Function of a Teacher

HOWEVER nice the text-books may be, I hold that a good teacher would still be necessary. He would never be content merely with having summarized long pieces or explained difficult sentences. He would, whenever the occasion demands, lay aside the text-books and make his subject vividly alive to the students—like a good painter. A good next-book, at its best, can be likened to a good photograph. But just as a painting—even when it is not of the best quality—will always excel even the best photograph, so would a good teacher excel the best text-books. He leads a student into the heart of the subject, is able to create in him a love for it, and enables him to understand it intelligently himself. As I see it, we can never accept the popular notion of a teacher as a man who can summarize long pieces or explain difficult sentences. Our Endeavour should be to produce good teachers who should have before them the higher and larger aim of service, and not merely of transmitting bits of information on their subjects. It is not correct that we do not get stray instances of such teachers even to-day.

— The Problem of Education : p. 156