IS TEACHING A PROFESSION?
SIR,—It would be interesting to know on what evidence Mr. Collins has based his generalisa-
tions. My own thirty-six years of experience in schools and training colleges as inspector and teacher lead me to more encouraging conclusions.
The majority of teachers are as good as or better than can be expected; some are naturals, others misfits. Thousands of them, in spite of the defects of training colleges, have given a lifetime of devotion to their work, and very many 'enterprising teachers' have improved their qualifications on their own initiative.
Although large classes exist (I teach one of them), efficiency does not depend on shouting, bullying and rule-of-thumb methods, and is not confined to gentler souls. The amount of illiteracy among children capable of proceed- ing to the work-bench is negligible, and the motive which leads to rapid learning in the factory is fear of losing the job. Fear, as Mr. Collins implies, is the wrong motive for school use.
What is the use of hinting at bankruptcy of ideas when the evidence is to the contrary? I suppose every school has a report by HM Inspector, which will show that where there is a dearth of ideas an attempt has been made to supply some; but my own experience is that many schools have suffered rather from a superfluity of often untried theories.—Yours faithfully,
r. TAYLOR 110 Staplegrove Road, TAunton
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