Good Breeding in Teachers

No teacher should be conspicuous either for the neglect she gives her personal appearance nor for the over-attention she puts on it. One extreme is quite as objectionable as the other. To dress appropriately is an art which should claim the attention of every young man and every young woman, and especially of those who are teachers or are preparing to become teachers.

CHAPTER VI

GOOD BREEDING

Besides the basic virtues which we have been discussing, there are other attributes of personality which, while not so vital to worthiness of character, are nevertheless essential in one who essays to be a companion and teacher of the young. Among these are those evidences of good breeding which appear in the personal manner, the dress, the speech of a person, and in his recognition of the amenities of life.

These things have a commercial value which few young men and women recognize. In my experience as head of a normal school I have received hundreds of letters of inquiry from school boards and superintendents concerning candidates for position; and the four qualifications usually insisted upon in a teacher are character, scholarship, ability to teach, and refinement in manner and dress. The best positions can be had by no other sort of person. I have known many young men and women who have failed to secure the positions that character and general ability clearly qualified them to fill, because they lacked refinement in dress and manner. I have advised young people to give up their purpose to teach, simply because they lacked, and, I believed, would never be able to acquire, the social refinements necessary to a teacher.

Personal Appearance

A man or woman who has a good bearing, who dresses appropriately and whose general appearance is pleasing, has a decided advan- tage before a superintendent, a school board, or a school, over one who is lacking in these particulars. A man who is careless about his personal appearance, whose linen is soiled, whose shoes are not polished, whose clothes are untidy, whose general appearance, from finger-nails to shirt front, gives evidence of his disregard for the standards which cultivated society sets up for a gentleman, need never look for great advancement in the teaching profession. 

And it is equally certain that a woman who makes personal application for a position in “gloves that once were white” or in gloves of any color that once were whole, or in any attire bespeaking a serious lack of taste, has taken great chances of wasting her time and money. No teacher should be conspicuous either for the neglect she gives her personal appearance nor for the over-attention she puts on it. One extreme is quite as objectionable as the other. To dress appropriately is an art which should claim the attention of every young man and every young woman, and especially of those who are teachers or are preparing to become teachers.

Good Form in Letter Writing, Etc…

It should also be observed that many persons make written applications to school officers and superintendents, and that social and business forms regulate such correspondence quite as much as custom regulates dress and etiquette. To be able to write a letter of application that shall in a modest way state what a school officer needs to know about a candidate, and that in stationery and composition conforms to social standard, is no mean accomplishment, as anyone knows who annually reads scores of letters from applicants for positions. An “exhibit” of a collection of letters of application would be interesting and instructive both as to what is excellent and what should be avoided.

I recently received a letter of application from a woman of unusual scholarship and experience; moreover, her testimonials were uncommonly strong; but her letter was written on a nondescript piece of stationery, in a careless and untidy manner, and I gave her no consideration. Another energetic and enterprising young woman, a graduate of college of good repute, recently wrote me about as follows:

“Am a graduate of ✗__________ College. Have studied Expression under Professor Y. Have coached winning speakers. Think I could interest you.” She did not have an opportunity to “interest” me, as I have no time for candidates who omit the subjects from their sentences. A teacher should be as careful to send her letter of application in appropriate attire as she would be to appear in appropriate dress if she made a personal application. – From “The Personality of the Teacher,” by Charles McKenny, 1910

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