part in it. For example the Boy-

Scout movement and the Sons of India are both national organisa- tions, but branches of them should be formed in the separate schools. Teachers should train their boys to realise that just as the home is the centre of activity for the child, so is the school the centre
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of activity for the youth. As the
child draws his life and energy
from the home, so the youth
should draw his from the school.
The most useful work should be
done in connection with the school
so that it may form part of the
general education of the boy, and
be in harmony with the rest of
his growth. There should be in
the school debating societies, in
which the rules of debate are
carefully observed, so that the
boys may learn self-control in
argument; dramatic clubs in
which they may learn control of
expression; athletic clubs in which 128
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
control of mind and action are both acquired; literary societies for boys specially interested in certain studies; societies for help- ing the poorer students.
It is also very important to give the boys an opportunity of understanding the conditions under which their country is growing, so that in the school they may practice patriotism apart from politics. It is very unfortunate that in India students are often taught by unscrupulous agitators that love of their country should be shown by hatred of other coun- tries; the boys would never believe
129
EDUCATION AS SEKVICE
this, if their own school provided patriotic services for its boys, so as to give a proper outlet for the enthusiasm they rightly feel. They only seek an outlet away from the school because none is provi- ded for them within it.
Groups of students should be formed for various kinds of social service according to the capacities of the boys, and the needs of their surroundings: for the pro- tection of animals, for rendering first aid to the injured, for the education of the depressed classes, for service in connection with
national and religious festivals, 130
EDUCATION AS SEKVICE
and so on. Boys, for whom such forms of service are provided in their schools, will not want to carry them on separately.
Boys have a special opportunity of practising self-control in action when they play games. The boys come from the more formal disci- pline of the class-room into con- ditions in which there is a sudden cessation of external authority; unless they have learned to replace this with self-control, we shall see in the play-ground brutality in the stronger followed by fear in the weaker. The playing fields have a special value in arousing the
131
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
power of self-discipline, and if teachers are there who set the example of submitting to the au- thority of the captain, of showing gentleness and honour, and play- ing for the side rather than for themselves, they will much help the boys in gaining self-control.
The boys also will see the teacher in a new light; he is no longer imposing his authority upon them as a teacher, but he is ruling him- self from within and subordinating his own action to the rules of the game, and to the interests of those who are playing with him. The
boy who enters the field with no 132
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
other idea than that of enjoying himself as much as he can, even at the expense of his fellow-students, will learn from his teacher's example that he is happiest when playing for others, not for himself alone, and that he plays best when the object of the game is the honour of the school and not his own advantage. He also learns that the best player is the boy who practises his strokes carefully, and uses science to direct strength. Desiring to be a good player him- self, he begins to train his body to do as he wishes, thus gaining
self-control in action; through 133
EDUCATION AS SEKVICE
this self-control he learns the great lesson, that self-control increases happiness and leads to success.
Another thing learned in the play-ground is control of temper, for a boy who loses his temper always plays badly. He learns not to be hasty and impatient, and to control liis speech even when he is losing, and not to show vanity when he wins. Thus he is making a character, strong and well- balanced, which will be very useful to him when he comes to be a
man. All this is really learned 134
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
better in the play-ground than in the class-room.
3. Tolerance. Most of my Mas- ter's directions under this head are intended mainly for disciples, but still their spirit may be ap- plied to those who are living the ordinary life. Tolerance is a virtue which is very necessary in schools, especially when the schol- ars are of different faiths. ^^You must feel,'' says my Master, ^^ perfect tolerance for all, and a hearty interest in the beliefs of those of another religion, just as much as in your own. For their religion is. a path to the highest
135
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
just as yours is. And to help all you must understand all." It is the duty of the teacher to be the first in setting an example along these lines.
Many teachers, however, make the mistake of thinking that the viev5^s and rules to which they are themselves accustomed are univer- sal principles which everybody ought to accept. They are there- fore anxious to destroy the stu- dents' own convictions and customs, in order to replace them by others v;hich they think better. This is especially the case in countries like India, where the boys are of
136
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
many religions. Unless the teacher studies sympathetically the reli- gions of his pupils, and under- stands that the faith of another is as dear to him as his own is to himself, he is likely to make his boys unbelievers in all religion. He should take special care to speak with reverence of the reli- gions to which his boys belong, strengthening each in the great principles of his own creed, and showing the unity of all religions by apt illustrations taken from the various sacred books. Much can be done in this direction during
the religious service which precedes 137
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
the ordinary work of the day, if this be carried out on lines com- mon to all; while each boy should be tanght the doctrines of his own religion, it wonld be well if he were reminded once in the day of the unity of all religions, for, as the Master said, every ^^ religion is a path to the highest."
An example wonld tlms be set in the school of members of diff- erent religions living happily side by side, and showing respect to each other's opinions. I feel that this is one of the special functions of the school in the life of the
nation. At home the boy is always 188
EDUCATION AS SEKVICE
with those who hold the same opinions as himself, and he has no opportunity of coming into touch with other beliefs and other customs. At school he should have the opportunity of meeting other ways of believing, and the teacher should lead him to understand these, and to see the unity under- neath them. The teacher must never make a boy discontented with his own faith by speaking contemptuously of it, or by distort- ing it through his own ignorance. Such conduct on his part leads a boy to despise all religion.
139
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
Then again there are many diff- erent customs which belong to the different parts of the country. People often exaggerate these and look on them as essential parts of religion instead of only as marks of the part of the country in which they were born. Hence they look with contempt or disap- proval on those whose customs differ from their own, and they keep themselves proudly separate. I do not know how far this is a difficulty in western countries, but in India I think that customs separate us much more than physi- cal distance or religious differences.
140
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
Each part of the country has its own peculiarities as to dress, as to the manner of taking food, as to the way of wearing the hair, school boys are apt at first to look down upon those of their school- fellows whose appearance or habits differ from their own. Teachers should help boys to get over these trivial differences and to think instead of the one Motherland to which they all belong.
We have already said that pa- triotism should be taught without race hatred, and we may add that understanding and loving other nations is part of the great virtue
141
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
of tolerance. Boys are obliged to learn the history of their own and of other nations; and history, as it is taught, is full of wars and conquests. The teacher should point out how much terrible suff- ering has been caused by these, and that though, in spite of them, evolution has made its way and has even utilised them, far more can be gained by peace and good will than by hatred. If care is taken to train children to look on different ways of living with in- terest and sympathy instead of with distrust and dislike, they will grow up into men who will show
142
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
to all nations respect and tolerance. 4. Cheerfulness. No teacher who really loves his students can be anything but cheerful during school hours. No brave man will allow himself to be depressed, but de- pression is particularly harmful in a teacher, for he is daily in contact with many boys, and he spreads among them the condition of his own mind. If the teacher is de- pressed the boys cannot long be cheerful and happy; and unless they are cheerful and happy they cannot learn well. If teachers and boys associate cheerfulness with their school life, they will not only
143
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
find the work easier than it would otherwise be, but they will turn to the school as to a place in which they can for the time live free from all cares and troubles.
The teacher should train himself to turn away from all worrying and depressing thoughts the mo- ment he enters the school gate, for his contribution to the school atmosphere, in which the boys must live and grow, must be cheerfulness and energy. The best way to get rid of depression is to occupy the mind with something bright and interesting, and this should not be difficult when he is
144
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
going to his boys. Thoughts die when no attention is paid to them so it is better to turn away from depressing thoughts than to fight them. Cheerfulness literally in- creases life, while depression di- minishes it, and by getting rid of depression the teacher increases his energy. It is often indeed very difficult for the teacher, who has the cares of family life upon him, to keep free from anxiety, but still he must try not to bring it into the school.
Mr. Arundale tells me that he has made a habit of becoming
cheerful the moment he enters the 145
EDUCATION AS SEKVICE
College gates, however worried he may have been beforehand, because, he w^rites: ^^I want my contribu- tion to the school day to be hap- piness and interest, and by a daily process of making myself pretend to be cheerful when the College gates are entered, I have finally succeeded in becoming so. If, as I pass through the grounds to my office, I see any student looking dull and gloomy, I make a point of going up to him in order to exert my cheerfulness against his gloom, and the gloom soon passes away. Then comes the religious
service, and when I take my seat 146
EDUCATION AS SEKVICE
upon the platform with the reli- gious instructor, I try to ask the Master's blessing on all the dear young faces I see before me, and I look slowly around upon each member of the audience, trying to send out a continual stream of affection and sympathy. ' '
I have already said that boys watch their teachers' faces to see if they are in a good or a bad mood. If the teacher is always cheerful and loving, the boys will no longer watch him, for they will have learned to trust him, and all anxiety and strain will disappear.
If the teacher displays constant 147
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
cheerfulness, he sends ont among his boys streams of energy and good will, new life pours into them, their attention is stimulated, and the sympathy of the teacher con- quers the carelessness of the boy. Just as a boy learns control of action on the play-ground, so he may learn there this virtue of cheerfulness. To be cheerful in defeat makes the character strong, and the boy who can be cheerful and good-tempered in the face of the team which has just defeated him is well on the way to true
manliness.
148
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
5. One-pointedness. One-point- edness, the concentration of atten- tion on each piece of work as it is being done, so that it may be done as well as possible, largely depends upon interest. Unless the teacher is interested in his work, and loves it beyond all other work, he will not be able to be really one- pointed. He must be so absorbed in his school duties that his mind is continually occupied in planning for his boys, and looks upon everything in the light of its pos- sible application to his own par- ticular work.
149
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
One-pointedness means enthu- siasm, but enthusiasm is impossible without ideals. So the teacher who desires to be one-pointed must be full of ideals to which he is eager to lead his school. These ideals will sharpen his attention, and make him able to concentrate it even upon quite trivial details. He will have the ideal school in his mind, and will always be trying to bring the real school nearer to it. To be one-pointed, therefore, the teacher must not be contented with things as they are, but must be continually on the alert to take advantage of every opportunity of
improvement.
150
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
The teacher 's ideal will of course be modified as he learns more of his students' capacities and of the needs of the nation. In this way, as the years pass, the teacher may find himself far from the early ideals that at first gave him one- pointedness. Ideals will still guide him, but they will be more practi- cal, and so his one-pointedness will be much keener and will pro- duce larger results.
The Master quotes two sayings which seem to me to show very clearly the lines along which one- pointedness should work: ^* What- soever thy hand findeth to do, do
151
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
it with thy might"; and: ''What- soever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not unto men." It must be done ''as to the Lord." The Master says: "Every piece of work mnst be done religiously — done with the feeling that it is a sacred offering to be laid on the altar of the Lord. 'This do I, 0 Lord, in Thy name and for Thee.' Thinking this, can I offer to Him anything but my very best? Can I let any piece of my work be done carelessly or inattentively, when I know that it is being done expressly for Him? Think how you would do your work if you knew that the
152
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
Lord Himself were coming directly to see it; and then realise that He does see it, for all is taking place within His consciousness. So will you do your duty ^as unto the Lord and not as unto men'."
The work must be done, too, ac- cording to the teacher's knowledge of the principles of evolution, and not merely out of regard to small and fleeting interests. The teacher must therefore gradually learn his own place in evolution, so that he may become one-pointed as to himself; unless he practises one- pointedness with regard to his own ideal for himself, he will not be
153
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
able to bring it to bear on his sur- roundings. He must try to be in miniature the ideal towards which he hopes to lead his boys, and the application of the ideal to himself will enable him to see in it details which otherwise would escape his notice, or which he might neglect as unimportant.
The practical application, then, of one-pointedness lies in the en- deavour to keep before the mind some dominant central ideal tow- ards which the whole of the teach- ers' and boys' daily routine shall be directed, so that the small life may be vitalised by the larger,
154
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
and all may become conscious parts of one great whole. The ideal of service, for instance, may be made so vivid that the whole of daily life shall be lived in the effort to serve. 6. Confidence. First among the qualifications for the teacher has been placed Love, and it is fitting that this little book should end with another qualification of almost equal importance — Confidence. Un- less the teacher has confidence in his power to attain his goal, he will not be able to inspire a similar confidence in his boys, and self- confidence is an indispensable at- tribute for success in all depart-
155
El^UCATION" AS SERVICE
ments of human activity. The Master has beautifully explained why we have the right to be confident.
^^You must trust yourself. You say you know yourself too well! If you feel so, you do not know yourself; you know only the weak outer husk, which has fallen often into the mire. But you — the real you — you are a spark of God's own fire, and God, Who is almighty, is in you, and because of that there is nothing that you cannot do if you will.''
The teacher must feel that he
has the power to teach his boys 156
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
and to train them for their future work in the world. This power is born of his love for them and his desire to help them, and is drawn from the one spiritual life of which all partake. It is because the teacher and his boys are one in essence, make one little flame in '^ God's own fire," that the teacher has the right to be confident that every effort to help, growing out of his own share in the one life, will reach and stimulate that same life in the boys.
He will not always be able to see at once the effect he is produ- cing. Indeed, the most important
157
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
influence the teacher has shows it- self in the growing characters of the boys. No success in examina- tions, in reports, in inspections can satisfy the real teacher as to the effect of his work. But when he feels that his own higher nature is strengthened and purified by his eagerness to serve his boys, when he has the joy of watching the divine life in them shining out in answer to that in himself, then his happiness is indeed great. Then he has the peace of knowing that he has awakened in his boys the knowledge of their own divinity, which, sooner or later, will bring
them to perfection. 158
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
The teacher is justified in feeling confident because the divine life is in him and his boys, and they turn to him for inspiration and strength. Let him but send out to them all that is highest in himself, and he may be quite sure that there will not be one boy who will not to some extent respond in his own higher Self, however little the response may be seen by the teacher.
This constant interplay of the one life between teacher and stu- dents will draw them ever nearer to each other. They learn in the school to live together as elder
159
EDUCATION AS SERVICE
and younger brothers of the one
school family. By living a life of
brotherhood within the small area
of the school, they v^ill be trained
to live that life in the larger area
of the nation. Then they will
gradually learn that there is but
one great brotherhood in all the
world, one divine life in all. This
life each separate member of the
brotherhood is trying to express,
consciously or unconsciously. The
teacher is indeed happy who knows
his own divinity; that knowledge
of the divinity in man is the
highest lesson it will ever be his
privilege to teach. 160
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