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Page 57
Indefiniteness may take the direction of failure to carry the thoughts
of the lesson through to their final meaning and application, so that
there is no vital connection made between the lesson truths and the
lives of those we teach. Or we may be indefinite in our interpretation
of the moral and religious values inherent in the lesson, and so fail to
make a sharp and definite impression of understanding and conviction on
our pupils. Our teaching must be clear-cut and positive without being
narrowly dogmatic or opinionated. The truth we present must have an
edge, so that it may cleave its way into the heart and mind of the
learner.
Dead levels.--We need to avoid _dead levels_ in our teaching. This
danger arises from lack of mental perspective. It comes from presenting
all the points of a lesson on the same _plane of emphasis_, with a
failure to distinguish between the important and the unimportant. Minor
details and incidental aspects of the topic often receive the same
degree of stress that is given to more important points. This results in
a state of monotonous plodding through so much material without
responding to its varying shades of meaning and value. Not only does
this type of teaching fail to lodge in the mind of the pupil the larger
and more important truths which ought to become a permanent part of his
mental equipment, but it also fails to train pupils how themselves to
pick out and appropriate the significant parts of the lesson material.
It does not develop the sense of value for lesson truths which should
be trained through the work of the lesson hour. Each lesson should seek
to impress and apply a few important truths, and everything else should
be made to work to this end. The points we would have our pupils
remember, think about and act upon we must be able to make stand out
above all other aspects of the lesson; they must not, for want of
emphasis, be lost in a mass of irrelevant or monotonous material of
little value.
Lack of movement in recitation.--Some recitations suffer from
_slowness of movement_ of the thought and plan of the lesson. We
sometimes say of a book or a play or a sermon that it was "slow." This
is equivalent to saying that the book or play or sermon lacks movement;
it dallies by the way, and has unnecessary breaks in its continuity, or
is slow in its action. The same principle applies in the recitation.
Pauses that are occupied with thought or meditation are not, of course,
wasted; they may even be the very best part of the lesson period. But
the rather empty lapses which occur for no reason except that the
teacher lacks readiness and preparation, and does not quite know at
every moment just what he is to do next, or what topic should at this
moment come in--it is such awkward and meaningless breaks as these that
spoil the continuity of thought and interest and result in boredom. We
must remember that every pause or interval of mere empty waiting without
expectancy, or without some worthy thought occupying the mind, is a
waste of energy, time, and opportunity, and also a training in
inattention.
Low standards.--The acceptance of _low standards_ of preparation and
response in the recitation is fatal to high-grade work and results. If
it comes to be expected and taken as a matter of course both by teacher
and pupils that children shall come to the class from week to week with
no previous study on the lesson, then this is precisely what they will
do. The standards of the class should make it impossible that continual
failure to prepare or recite shall be accepted as the natural and
expected thing, or treated with a spirit of levity. The lesson hour is
the very heart and center of the school work, and failure here means a
breakdown of the whole system. The standards of teacher and class should
be such that probable failure to do one's part in the recitation shall
be looked forward to by the child with some apprehension and looked back
upon with some regret if not humiliation. In order to maintain high
standards of preparation the cooperation of the home must be secured, at
least for the younger children, and parents must help the child wisely
and sympathetically in the study of the lesson.
1. To what extent are you able to hold the attention of your pupils
in the recitation? Is their attention ready, or do you have to work
hard to get it? Are there any particular ones who are less
attentive than the rest? If so, can you discover the reason? The
remedy?
2. To what extent do you find it necessary to appeal to involuntary
attention? If you have to make such an appeal do you seek at once
to make interest take hold to retain the attention?
3. What measures are you using to train your pupils in the giving
of voluntary attention when this type is required? When _is_
voluntary attention required?
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