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Page 56
Mischief and disorder.--An especially difficult kind of distraction to
control is the tendency to restlessness, mischief, and misbehavior which
prevails in certain classes or on the part of an occasional pupil.
Pupils sometimes feel that the teacher in the church school does not
possess the same authority as that exercised by the public-school
teacher, and so take advantage of this fact. The first safeguard against
disorder in the class is, of course, to secure the interest and loyalty
of the members. The ideal is for the children to be attentive,
respectful, and well behaved, not because they are required to, but
because their sense of duty and pride and their interest in the work
leads them to this kind of conduct. It is not possible, however,
continuously to reach this ideal with all children. There will be
occasional cases of tendency to disorder, and the spirit of mischief
will sometimes take possession of a class whose conduct is otherwise
good.
Whenever it becomes necessary, the teacher should not hesitate to take a
positive stand for order and quiet in the class. All inattention is
contagious. A small center of disturbance can easily spread until it
results in a whole storm of disorder. Mischief grows through the power
of suggestion, and a small beginning may soon involve a whole class.
There is no place for a spirit of irreverence and boisterousness in the
church school, and the teacher must have for one of his first principles
the maintenance of good conduct in his classroom. No one can tell any
teacher just how this is to be achieved in individual cases, but it must
be done. And the teacher who cannot win control over his class would
better surrender it to another who has more of the quality of leadership
or mastery in his make-up, for no worthy, lasting religious impressions
can be given to noisy, boisterous, and inattentive children.
Distractions by the teacher.--Strange as it may seem, the teacher may
himself be a distraction in the classroom. Any striking mannerism, any
peculiarity of manner or carriage, extreme types of dress, or any
personal quality that attracts attention to itself is a distraction to
the class. One teacher may have a very loud or ill-modulated voice;
another may speak too low to be heard without too much effort; another
may fail to articulate clearly. Whatever attracts attention to the
speech itself draws attention away from the thought back of the speech
and hinders the listener from giving his full powers to the lesson.
A distracting habit on the part of some teachers is to walk back and
forth before the class, or to assume awkward postures in standing or
sitting before the class, or nervously to finger a book or some object
held in the hands. All these may seem like small things, but success or
failure often depends upon a conjunction of many small things, each of
which in itself may seem unimportant. It is often "the little foxes that
spoil the vines."
Avoiding physical distractions.--In the church school, as in the
public school, the physical conditions surrounding the recitation should
be made as favorable as possible. Not infrequently the children are
placed for their lesson hour in seats that were intended for adults, and
which are extremely uncomfortable for smaller persons. The children's
feet do not touch the floor, and their backs can not secure a support;
weariness, wriggling and unrest are sure to follow. Sometimes the
ventilation of the classroom is bad, and the foul air breathed on one
Sunday is carefully shut in for use the next. Basement rooms are not
seldom damp, or they have a bad odor, or the lighting is unsatisfactory,
or the walls are streaked, dim and uninviting. If such things seem
relatively unimportant, we must remember that the child's spiritual life
is closely tied up with the whole range of his experiences, and that
such things as lack of oxygen in the classroom, tired legs whose feet
can not touch the floor, eyes offended by unloveliness, or nostrils
assailed by unpleasant odors may get in the way of the soul's
development. Our churches should not rest satisfied until children in
the church schools work under as hygienic and as pleasant conditions as
obtain in the best of our public schools.
DANGER POINTS IN INSTRUCTION
It is a well-known law in pedagogy that negatives are not often
inspiring, and that to hold before one his mistakes is not always the
best way of helping him avoid them. Along with the positive principles
which show what we should do, however, it is well occasionally to note a
few of the danger points most commonly met in the classroom.
Lack of definiteness.--This may take the form of lack of definiteness
of aim or purpose. We may merely "hear" the recitation, or ask the
stock questions furnished in the lesson helps, or allow the discussion
to wander where it will, or permit aimless arguing or disputing on
questions that cannot be decided and that in any case possess no real
significance.
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