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 LECTURE IV

THE FUNCTION OF THE TEACHER: AS IMPARTING KNOWLEDGE

There is no other question which is more promptly and universally asked of us than this: "Are the scholars learning anything?" Does, or does not, the pupil come to know more on account of his intercourse with the teacher? Or, to reverse the point of view: the good and successful teacher is, other things being at all equal, the one who imparts most of knowledge to those committed to his charge. And, indeed, for what other purpose than just this are they committed, in the first instance, to his charge? The correlate of teaching is learning, and the business of the teacher is to make the pupil learn. The popular impression on this subject is illustrated in an amusing way by the grammatically vulgar, but practically shrewd, use of the verb "to learn" as a transitive verb. The teacher ought to "learn his scholars something," or he is no teacher at all.

This view of the teacher's peculiar function, when understood in this unqualified way, is only partially true. But there can be no doubt that the imparting of knowledge is one of the most 68