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Page 66
THE DEVELOPMENTAL LESSON
It is a safe principle in teaching not to give ready-made to children a
fact or conclusion which they can easily be led by questions and
suggestions to discover for themselves. Truths which one has found out
for himself always mean more than matter that is dogmatically forced
upon him. The pupil who has watched the bees sucking honey from clover
blossoms and then going with pollen-laden feet to another blossom, or
one who has observed the drifting pollen from orchard or corn field, is
better able to understand the fertilization of plants than he would be
from any mere description of the process.
On the same principle, the child will get a deeper and more lasting
impression of the effects of disobedience if led to see the effect of
the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the shame and sorrow and feeling of
guilt that came to them, than he will through listening to ever so many
impressive assertions on the sin of disobedience. If the concrete lesson
is carried over to his own personal experience and his observation of
the results of disobedience, and the unhappiness it has brought, the
effect is all the greater.
Purpose of the inductive lesson.--The developmental, or inductive,
lesson, therefore, seeks to lead the child to _observe, discover, think,
find out for himself_. It begins with concrete and particular instances,
but it does not stop with them. It does not at the start force upon the
child any rules or general conclusions, but it does seek to arrive at
conclusions and rules in the end. For example, the purpose in having the
child watch particular bees carrying pollen to blossoms, and in having
him observe particular pollen drifting in the wind, is to teach in the
end the general truth that _certain plants are dependent on insects and
others on currents of air for their pollenization_.
In similar fashion, the purpose in having the child understand the
effects of disobedience in the case of Adam and Eve and in any
particular instance in his own experience is to teach the general
conclusion that _disobedience commonly brings sorrow and trouble_. The
aim, then, is to arrive at a universal truth of wide application, but to
_reach it through appealing to the child's own knowledge, experience,
and observation_. In this way the lesson learned will have more vital
meaning and it will be more readily accepted because not forced upon the
learner.
Two principles.--Two important principles must be kept in mind in
teaching an inductive lesson:
1. A basis or starting point must be found in knowledge or experience
already in the learner's possession.
2. The child must have in his mind the question or problem which demands
solution.
The first of these principles means that in order for the child to
observe, think, discover for himself, he must have a sufficient basis of
information from which to proceed. The inductive lesson, therefore,
rests upon and starts from the informational lesson. To illustrate, in
order to understand and be interested in the work of the bees as
pollen-bearers, the child must first _know the fact_ that the blossoming
and fruiting of the common plants depend on pollen. The ear of corn
which did not properly fill with grains because something happened to
prevent pollen grains from reaching the tips of the silks at the right
time, or the apple tree barren because it failed from some adverse cause
to receive a supply of pollen for its blossoms may properly be the
starting point. The _problem_ or question then arising is how pollen
grains are carried. With this basis of fact and of question, the child
is ready to begin the interesting task of observation and discovery
under the direction of the teacher; he is then ready for the inductive
lesson, in which he will discover new knowledge by using the
information already in his mind.
Conducting the inductive lesson.--In conducting the inductive lesson
the teacher must from the beginning have a very clear idea of the goal
or conclusion to be reached by the learners. Suppose the purpose is to
impress on the children the fact of Jesus's love and care for children.
The lesson might start with questions and illustrations dealing with the
father's and mother's care and love for each child in the home, and the
way these are shown.
Following this would come the story of Jesus rebuking his disciples for
trying to send the children away, and his own kindness to the children.
Then such questions as these: How did the disciples feel about having
the children around Jesus? Why did they tell the children to keep away?
Perhaps they were afraid the children would annoy or trouble Jesus. Have
you ever known anyone who did not seem to like to have children around
him? Does your mother like to have you come and be beside her? What did
Jesus say about letting the children come to him? Why do you think Jesus
liked to have the children around him? How did Jesus show his love for
children? Why do you think the children liked to be with Jesus? Do you
think that Jesus loves children as much to-day as when he was upon
earth? Do you think he wants children to be good and happy now as he did
then? In what ways does Jesus show his love and kindness to children?
The impression or conclusion to grow out of these questions and the
story is that _Jesus loved and cared for children when he was upon
earth, and that he loves and cares for them now just as he did then_.
This will be the goal in the teacher's mind from the beginning of the
lesson.
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