What would you consider conclusive evidence of the growth of culture in the soul of a child? Apply the law, "From sense to symbol," to each of the parables. Does the child follow the order of race development in his intellectual unfolding? What follows from an affirmative answer to this question? How do I know when a child uses a symbol properly? As the pupil advances should the work of the teacher lessen or increase? Why? What would you consider as the necessary prerequisite to the making of a teacher? How would you proceed to study a teacher, and what significance would you attach to the different qualities which you consider necessary? XVI SOUL-ACTIVITY THROUGH WORDS AND QUESTIONS WORDS stand for ideas. Ideas stand for things. These things may be objects in nature or they may be relations discerned in the soul. We need not raise the question whether or not we can think without symbols. The important fact to keep in mind is that we think with these words. Hence it is of great significance that we know what content the word carries, what it means to the child. We all know the ludicrous blunders made by children when they use words whose meanings are not clear. It is not necessary to specify. Since words are the tools of thought, it is of first moment that the exact use of each tool be understood by the user. Tools of When I was youth, I became in some way confused over cemetery and seminary. I was not quite sure which word named the institution to which young ladies were sent to be educated. It is my opinion that somewhere I had poor teaching on this point. As a result, I have been forced The Real Test to eliminate both words from my vocabulary. I use instead grave-yard and boarding-school. How long I used these words interchangeably before I became aware of my blunder I do not know. There is only one way to be certain that the word signifies what it should, -that is by furnishing occasions for its use by the pupil in giving expression to his own thoughts. Do not overlook the fact that the word is to be used in expressing his own thoughts. Many words are used by pupils in quotations from the Bible, and from the sayings of the teacher, that are entirely void of meaning to the pupil. Children are rather fond of picking up words and using them in fantastic ways. They are not yet aware of the vital worth of exact meaning. The teacher must understand the need, and seek to give the word its right content. We have heretofore considered how difficult it is to secure right conditions for study, right attitude of soul in the teaching process. For this added reason we should be careful that the word as a tool of thought is clearly comprehended. I have placed emphasis upon this phase of teaching in order to make meaningful an educational law: The powers of the soul are developed and trained only by occasioning their right activity. It is the act of the soul upon the fact of knowledge that Talking Not We see is most significant. Ponder this well. again how impossible it is to be content to tell facts to pupils, no matter how receptive their minds may be. We talk too much to our pupils. We do not encourage them to talk. It is what they say to you, what they think before they say it, and what they think it with, that is most important. A Goal in The teacher will at every point aim to occasion a maximum of mental activity by the pupil. He will so put his points, so arrange his statements, that the pupil will from pure interest exercise the powers of the soul to the limit. This means that the teacher will exclude all irrelevant matter and include all pertinent matter. It also means that the teacher will so master the theme, so organize the subject-matter of the lesson, so formulate his method, that the pupil's attention will inevitably be secured. Cut out all discussion that is irrelevant. I have known teachers whose inadequate preparation unfitted them to teach the lesson. As a makeshift they digressed into subjects that were wholly without relation to the purpose of the recitation, and subjects that were in themselves practically useless. The fault here is obvious. The teacher did not comprehend the significance of a great opportunity. Better not teach than to teach error. Better not teach than to teach fragmentarily. Better not teach than to teach flippantly. Best of all, teach well. You can, if you will. It may cost effort, but anything we do that is worth doing is done at the price of effort. To illuminate a soul is worth the effort. To enthrone God, sacred and secure, in a child's spirit is not a task, but a privilege. All teaching is opportunity. The Art of In presenting the lesson the teacher will bear in mind that the wise use of questions is a potent process in securing soul activity. Do you understand the fine art of questioning? When the teacher presents all the data of the lesson in narrative form, that is, in the form of a story, the mind of the pupil is frequently in a passive or receptive condition. The pupil feels much like. a passenger on a train,-the thing to do is to settle down comfortably, trust to the officials to attend to every detail of the journey, and wait patiently and submissively until the conductor calls out the destination. The passenger has been carried along without effort on his part. So it may be in your class. The pupils resign themselves to your tender care, trust your ability to see them safely through the lesson, and themselves take no active part in the process. But is this teaching? |