His first thought is to
give some general directions to the pupil, and send him to his seat to
make a new experiment, hoping that in some way or other, he scarcely
knows how, he will get through; and, at any rate, if he should not, the
teacher thinks that he himself at least gains time by the manoeuvre, and
he is glad to postpone his trouble, though he knows it must soon return.
All efforts to conceal ignorance, and all affectation of knowledge not
possessed, are as unwise as they are dishonest. If a scholar asks a
question which you can not answer, or brings you a difficulty which you
can not solve, say frankly, "I do not know." It is the only way to avoid
continual anxiety and irritation, and the surest means of securing real
respect. Let the scholars understand that the superiority of the teacher
does not consist in his infallibility, or in his universal acquisitions,
but in a well-balanced mind, where the boundary between knowledge and
ignorance is distinctly marked; in a strong desire to go forward in
mental improvement, and in fixed principles of action and systematic
habits. You may even take up in school a study entirely new to you, and
have it understood at the outset that you know no more of it than the
class commencing, but that you can be their guide on account of the
superior maturity and discipline of your powers, and the comparative
ease with which you can meet and overcome difficulties.
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