Where Do We Stand: An Address Before the New York State Teachers' Association at Utica, Thursday, August 2, 1855 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Where Do We Stand: An Address Before the New York State Teachers' Association at Utica, Thursday, August 2, 1855 He that for the occasion is elevated above his peers, to instruct or inspirit, assumes a responsibility of the very gravest character. For this reason, it appears to me no light or easy business to satisfy the requirements of an occasion like the present. For the subject of teaching and teachers has been handled before your body by so many masters; the poor pedagogue has been looked at from so many various stand points, now perhaps as an artist, and again as a worker: he has been praised and patted; he has been elevated, and elevated and elevated, and it has become so great a hobby of the best of men with the very best intentions, to shout paeans to the common school system, that I had almost despaired before I had well accepted of the invita tion to address you. And yet, I took courage and comfort from the fact, that the very best offering I could bring would be the fruits of earnestness. Fresh from the very buzz and dust of the school room, surely, there must be some things to be said by one of yourselves, that must spring from the life, and have a certain energy because they are living experiences. I address myself therefore to the young men and women of our profession; to those who have begun with hope and energy; many of whom are before me - and it is their atten tion that I especially request to the few thoughts that are to follow. My theme is Where do we stand, in the social scale as common school teachers, and in addition, I shall take the liberty to suggest some remedies by way of improvement. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.