One Thousand Ways to Make a Living; or, An Encyclopædia of Plans to Make Money

The greater part of the teaching in the elementary schools is in the hands of women, and much of it should continue in their hands since they are better suited than men to teach the lower grades. But children, especially in the upper grades, should come in contact not only with women, but with some men as well. More teaching in these grades, therefore, will doubtless in the future be put into the hands of men. In the rural schools, except where schools have been consolidated, a teacher usually teaches all subjects in all eight grades, or in a number of these grades. In city schools in the regular grade subjects, each teacher generally handles one group of children, all of whom are in the same grade. In the upper grades of the elementary schools in cities, particularly in grades 7 and 8, each teacher generally teaches one subject, and teaches that subject to different groups of children in different grades. Under these conditions the teacher has opportunity to specialize along the line of his choice. One may specialize in the regular old line school subjects, such as history, reading, arithmetic, writing, and geography, or in the newer subjects, such as music, art, and agriculture. Art teaching offers an attractive field. So do agriculture, woodwork, foundry, forging, sheet-metal work, concrete construction, simple electrical construction and wiring, printing, shoe repairing, and mechanical drawing. Except in the largest cities, the teachers of industrial art subjects are usually called upon to teach two or three such subjects. One’s preparation for the teaching of these industrial art subjects should include first, a knowledge of the shop side of these lines of work; second, some knowledge of the everyday problems of industrial production, distribution, and consumption; and third, some knowledge of the method of teaching. PLAN No. 1102. MEN TEACHERS NEEDED Men who have strong sympathies with children, who have seen life outside of their own town, State, or country, who, like our soldiers returning from the front, have faced death with as much bravery as they have faced life, such men know what it means to overcome difficulties, and the experience and ideals of such men are needed for the proper education of our youth. The influence of such characters should be felt before the close of the elementary school, which is the most important part of any educational system, the foundation on which higher education is based, and which, therefore, offers a field not unworthy the finest type of soldier. There is a growing demand for men teachers in the best high schools and normal schools, and this demand is likely to increase as the result of the war, which has shown more clearly the need of the influence of men in our secondary schools and which has drawn many women into industrial occupations that were formerly closed to them. This demand for men teachers is especially noticeable in the special subjects in high schools, and it is growing even in the regular subjects. Even in English, which has been taught pretty largely in the past by women, there is a growing feeling that more men should be employed. Heretofore, men fitted by nature and training for teaching English in the high schools have generally gone into journalism or magazine writing. In the teaching of mathematics in high schools, applications rather than pure theory are being more and more emphasized. Here men generally have a wider range of information and experience than women, so that the teaching of mathematics in high schools should offer increasing opportunities to returned service men. The method of teaching history, too, is gradually changing, so that it is more attractive to men than formerly. Particularly attractive should it be to returned soldiers and sailors, who have had such an important part in making history during recent months. The teaching of modern languages is tending to open up somewhat to men. There will be a growing demand for teachers of French and Spanish, and this demand can not readily be filled satisfactorily for some time to come. It should open up good opportunities, therefore, to returned soldiers and sailors. French has been neglected in American secondary schools, particularly in the central and far West. Spanish, until a very few years ago, was almost unknown in high-school courses. Recently it has been introduced rapidly. It is not certain, of course, yet that it will continue to develop under normal conditions, but it is certain that South American trade will grow faster after the war, and this fact should encourage the spread of the study of Spanish. In the past we have made the mistake of leaving the teaching of foreign languages too much to teachers native to the countries whose language they teach. In the future we shall be careful not to make the mistake that we made in the teaching of German. We shall put the teaching of foreign languages more largely into the hands of American-born teachers. We can scarcely do better than to intrust such work to the care of returned soldiers and sailors who equip themselves for this task. There has long been a great demand for well-prepared men teachers in sciences in the high schools. The chances for men in these subjects in the future are likely to be better than they have been in the past. Many men with scientific training will return from the war with disabilities unfitting them for their former occupation, and to such the field of science teaching may seem very promising. Opportunities will be especially good for men who have been trained in scientific or technical colleges, which include in their curricula the sciences usually taught in high schools. For more advanced high-school work in industrial arts in the large high schools, men are needed who can teach one of the branches of industry intensively, giving their whole time to such subjects as wood-working, metal working, printing, or mechanical drawing. A man who is a journeyman workman in any industry already has most of the training necessary for this line of teaching. Men teachers are needed also to teach some of the regular school subjects from the industrial point of view. For instance, there is occasionally need for men to teach shop mathematics or the sciences concerned in the industry, but they should be familiar with shop work and shop problems in order to make their work fit into the needs of the shop courses. There are opportunities also in the field of teaching vocations. Positions are rapidly opening up in public all-day, part-time, and evening vocational schools; also in apprentice schools conducted by business establishments. Opportunities for teaching positions in this work range from permanent employment on the staff of a school or college to temporary employment in conducting evening courses for a number of weeks. Many institutions of all grades conduct full-time day courses, and also conduct special, part-time or evening courses, at certain times in the year. Thus opportunities are open either for full-time or part-time employment. In industrial cities where evening industrial and commercial courses are conducted there is often an opportunity for a man to secure a position as instructor. He can do this instructing and retain his day employment. Usually there is more demand for agricultural training in the agricultural and thinly settled States, and for trade and industrial training in the cities of the industrial States, though both forms of training are carried on to some degree in practically all the States. In any part of the country a prospective trade instructor is more likely to find opportunity in the larger cities. PROMOTION Teaching positions in colleges and universities pay more money, of course, than those in high schools. It is equally true that instructors in high schools are paid more money than those in elementary schools. This difference in salary is largely because of the greater amount of training required for the better paying positions. In general, high-school teachers, for example, must have pursued an educational course at least four years in advance of the grade of the subject which they teach in the high school. This means graduation from a college, or what is commonly called the A. B. degree. The standards in most colleges have been raised so much the last few years that one must have at least two years of education in the college subject which he expects to teach, beyond the four years’ work of the college. This means at least the master’s degree and, in many institutions, the doctor’s degree. Any young man ambitious to become a college instructor should recognize that his chances of success in the work are very poor unless he is able in some way to secure the proper preparation. In many cases this is done by graduating from a normal school to teach in elementary schools. Later, by saving his money, the teacher is able to complete an A. B. degree, which makes him eligible for desirable teaching positions in high schools. A third step for the ambitious man is that the second return to a college or university for the purpose of securing specialized training which entitles him to the master’s or doctor’s degree. He is then eligible for desirable college and university positions. Any man interested in education as a profession should, therefore, take stock of his native ability, his interest in the profession, his present educational qualifications, the grade of position to which he aspires, and the amount of sacrifice he is willing to make to meet its requirements. After a few years’ experience in actual teaching one may qualify for a supervisory position or an administrative position. There are many positions of this character. There are positions as supervisor of art, music, drawing, physical training, manual training, agriculture, etc., in the grades and in the high schools. There are supervisors also of certain grades, like supervisors in the primary grades, the intermediate grades and the upper grades. Men can very well do this supervisory work in the intermediate and especially in the upper grades. Sometimes one supervises the teaching of all subjects in a group of buildings. On the administrative side there are opportunities as principals of buildings. Sometimes the work of the principal is wholly that of administration. Sometimes it combines with the administrative work, the work of supervising actual teaching. From principalships and supervising positions one may pass on to the position of superintendent. A young man of ability and ambition with the proper training can reasonably hope to become principal of a large building, or superintendent of a fairly good sized school system, if he is willing to pay the price of hard work for 12 to 15 years. Administrative positions on the strictly business side of schools, such as superintendent of buildings, or of supplies, are open to men of course, who have not had teaching experience at all. Generally, however, these positions are filled by men who know something of the teaching problem itself. More and more there is a tendency to bring the business administration and education administration nearer together. In the future, therefore, promotions even in the business field of school work will doubtless take place more and more through the avenue of the educational field. In both of these fields, the business and the educational administration of school work, there is a distinct future for fine vigorous men, who have the power of arranging their thoughts and facts in an orderly way when they are taking up matters for discussion with their associates. The soldier who enters the field of education has a far wider horizon, and therefore a better opportunity for promotion, than one equally well equipped in other respects who has not borne arms. ESSENTIALS OF THE IDEAL TEACHER It is difficult to judge in advance one’s fitness for teaching. Probably the biggest single element determining success is love for children or for youth. If a man can play with them with pleasure, he has a pretty strong evidence of an understanding of child nature that will be helpful to him in teaching. Prof. George Herbert Palmer, in his monograph “The Ideal Teacher,” says that there are four essentials of the successful ideal teacher. These may be briefly indicated as follows: