Inquiries and Answers 201 



cannot. This at once elevates you in the pupil's 

 estimation, for the pupil is convinced of your 

 truthfulness, and is made to feel but how 

 seldom is the sensation! that knowledge is 

 not the peculiar property of one person, but is 

 the right of any one who seeks it. It ought to 

 set the pupil inquiring for himself. The 

 teacher never needs to apologize for nature. 

 He is teaching only because he is an older and 

 more experienced pupil than his pupil is. 

 This is the spirit of the teacher in the colleges 

 and universities to-day. The best teacher is 

 the one whose pupils the furthest outrun him; 

 his pride is in the good pupils that he sends out. 



Is it best to have a professional nature-study 

 teacher to go from school to school? 



This is a local, personal, and administrative 

 problem. Ideally, it is best that every teacher 

 handle the nature-study, because, as nature-study 

 is a way of approach and a means of teaching, 

 its effect is greatest when it is most continuous. 

 In practice, however, some teachers will be sure 



