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Page 72
THE LECTURE METHOD
The lecture method, if followed continuously, is a poor way of teaching.
Even in telling stories to the younger children, the skillful teacher
leads the pupils to tell the stories back to her and the class. Mere
listening gets to be dull work, and the teacher who does all the
reciting himself must expect lack of interest and inattention.
There can be no doubt that many teachers talk too much themselves
compared with the part taken by their pupils. It is much easier for the
teacher to go over the lesson himself, bringing out its incidents,
explaining its meanings, and applying its lessons, than to lead the
class, by means of well-directed questions, to accomplish these things
by their own answers and discussions. Yet it is a common experience,
especially with children, that we like best any program, recitation, or
exercise, in which we ourselves have had an active part. And it is also
from the lesson in which we have really participated that we carry away
the most vivid and lasting impressions.
The lecture method not for general use.--Every teacher should
therefore consider, when making his lesson plan, just what his own part
is to be in the presentation of material. Some latitude must be allowed,
of course, for circumstances which may arise in the recitation bringing
up points which may need elaboration or explanation. But he should know
in a general way what material he is to bring in, what applications he
will emphasize, and what illustrations he will use. He should not trust
to the inspiration of the moment, nor allow himself to be led off into a
discussion that monopolizes all the time and deprives the class of
participation. More than one church-school class has failed to hold the
interest, if not the attendance, of its members because the teacher
mistook his function and formed the habit of turning expositor or
preacher before his class. The overtalkative teacher should learn to
curb this tendency, or else give way to one who brings less of himself
and more of his pupils to bear upon the lesson.
This does not mean that the teacher shall never lecture or talk to his
class. Indeed, the teacher who does not have a message now and then for
his pupils is not qualified to guide their spiritual development. It
means, rather, that lecturing must not become a habit, and that on the
whole it should be used sparingly with all classes of children. It means
also that all matter presented to the class by the teacher himself
should be well prepared; that it should be carefully organized and
planned, so that its meaning will be clear and its lesson plain, and so
that time will not be wasted in its presentation. It will be a safe rule
for the teacher to set for himself not to come before his class with a
talk that is not as well prepared as he expects his minister to have his
sermon. And why not! The recitation hour should mean at least as much to
the church class as the sermon hour means to the congregation.
THE QUESTION-AND-ANSWER METHOD
Skill in questioning lies at the basis of most good teaching of
children. Good questioning stimulates thought, brings out new meanings,
and leads the mind to right conclusions. Poor questioning leaves the
thought unawakened, fails to arouse interest and attention, and results
in poor mastery and faulty understanding. To the uninitiated it appears
easy to ask questions for others to answer. But when we become teachers
and undertake to use the question as an instrument of instruction we
find that it is much harder to ask questions than to answer them, for
not only must the questioner know the subject and the answer to each
question better than his pupils, but he must be able constantly to
interpret the minds of his pupils in order to discover their
understanding of the problem and to know what questions next to ask.
Questions slavishly dependent on the text.--Not infrequently one finds
a teacher who uses questioning solely to test the knowledge of the
pupils on the lesson text. Probably the worst form of this kind of
questioning is that of following the printed questions of the lesson
quarterly, the pupils having their lesson sheets open before them and
looking up the answer to each question as it is asked.
The following questions are taken from a widely used junior quarterly,
the Bible text being Luke 10. 25-37: "Who wanted to try Jesus? What did
he ask? What did Jesus say? What reply was made? What questions did the
lawyer ask? How did Jesus answer him? What is such a story called? What
is the name of this parable? Where was the man going? Who met him? How
did they treat him? What did they take from him? Where did they leave
him?" No one of these questions appeals to thought or imagination. All
are questions of sheer fact, with none of the deeper and more
interesting meanings brought. All of them may be answered correctly, and
the child be little the wiser religiously. Such a method of teaching
cannot do other than deaden the child's interest in the Bible, create in
him an aversion to the lesson hour of the church school, and fail of the
whole purpose of religious education. The teacher must _be able to use
living questions, and not be dependent on a dead list of faulty
questions embalmed in print_.
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