After so thoroughly discussing the requisites of the teacher—those elements that will make success possible—it is expedient that a short discussion should follow on the school, the child’s home during his school career. The influence of a well kept building and premises is far reaching. Some years ago a stranger stopped in a western town, where he was very favorably impressed with the neatness of the homes and their surroundings. Upon investigation he found a small school building, but to his surprise, the humble, little three-room school was beautiful in its setting, and ivy clung to its brick walls making them look cheerful. There were flower beds in the yards and neatly kept gravel walks. Over the gate were vines. The windows had neat blinds and snowy-white curtains. The stranger asked to be admitted into the school building. On the inside he saw the same careful attention to neatness. The floors were clean, the walls tinted and adorned with excellent pictures and mottoes. The furniture showed no marks of defacement. With this little school as an example, the stranger could understand why the little town presented such a neat appearance. He further learned that the people, including the boys and girls, were a quiet peace-loving people whose culture was far above the average. The little, well kept school may not have been the only influence, but it played a great part in shaping the ideas of the town folk. It must not be overlooked, however, that no matter in what condition the building and its surroundings may be, the success of the teacher will depend largely upon his preparation, ability and those other essentials and qualities that make the true teacher. Still it cannot be denied that the surroundings of the child are important factors in his development.

It follows that a teacher who is trying to meet every requirement of the true teacher will not allow his school-room or the premises to be unkept, unclean and unsanitary. The room and premises will be in keeping with the teacher. The question is this: if a teacher possesses every element of a good teacher, but allows the school-room and premises to be unkept and disorderly, will it affect the character of the work? It will to an extent. As was stated in the introduction to this book, every factor in the child’s surroundings has some influence. We simply can not expect to encourage order and system in a child’s school work if that child is in the atmosphere of disorderly surroundings. Just as a well-cooked meal would lose much of its appetizing effect, and possibly even be rejected, if it were served in an unclean place, so a teacher’s good influence may be lost to a considerable extent through carelessness about details and lack of proper attention to the general appearance of the room.

“The master of a school who found that the boys misused the halls, scribbling on the walls, throwing things around carelessly, breaking the glass globes of the gas jets, and playing rough games, changed the situation, not by making new rules or devising new punishments, but by improving the halls. He reformed the manners of the boys by repainting the dingy corridors, hanging them with attractive pictures, and improving the general order. For order invites order, and the perception that the school authorities care for the comfort and the pleasure of the children calls out a quick response.”^[8]

In the school-room, the spirit of work will be enhanced by pleasant and orderly surroundings. Orderliness in the arrangement of school equipment, including definiteness of instruction given, will beget order in the pupil’s work and habits. It will go further; it will transplant itself to the child’s home, where order will be established, because the child’s life is being moulded in the school-room. Whatever influence is at work to better the homes in any way, is a most worthy influence.

However small the school-room may be, it is the duty of every teacher to see first of all that the room is clean, the seats and other furniture dusted and a few well-chosen pictures on the wall. No teacher is so poor that he cannot afford a few simple pictures for his school-room. Then a vase of flowers on the desk and one in a window will add charm. Much better would it be to have several potted plants in the school-room. They add freshness to the looks of the surroundings. It has been suggested that pupils can bring pictures from their homes, thereby saving that expense for the teacher. The author believes it is a poor teacher, indeed, financially and in spirit, who can not afford several pictures for his school-room. His pride would be at a low ebb, and no doubt, it would be well for him to read articles on the value of pictures. In this connection it is worth while to consider the custom of relegating that which does not appeal to one. The children will bring from their home such pictures as the home does not prize. Will such pictures have an Æsthetic value?

Neither should the teacher adorn the walls of his school-room with pictures relegated from his own home. Pictures in a school-room are a necessity. Their presence means much. Where the surroundings are not luxurious, the pictures need not be expensive, but they should have meaning. Where the school-room is modern and the walls are well painted or papered, better and more expensive pictures can be used. Large showy frames should be avoided. Great care should be exercised in the selection of pictures. By no means, allow the common advertising pictures or calendars to be hung in the room. They are gaudy and have no place in a study of art. A room in which the walls are decorated with various advertising pictures and calendars, indicates a teacher of poor taste. It would be better to use no pictures at all than to use advertisements.

The author has often taken keen delight in watching a pupil, who had been busily engaged in study for half an hour, look up, and finally let his eyes fasten upon some simple picture on the school-room wall, and then go into a reflective mood. Who can tell the worth of some fancy being indulged, or some air-castle being built, and besides the pupil was getting a rest by change of occupation. No great achievement has ever been attained, but that it was first a day-dream or an air-castle.

How many men recall how they were inspired to much greater ambition when as boys in the school-room they looked upon the simple mottoes, “Do Right,” “Never Give Up,” “He Succeeds Who Tries,” etc.? The benign face of Abraham Lincoln, of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, of Francis E. Willard or some other celebrity has carried many a pupil’s ambition to higher levels. Pictures of the Christ Child, of Madonnas, of Nature scenes, and other standard subjects are very appropriate for the school-room. They will have their influence. Little did the mother of three sons, who all became sailors, think that a certain impressive picture of the sea in her home would create love for the sea in the bosoms of her offspring. It did. So will many other beautiful pictures create a love for the real which the picture idealizes.

It must be borne in mind that while the surroundings of the child are vital factors in his educational progress, still the best teacher can, to a certain degree, do good work in bad surroundings. But the work will be far better in clean, sanitary and orderly buildings and premises. The opposite, likewise is true; the best kept house and premises will not enable a poor teacher to do good work. Good surroundings will have a good effect and make the work easier. A good teacher in poor surroundings can not be conceived of as being satisfied.

A few other details of the school should be mentioned. It is important that the seating of pupils be the best. Pupils should not be required to sit in seats, either too small or too large for them. Often teachers attempt to have pupils sit by grades, frequently putting a large pupil into a seat much too small, or the opposite, just as bad, a small pupil into a seat much too large. Teachers should not do this. To endanger a child’s health in order to have him sitting with his grade is a crime. Put the pupil in a seat that will suit him, irrespective of grade. If no such seat is in the room, see to it at once that one is provided. That may mean a visit to the Board of Education. The teacher is the guardian of the children and it is his duty to ask the Board for proper seats for pupils, if such have not been provided. Pupils should not be compelled to sit so as to face a window or any opening admitting light. The best lighting for a school-room is from the left and back, but if this is impossible, it should at least not be from the front. Should any school-room be so constructed as to have light from the front, shades should be wisely used. Bright sunlight should never be allowed to shine upon the pupils’ desks. It is extremely hard on the eyes to study from a page lighted by the direct rays of the sun.

Perhaps, no more thoughtless injury is done the eyes of pupils than that caused by the choosing of unwise color schemes for papering and painting the wall of school-rooms. In short, to make a school-room look cheerful, pink, yellow, and often red are chosen as the colors that will produce the desired effect. The motive is all right, but the cheerfulness is far outweighed by actual harm done the eyes of the pupils. Aside from the bad effect of bright colors on the eyes, there is a tendency to increase restlessness on the part of the pupils by their use. Many nervous pupils are irritated by striking surroundings. A school-room in which colors and furnishings are harmoniously blended so as to obtain soft contrasts, always produces quiet and will have a restful effect upon all pupils. No color is better than a very soft green, with ceiling just tinged with green. Nature for the greatest part of the year has green in her color arrangement. It is restful to the eyes. Again, taking a suggestion from Nature, her grays are soft and free from sharp contrasts. In papering or painting walls gray, care must be exercised, not to select a gray that is too dark; it will have a tendency to make the school-room appear dreary. Another good color is tan. Great care must be exercised in using tan, since, in most cases it is too bright. Blue is one of Nature’s colors, but as a rule blue in any shade is not suitable for school-room walls. The author is aware of the fact that thousands of schools have white walls. This should not be. Ten cents worth of green coloring matter in the hands of a decorator will give a suitable tint to a school-room interior.

The matter of school-room ventilation is important. In every school-room, even during the coldest weather, some opening or openings should admit fresh air. Children should not sit where a direct draught blows upon them. Small openings at the tops of the windows furnish a safe inlet for fresh air. It is a good plan to open all the windows and doors of the school-room, for at least half an hour, after school is dismissed each day if no general ventilation system is installed. This will avoid having impure air shut in the school during the night, thereby permeating every nook and crevice of the school-room and even becoming offensive. Fresh air admitted after dismissal will keep the school-room pure and fresh and afford a place where the pupils will feel invigorated upon entering the next morning. Often, pupils come in from the fresh air only to breathe the stifling air of the school-room. Little wonder then that the teacher must complain of dull pupils before the clock points to ten. No foul air is likely to be found in a school-room at the hour of opening if fresh air is admitted each day after dismissal.

Another very common source of foul odors in the school-room is the basement. Though many school-rooms do not have a basement, yet so many have a problem at this point that it is necessary to speak about the matter. The author has visited many schools with basements, and recalls one only that was actually sanitary. Most basements of schools are the receptacles for the garbage and refuse of the school. In it are kept broken seats, old brooms, things forgotten and left at school by pupils, waste paper, paint cans, flower pots, and a hundred other things. To make matters worse, the basement windows, if there are any, are never opened. A disease producer is beneath the children; contagion gets through the cracks of the floor and is a constant source of contamination of the air in the room above. Many basements are even abodes of rats and mice, thereby exposing the pupils to different diseases. Damp and rainy days increase the offensiveness of an unsanitary basement. Unscrupulous teachers often use the ill-ventilated basement for a play room during bad weather. Such a practice is abominable. No teacher should be guilty of such an offense. Better not let the pupils play at all, for exercise in offensive air is dangerous and far worse than none. If any place in the entire school should be sanitary, it should be the basement.

After all has been said about the equipment of the school-room, the greatest asset is its sanitary condition and cleanliness. This must be at its best to secure good results. The unclean school-room—especially the unventilated one, usually a condition indicating a lazy, careless teacher—is dangerous. Disease may lurk in such a place and the mental activities of the pupils be stupefied.

Closely related to the teacher’s care of the school-room is the work of the janitor. True, many schools do not have any problem respecting the janitor, yet a word about his relations with the teacher or supervisor is necessary. The supervisor should see to it that the janitor is thoroughly educated in the proper care of the school and premises. If the janitor knows little about such matters, as is usually the case, he should be instructed in every detail. Here caution is very needful. A teacher should never appear to be authoritative to a janitor; he is the school’s most necessary adjunct and should be treated with every respect. When giving orders always talk the matter over with him, asking his opinion; when he gives his ideas, request him to carry them out for the benefit of the school. Never fail to inspect the work of the janitor; that is, his regular work as well as that which was specially assigned to him. If it does not meet your approval, kindly suggest wherein it may be improved. If the work is satisfactory, never fail to tell the janitor, not in a formal manner, but make him feel your sincerity and appreciation of his efforts. To show him the good results that will arise from his painstaking labors, will heighten his desire to do his best.

Often, although it is extremely poor policy, the janitor is asked to aid actively in discipline; this is not his province, as he is not appointed to take charge of such matters. It is the teacher’s duty to discipline his own pupils. The janitor can often become a factor in discipline. Many teachers treat him with such a domineering spirit that they incur his ill will. When ill-treated the janitor will gossip and sometimes he may say something detrimental about the teacher to the pupils. This has a tendency to weaken the teacher’s influence and ability to control. A janitor should be required to keep his clothing neat and clean. He should not use offensive language, nor should he smoke or use tobacco in any form or become intoxicated. In fact, his morals should be excellent. Allow the janitor and his family to attend all school functions, free of charge. Often the janitor desires a day of half day off; do not deny him this privilege. Whenever, unfortunately, an inefficient janitor has been employed, he, as well as an unqualified teacher, should be discharged.

1. It is important that any discussions of the requisites of the teacher should be followed by a discussion of the proper care of the school-room and premises.

2. The condition of the school-room and the premises will have an influence upon the teacher as well as upon the work done by the pupils.

3. A good teacher, filling every requisite, will see that the condition of the school-room and premises has proper attention.

4. A good teacher’s work will be made better by good surroundings, and far more difficult by bad surroundings.

5. A poor teacher’s work will be improved by good surroundings, and poor surroundings will make good work practically impossible.

6. The condition of the school-room and premises will have an influence on the condition of the homes of the pupils.

7. Every school-room should have good mottoes and pictures on the walls. Some potted plants should be in the room. Never put advertising pictures and calendars on the walls.

8. Waste paper, ash heaps and other rubbish should not adorn the school premises. The latter should be kept clean and orderly.

9. Proper seating of pupils is necessary.

10. Light should be from the left and back, never from the front. Direct sunlight should never fall on pupils’ desks or books.

11. The walls of the school-room should not be tinted or papered with bright colors. Soft green, gray and tan are suitable colors.

12. School-room ventilation is very important.

13. The basement of a school should be as sanitary as any part of the building.

14. The teacher or supervisor should exercise wise control over the janitor.