And the interesting thing is that while the boys liked to be told new things, they didn’t want to be preached at.  They evidently had the boy’s idea of preaching who characterized it as, “talking a lot when you haven’t anything to say.”

Still more interesting is the fact that boys like to be made to be good.  In spite of their fun and their seeming indifference they really are serious in a desire to subscribe to the laws of order that make progress possible.

A principal of the Granite High School carried on an investigation through a period of four years to ascertain just what it is that students like in teachers.  During those years students set down various attributes and qualities, which are summarized below just as they were given: 

  Desirable Characteristics

  Congeniality. 
  Broadmindedness. 
  Wide knowledge. 
  Personality that makes discipline easy. 
  Willingness to entertain questions. 
  Realization that students need help. 
  Sense of humor—­ability to take a joke. 
  Optimism—­cheerfulness. 
  Sympathy. 
  Originality. 
  Progressiveness. 
  Effective expression. 
  Pleasing appearance—­“good looking.” 
  Tact. 
  Patience. 
  Sincerity.

Among the characteristics which they did not like in teachers they named the following: 

  Undesirable Characteristics

  Grouchiness. 
  Wandering in method. 
  Indifference to need for help. 
  Too close holding to the text. 
  Distant attitude—­aloofness. 
  Partiality. 
  Excitability. 
  Irritability. 
  Pessimism—­“in the dumps.” 
  Indifferent assignments. 
  Hazy explanations. 
  Failure to cover assignments. 
  Distracting facial expressions. 
  Attitude of “lording it over.” 
  Sarcasm. 
  Poor taste in dress. 
  Bluffing—­“the tables turned.” 
  Discipline for discipline’s sake. 
  “Holier than thouness.”

Desirable Capabilities

They also reduced to rather memorable phrases a half dozen desirable capabilities: 

1.  The ability to make students work and want to work. 2.  The ability to make definite assignments. 3.  The ability to make clear explanations. 4.  The ability to be pleasant without being easy. 5.  The ability to emphasize essentials. 6.  The ability to capitalize on new ideas. 7.  The ability to be human.

A number of years ago Clapp conducted a similar survey among one hundred leading school men of America, asking them to list the ten most essential characteristics of a good teacher.  From the lists sent in Clapp compiled the ten qualities in the order named most frequently by the one hundred men: 

1.  Sympathy. 2.  Address. 3.  Enthusiasm. 4.  Sincerity. 5.  Personal Appearance. 6.  Optimism. 7.  Scholarship. 8.  Vitality. 9.  Fairness. 10.  Reserve or dignity.

George Herbert Betts, in his stimulating book, How to Teach Religion, says there are three classes of teachers: