RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Evening Star, Issue 21748, 16 June 1934, Page 4

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

[Hy Fouwakd.] GIVING THE LESSON. W c would emphasise what has been emphasised before, that no fluency, no charm of manner, no skill in asking questions can make up for lack of preparation of the lesson—just as no ability to sell will ever make tip for the cheap article that is on the counter, ff we know we. have the goods they will almost' sell themselves, and we shall have a confidence in commending them which we can get in no other way.

Vet there are several important details in teaching the lesson which help tremendously in getting it over to the children.

In- a word, the greatest essential in teaching is atmosphere—something that is difficult to define, but without which tlo teaching worthy of the name can be done. Atmosphere might be described as the “ feel ” of the school or the class, the sense of ease of confidence, of efficiency, that conies through good organisation, earnest leadership, and faithful helpers. It is gained almost entirely through attention to details, and through attention to these at the right time. 1. Arrive before the children. Make them feel that you are expecting them. If you arrive after them, disorder may have arisen, and it cannot be easily overtaken when once it gets a start. One feels that the importance of early arrival at Sunday school is not sufficiently appreciated by many teachers; they are not aware that subtly their lateness conveys to their scholars that the school and the class do not matter so very much to them. A concert, a trip by train or bus, would find them early enough; the Sunday school is thoughtlessly put on a lower level. 2. Bring all the things that you will want for the lesson. Once a teacher is in her place she should remain there. Visits to a cupboard, consultation with the leader, talk with other teachers should be taboo. From the moment she sits down she is in charge, and she must not abandon her responsibility. :5. Put all you.want,beside you tidily and within reach. Each teacher has her own personal way of doing things. If we are in our place before the children enter we can lay out our material as we think we shall require it, having it all in order as we shall use it. Nothing niore quickly or thoroughly destroys interest and attention than fussing for a picture among several others, or looking for a pencil which’is not where we put if last Sunday. Such simply causes the childrento'imagine that really there is not much in the Sunday School after all. 4. Keep things out of :Sight until you need them. Children are instinctively curious. Their curiosity is one of our strongest aids to attention. But, if we hfive satisfied their curiosity before we use a picture or a model, then that part of the lesson loses much of its appeal. Suppose .our lesson is on “ The Good Shepherd,” and we intend to use a model of an Eastern sheepfold. We keep it out of sight while the wonship part of the service is being conducted ; we keep it away while we are tailing the first part of the story; then, at the appropriate moment, we put our hand down, lift the model out of its wrapping, and say “ Here is a model of a fold.” What happens? Immediately every eye is focussed on the inodel: all interest is given to shape and'details; what we tell .gets home to eagerminded children, and we hold''‘them. But, had we allowed them to see or handle the model before the lesson, curiosity would have been satisfied ; bad they been able to see it during the first part of onr teaching they would have been of divided mind, ear-gate attending to us and eye-gate studying the model.

■ Further, when our use of the model or picture is finished, we should, put the article out of sight. Otherwise someone or other of the class will have his attention distracted. That the children should be comfortable goes without saying—discomfort lessens, if it does not destroy, interest. High seats which keep the children’s feet off the floor should be avoided, so also should a crowded bench. Discipline is not gained so much by words of command, but by arranging so that all wi|J be at ease. Further, the children must be able to see the teacher. Face and hands and attitude of the body mean much to our. speaking—-even a turn of the eye will help to convey a particular meaning. We all appreciate the tremendous difference between hearing a song on the gramophone and the same song rendered directly by the human voice. So it is with our teaching—the teacher is not intended to be a human gramophone—she must be seen by the class, and the teacher must be able to see the class, easily and directly. Here we meet with difficulties which are neither of our making nor our choosing. If the building in which we meet had been erected for use as a Sunday school, and if its furniture had been provided to be used first of all by children, then we could easily arrange for our class to sit in a semi-

circle, while we were a little outside ihe circle. But, unfortunately for our purposes, the meeting place has been designed for various purposes usually associated with activities unconnected with child life. The furnishings may consist of benches which can be moved as we desire, and which hold four or more children. Then the teacher must form the seats into a hollow square with one side empty. The children arc arranged along the three sides, care being taken that the seat directly opposite/ where the teacher is to sit is full, and the side benches occupied as the number of scholars demands. On the empty side is the teacher’s chair, placed at: a distance sufficient to enable the teacher to have all the children directly in sight. Or it may be that the school is carried on in a church, where the seats are fixed. In such conditions tho children should be arranged in short rows, not more than five in a row, perhaps, and the teacher should stand in the pew immediately in front of tho children. That position has in its favour the fact that physical nearness helps in control and teaching. But, unless the class is a very small one, it is better to have an empty pew intervening—by that arrangement it is easily possible for every child to see the teacher and vice-versa. The attitude of the teacher during the lesson calls for careful consideration, for it reveals her relations to the class and her understanding of the value of the service she is giving. ’ From beginning to end the attitude should be that of friendly, yet confident, leadership. There should be confidence, kind-, liness, earnestness. Put shortly, there is no exact time a lesson should last, though for practical purposes fifteen or twenty minutes are usually assigned. Some lessons require even longer; a few may only take-ten minutes. It is . for the teacher so to choose the points to be that her teaching will fit in to the time apportioned; generally, if real preparation has been given, the period will be found - all too short. But one fact should be . impressed on young teachers—stop when you have finished; do not drag out the lesson either by moralising or by asking useless questions. If .at’allpossible, have in reserve something than the children can do. Never indulge’in a custom which, we are happy to say, seems to be dying out, that of reading a portion of a story out of a book brought for the purpose. A-few pieces of paper and pencil will’provide ma- . terial for printing a text bearing on the lesson for the day, for drawing some article mentioned, or for writing ont m simple language a short account of what has been heard. Whatever is undertaken should bo so chosen it can be finished in the time allotted.—Eev. 11. Alexander, B.D.