in this school but what he magisterially snubs it, since it has not emanated from his brain. He frowns upon every reform that he has not started, and he starts but few. He is always telling *'how they do things in our school," but never asks how they do them in other schools. Positive, narrow- minded, obstinate, vehement, this man will do better than the softly leader, but his school will never strike twelve. Five or six is as high as it will ever get. Now Look at the Helpful Superintendent. — He never thinks that his duties are faithfully discharged when he has merely opened the school and closed it. THE SUPERINTENDENT. 25 He realizes that almost any one with a clear head can do that. To pick out hymns, to offer a prayer, and tc attend to the arrangement of classes without teachers, — this is but a small part of the duties of the office. There are other things that are equally helpful in the efficient management of the school. For example : — 1. A Cheerful Disposition is a great help to the teacher. The whole school will feel at once the in- fluence of a bright, hopeful face turned toward it from the platform. On dreadfully stormy days in winter, or hot afternoons in summer, when every one is conscious of a sense of discomfort, new life may be infused into scholar and teacher by a few hearty words from the platform. To hear the superintendent say, '* I am glad to see so many here to-day, in spite of the weather. Those who are here must be very much in earnest, and therefore I am sure that we shall have a good lesson," — I say, to hear such words at the opening of the school acts like a tonic on all present. They brace right up for their w^ork. 2. A WiDE-Aw^AKE Superintendent is a great help to the teacher. Most teachers have neither the time nor the ability to secure for themselves the best lesson helps. If they begin to examine the multitude of monthlies and quarterlies, they are apt to become confused. A wide-awake leader will help them greatlv in this respect, and will do much of this work for them. He will also be constantly on the alert for new and 26 WAYS OF WORKING. approved methods of working the library, of keeping the class records, or of collecting the weekly offerings for the Lord's treasury. Of course he will not discard any system because it is old, or adopt any one because it is new. At the same time he will not be afraid of new ideas, but will willingly adopt them, if they come suffi- ciently accredited. 3. A Readiness to Take Suggestions is a very helpful trait of character. Some men never smile on any plan unless it be a child of their own brain. Such men are apt to be childless. Under such a leader the teachers for a time present their suggestions in teachers' meetings and urge their adoption. But as months and years roll by, and they never find their suggestions heeded, they either leave the school or else grow dis- couraged and hold their peace. There are superintend- ents who are keeping their schools stationary because they will neither move on themselves nor allow any one else to go ahead. How one learns to abhor them ! Now, no one man is as wise as all his teachers put together. Sometimes a new and inexperienced teacher has a new and good idea. His very newness to the school may give him a vantage ground, for he has not become used to the old and stupid way of doing things, and therefore naturally rebels against it. 4. Indomitable Perseverance is a magnificent trait of character. The superintendent should never give up because of discouragements. Of course, if he THE SUPERINTENDENT. 2^ is the man for the otfice, he has tried to have a teachers' meeting. He may have succeeded or he may have failed. But if he has failed once, that is no reason why he should fail again. And yet the easily dis- couraged superintendent is apt to put the blame on the teachers, or else upon the "peculiar circumstances" which surround the school. Now, it may be well at the start to assure such an one that there are no *' pecu- liarly " discouraging circumstances in any school. In the city it is hard to get teachers to come out, because they have so many evening engagements, and because many ladies object to going out alone. In the country the distances are often great and the roads bad. Everywhere there are difficulties. But no difficulty should be so great as to hinder the maintenance of a teachers' meeting. It took Israel forty years to go a six weeks' journey, because they looked at the " peculiar difficulties " of the situation. Last but not least, personal piety is a very helpful characteristic of a good superintendent. Nothing can atone for a lack of this. The school will not rise higher than its superintendent in this regard. A few words here may be helpful. In our religious lives we should be very careful to "take up the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes." Purity of speech should be cultivated. An evil story told in the store, or listened to, is such a fox. The reading of the Sunday newspapers is another fox that spoils many a vine which otherwise might bear tender fruit. Inces- sant joking with the teachers or in teachers' meeting 28 WAYS OF WORKING. dampens the spiritual life greatly. Not that due cheer- fulness is to be avoided, or a laugh to be frowned upon. But the spirit of banter and joke must be carefully guarded, or it will go too far. All these may be little foxes, but remember that it is just the little foxes that spoil the vines. CHAPTER IV. THE SUPERINTENDENT. CONTINUED. SO important is this office that we must give to it another chapter, giving this time some positive suggestions, which we hope will be found helpful. A most important adjunct to the work of this officer may be found in A Superintendent's Cabinet. — Just as the Presi- dent of the United States has a Cabinet to assist him and advise him in the formation of his plans, so the superintendent of a school should have a small body of earnest workers around him, to whom he looks for advice and support. No man can plan as wisely and work as effectively alone as he can when adequately supported. Moses with Aaron and Hur is more potent than Moses alone. Now, superintendents are apt to fall into one of two errors. They either inaugurate and carry out new plans without the hearty co-operation of their teachers and officers, or they broach all these plans before a large teachers' meeting before they have been thoroughly digested, and thus excite the hostility of some of those present. Either course makes it very difficult to carry to a successful issue the plans pro- posed. 29 30 WAYS OF WORKING. A Middle Path is the best one to pursue. If the superintendent calls the officers of the school around him, and with them examines in detail all the interests of the school, he and they, together, will soon coincide as to the best method of procedure. Such examination and discussion cannot in the first instance be profitably carried on in the teachers' meeting for the following reasons : — (a) It takes too much time. HOURS are necessary, and the teachers grow restive and hasten to a vote, to the detriment of the matter in hand. (d) If the plans proposed involve any radical change, some opposition is sure to be aroused, which may be fatal to the scheme. At a later stage, and when the matter has been carefully considered by a smaller num- ber of minds, it can be presented to the teachers with a much better chance of acceptance. (c) Many plans which a superintendent may propose will be found not to be feasible. In an officers' meet- ing this will soon be ascertained, and the plan be laid aside. To have discussed this plan in the teachers' meeting would have been a great waste of time. The Direct Advantages of a monthly cabinet meeting are many. (a) It unifies the officers of the school. They learn to act as a body. They learn to lean upon and support each other. (/;) It stimulates each to the very best performance of his duty ; for he feels that he has the sympathy of THE SUPERINTENDENT. 3I and is watched by his fellow-workers. If, for example, the subject under discussion has been the best method of conducting the library, and, light having been obtained from various sources, a definite course of action has been marked out, the librarians cannot help feeling the stimulus of this co-operative council. (c) In such a meeting reports from other successful schools may be presented and then discussed at length. In this way the best METHODS can be reached and adopted. (d) After coming to a rational decision, the officers can then clearly present the whole question to the teach- ers without any needless and impracticable details, and ■piiU together for the adoption of their -plans. But How Shall Topics for discussion be found and presented to the cabinet meeting? What are the defects in your school that call for a remedy? Here lies one of the difficulties of the situation. Many a superintend- ent knows that there is *' something" the matter with his school, but what that "something" is he cannot tell. And until he finds this oat all his efforts to make the school better will be of no avail. Now, as a sug- gestion that may be of use, I offer the following : — Go AND Visit Some Good School ; but be very sure not to visit as some people do. They come into a popular school, sit down, and listen to the singing, hear the review, and go out again, asking no questions, tak- ing no notes, learning practically nothing. The super- 32 WAYS OF WORKING. inteiulent who visits any good school sliould have pencil and paper in hand, and use them incessantly. Every- thing praiseworthy, every new feature, every unex- plained movement, every defect should be carefully noted down. No detail noticed should be too insignifi- cant to be marked. After the school is closed, the visitor should, if possible, ask for an interview with the superintendent, or with some to whom this duty is dele- gated, and ask all manner of questions that are sug- gested by the notes that he has taken. Let him not fail to inquire, also, whether there be any points to which he has not alluded, which the school that he has visited considers important. In this way he can obtain much assistance and will ever after carry the impression that he has there gained with him. (Now, I hear some super- intendent saying, " Oh, I can never leave my school ! " Oh, yes, you can, and if you do and are able to bring back any good ideas, your absence for a Sunday will be better than your presence.) After Having Taken the Notes above alluded to, let the superintendent take the first opportunity to sit down and ?nedttate. Meditation is a grand thing, when you have something to meditate upon. Let him think over all that he has seen and heard, and begin to apply, in imagination, carefully and candidly, all these new plans to his own school. Not all of them will probably be applicable. But some of them will almost surely be useful. If any superintendent of an average school visits a first-rate school, and finds no ideas with THE SUPERINTENDENT. 33 which to benefit his own school, that man is unfit for his flace. As A Specimen of Such Notes, let me give the following, which I took in a fair school, not fifty miles from Boston. (