Teachers and Parents in Partnership
245
They [parents] must feel it their duty to co-operate with the teacher,
to encourage wise discipline, and to pray much for the one who is
teaching their children
Teachers May Be Advisers to Parents—Since parents so rarely
acquaint themselves with the teacher, it is the more important that the
teacher seek the acquaintance of parents. He should visit the homes of
his pupils and gain a knowledge of the influences and surroundings
among which they live. By coming personally in touch with their
homes and lives, he may strengthen the ties that bind him to his pupils,
[322]
and may learn how to deal more successfully with their different
dispositions and temperaments.
As he interests himself in the home education, the teacher imparts a
double benefit. Many parents, absorbed in work and care, lose sight of
their opportunities to influence for good the lives of their children. The
teacher can do much to arouse these parents to their possibilities and
privileges. He will find others to whom the sense of their responsibility
is a heavy burden, so anxious are they that their children shall become
good and useful men and women. Often the teacher can assist these
parents in bearing their burden; and, by counseling together, both
teacher and parents will be encouraged and strengthened
[323]
16
Fundamentals of Christian Education, 270
.
17
Education, 284, 285
.