Saturday, December 10, 2005

Rules for Teachers --- 1872 style.

If you are a teacher, perhaps you should be thankful this is 2005, not 1872.

1. Teachers each day will fill lamps, trim the wicks and clean chimneys.

2. Each morning the teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day's session.

3. Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils.

4. Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they attend church regularly.

5. After ten hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or any other good books.

6. Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.

7. Every teacher should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not become a burden on society.

8. Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets shaved in a barber shop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity and honesty.

9. The teacher who performs his labours faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five pence per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves.


I couldn't help but wonder if marriage and unseemly behaviour (No.6) were classed as one and the same thing???

3 comments:

Jellyhead said...

Ah... that all depends on how one defines 'unseemly conduct'! But I won't go there...

They certainly are fascinating rules and regulations. Sounds like a tough life for teachers back then. (Now they have a tough time in different ways)

Michelle said...

I would be dismissed before I had even started!!!...love the "unseemly conduct" one!!

Judy Birmingham (Seeing Anew Blog) said...

Hmmmm...regarding rules for teachers...if men are allowed to court one or two times a week, does this mean women are also allowed to court one or two times a week? If not, where will the men find any women to court? Thanks for the chuckle!