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Page 74
Questions should stimulate thought.--Questions should be
thought-provoking. Usually it is a mistake to ask questions that can be
answered, by a simple _Yes_ or _No_, though there are occasions when
this may be done. For example, children will not be required to think
when asked such questions as, Was Moses leader of the Israelites? or Did
Jesus want his disciples to keep children away from him? But they will
require thought to answer Yes or No to such questions as, Should Esther
have asked that Haman be hanged? or, Can God forgive us for a wrong act
if we are not penitent?
_Leading questions_, or questions that suggest the answer, do not
encourage thought. To ask, Do you not think that God is pained when we
do wrong? or What ought you to say in return when some one has done you
a favor? is to leave the child himself too little to do in answering.
The _alternative_ question, or the question that simply allows the
choice between two suggested possibilities is also fruitless so far as
demanding thought is concerned. In a question like, Was Paul a Gentile
or was he a Jew? the bright child can usually tell from the teacher's
inflection how to answer. In any case he will run an even chance of
giving the right answer from sheer guessing.
The order of questioning.--It is a mistake to ask questions in serial
order, so that each child knows just when he is to be called upon. This
method invites carelessness and inattention. There should be no set
order, nor should a child who has just been called upon feel that he is
now safe from further questioning. The element of uncertainty as to when
the next question will come is a good incentive to alertness. The pupil
who shows signs of mischief or inattention may well become the immediate
mark for a question, and thereby be tided past the danger point.
Usually the question should be addressed to the entire class, and then a
pause of a few seconds ensue before the one who is to answer is
designated. Care must be taken, however, not to wait too long between
asking the question and calling the name of the one expected to answer,
for attention and curiosity quickly fall away, and time and interest are
lost and the recitation becomes slow.
The reception of answers.--The teacher's reception of the child's
answer is almost as important as the manner of asking the question.
First of all, the teacher must be interested in the answer. This
interest must be real, and must show in the manner. Not to look into the
eyes of the child who is answering is to fail to pay the courtesy due
one who is conversing with us; it is not only bad manners but worse
pedagogy. The interested, sympathetic eye of the teacher has a wonderful
power of encouragement and stimulus to the child, while an attitude of
indifference on the part of the teacher is at once fatal to his
enthusiasm. One of the besetting sins of many teachers is to repeat the
pupils' answers after them. This habit probably has its rise in mental
unreadiness on the part of the teacher, who repeats what the child has
just said while getting ready to ask the next question. Besides being a
great waste of time, the repeating of answers is discourteous, and is a
source of distraction, and annoyance to pupils.
Finally, we may say that good questioning on the part of the teacher
leads to questions on the part of the pupils. The relations between
teacher and class always should be such, that the children, feel free to
ask questions on any points of the lesson, and they should be encouraged
to do so. The teacher must have the tact and skill, however, not to be
led away from the topic by irrelevant questions nor to be required to
waste time by discussing unimportant points which may be brought in. It
is to be feared that valuable time is sometimes lost in adult classes in
discussing controversial questions that ought not to have been asked.
THE STORY METHOD
The use of the story method of instruction has been mentioned many times
in the course of our discussion. It will still be worth while, however,
to note a few of the principles upon which the successful telling of
stories depends.
First of all, a story is--just a story! It is not an argument, nor an
explanation, not a description, nor a lecture in disguise. A story is a
narrative of a series of events, which may be either real or imaginary.
These events are so related as to form a closely connected unity from
beginning to end, and they are of such nature as to appeal to
imagination, interest, and emotion more than to the intellect. The
successful handling of the story depends on two chief factors: (1) _the
plan or arrangement_ of the story itself, and (2) skill in telling the
story.
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