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Page 55
Interest is contagious.--Every observing teacher has learned that
interest is contagious. An interested and enthusiastic teacher is seldom
troubled by lack of interest and attention on the part of the class.
Nor, on the other hand, will interest and attention continue on the part
of the class if confronted by a mechanical and lifeless teacher. The
teacher is the model unconsciously accepted and responded to by his
class. He leads the way in interest and enthusiasm. Nor will any sham or
pretense serve. The interest must be real and deep. Even young children
quickly sense any make-believe enthusiasm or vivacity on the part of the
teacher, and their ardor immediately cools.
Children's typical interests have their birth, ripen to full strength,
and fade away by certain broad stages. What will appeal to the child of
five will not appeal to the child of ten, and will secure no response
from the youth of fifteen. Space will not permit even an outline of
these interest-stages here, but genetic psychology has carefully mapped
them out and their nature and order of development should be studied by
every teacher.
FREEDOM FROM DISTRACTIONS
There is no possibility of securing good results from a lesson period
constantly broken in upon by distractions. The mind cannot do its best
work if the attention is diverted every few moments from the train of
thought, requiring a new start every now and then. Every teacher has had
the experience of the sudden drop in interest and concentration that has
come from some interruption, and the impossibility of bringing the class
back to the former level after the break. The loss in a recitation
disturbed by distractions is comparable to the loss of power and
efficiency in stopping a train of cars every half mile throughout its
run instead of allowing it an unbroken trip. Careful planning and good
management can eliminate many of the distractions common to the church
school lesson hour.
Distractions from classes reciting together.--The class should have a
room or space for its own sole use, and not be compelled to recite in a
large room occupied by several other classes. The older Chinese method
of education was to have each pupil study his lesson aloud, each seeking
to drown out the confusion by the force of his voice. Many of our church
schools of the present day remind one of this ancient method. The church
building being planned primarily for adults, not enough classrooms are
provided for the children, and it is a common thing to find half a dozen
classes grouped in the one room, each constantly distracted by the
sights and sounds that so insistently appeal to the senses. It is wholly
impossible to do really good teaching under such conditions.
Every church building should provide classrooms for teaching its
children. If these cannot be had in the original edifice, an addition
should be made of a special school building. As a last resort, a system
of curtains or movable partitions should be provided which will isolate
each class from every other class, and thereby save at least the visual
distractions and perhaps a part of the auditory distractions. To fail to
do this is to cultivate in the child a habit of inattention to the
lesson, and to kill his interest in the church school and its work
because of its failure to impress him or attract his loyalty.
Planning routine to prevent distractions.--Not infrequently a wholly
unnecessary distraction is caused by a poorly planned method of handling
certain routine matters. The writer recently observed a junior class get
under way in what promised to be a very interesting and profitable
lesson. They had an attractive lesson theme, a good teacher, a separate
classroom, and seemed to be mentally alert. Soon after the lesson had
got well started an officer appeared at the door with an envelope for
the collection, and the story was stopped to pass the envelope around
the class. It was not possible after this interruption to pick up the
thread of the lesson without some loss of interest, but the teacher was
skillful and did her best. She soon had the attention of the class again
and the lesson was moving along toward its most interesting part and the
practical application. But just at the most critical moment another
interruption occurred; the secretary came in with the papers for the
class and counted out the necessary supply while the class looked on. It
was impossible now to catch up the current of interest again, but the
teacher tried. Once more she was interrupted, however, this time by a
note containing some announcement that had been overlooked in the
opening exercises!
All such interruptions as these indicate mismanagement and a serious
lack of foresight. The fault is not wholly with the teacher, but also
with the policy and organization of the school as a whole. The remedy
is for both officers and teachers to use the same business sense and
ability in running the church school that they would apply to any other
concern. The collection can be taken at the beginning of the lesson
period. The papers and lesson material can be in the classroom or in the
teacher's hands before the class assembles, and not require distribution
during the lesson period. In short, all matters of routine can be so
carefully foreseen and provided for that the class will be wholly free
from all unnecessary distractions from such sources.
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