RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Evening Star, Issue 23699, 5 October 1940, Page 4

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

[By Forward.]

“Life is a mosaic, and each smallest stone must be polished and set with greatest care or the piece will not at last bo perfect.” MUSIC TN THE DEPARTMENT. A writer on ‘ Worship in the Sunday School ’ says that the live subjects that need emphasis in Sunday school worship are gratitude, good will, faith, loyalty, and reverence, and I believe that there is nothing to compare with music (played, of course, by a competent pianist) to help the loader of the department to" get the right atmosphere. Poetry has ever helped man to give expression to himself, nnd poetry and music combined are of great value in character building. The child’s moral and religious life may be brought out most surely through the influence of music, song, and story. Unconsciously the lesson is conveyed to the mind of the child, the half-veiled truth in the story may be emphasised by, and made expressive in, music. Some of the junior teachers who have passed through the primary department will be familiar with the atmosphere of orderliness and quiet and the beautiful feeling of reverence and wmrship of (jod s presence. When they go up into the junior department they perhaps determine to carry with them the secret of this atmosphere and how it is gained; but somehow, in tlve junior department it seems more difficult to attain. As in the pnraary department, music can bo of the greatest help in gaining a worshipful atmosphere. • How is it to be n-ained? Firstly, by the guidance of the leader, the “ brain behind the machine,” and, equally with the leader, the pianist of the department, both training and influencing the mental outlook of the band of teachers and scholars. However good the leader may be, he (or she) is very much limited unless there is a really good pianist. The pianist must he the best obtainable—not one who merely “plays the piano.” hut one who can forget herself in the unselfish and painstaking attempt to give a sympathetic lead to the worship and who will make every attempt to find the right kind of music and to play it in the right way. One may not always he able to have a fully-trained musician, but sometimes one may have a pianist, of far loss merit who has the gift of sympathetic understanding and love for the work, and who will do good work and attain much by a little regular practice. She must he able to feel the beauty of the music and to translate it to others.

The leader should let the pianist have the order of service during the preceding week, so that suitable supplementary music can be selected. Sonic pianists may at first rather resent the leader’s offer of totting them have tbe list to read over, and the laughing remark has been made; “ Oh. I can read a few hymn tunes; I’m not one of those who need to practise them 1 ” That is not the point; our most highly qualified pianists are the first to welcome any suggestion which will help them to gain an insight into the needs of the music for the afternoon, and the help which they are to give to the leader. One cannot afford to overlook details in God’s perfect work, and the playing of a wrong or badlychosen hymn tune may mar a whole afternoon's worshin Many good pianists, however, are badly hampered and hindered by the instrument on which they have to play. Many churches allow their Sunday school work to be carried on with the aid of a piano which is almost worse than none. Often this is a “ gift ” to the school by someone who is buying another to place in the drawing room. Oh. for another Carnegie who would enable ns to burn up these pianos so that we might start afresh with an instrument which is, at least, in reasonable working order! Tbe piano should be in a position where the pianist can see the leader all the time, and music should be introduced at every possible moment; that is to say, it must be made full use of as the most powerful aid to tbe religious development of the scholars through music. The present day use of radios, gramophones. etc., in our day schools is tending to raise tbe musical taste. We must make the most of (he musical side of our departments. so that through tbe most beautiful mu.sie, musically played, we may help pur scholars to realise some of the most beautiful truths which are incapable of being expressed in words.

THE ART OF ASKING QUESTIONS,

Asking questions wisely is an art. Like all other arts it has rules of technique which need to be learned and practised with 'patience, and like the other arts it yields up its secrets to those who approach it in the spirit of humility. There are testing questions and teaching questions. Testing questions have their place. It is useful sometimes for the children to recount what they remember of the facts of the story, and they thoroughly enjoy the process. But teaching questions, that set tlie children’s thoughts going, that call for choice and judgment, that relate the new fact to the old knowledge, or that carry the new idea into the real life of to-morrow, these are the questions that count.

Good questions are definite; they have ono clear point, and do not, as a rule, admit of alternative answers. Of course, questions that can be answered with a mere “ Yes ” or “No ” are usually bad. Unconsciously the teacher’s voice tells the children what she wants for an answer, and the children arc very willing to oblige. Worse still, such questions encourage guesswork and mental laziness. Their only value lies in drawing out the shy child and helping him to join in the discussion; then, having once brought him in with a word, the leader can follow up quickly with another question that demands more thought. But if the child js specially nervous it is not wise to try the device a second time. He remembers too well how he was caught, and refuses to fall into the trap again.

A good question in many cases is “ What do you think of it P” A junior class had once been told how David saved Saul’s life, and the teacher said, “ What do you think of that?” The boys replied, “ Soft!” Had she asked instead, “ Don’t you think that was a fine thing?” expecting “Yes” for an answer, she would never have had that revelation. As it was it made her wonder whether the story really was junior material or whether she had yet to get these boys to see the moral courage of it. There are times when a really difficult question is in place, especially if the leader admits, in asking it, that it is difficult. The most thoughtful children will respond, and their answers will leach the others much more effectively than if the same words came from a grown-up.

In our own preparation it is obvious that we must study and plan our questions with care, if they are to take their right place in our teaching. Skill is needed, too, in the use of the children’s answers. Nothing is more discouraging to a child than to have his answer promptly refuted or io-nored. It needs a mind at leisure from itself to be able to take the entirely unexpected answer unabashed, to look beyond the words to the ideas behind them in the child’s mind, and to catch every possible thought that carries the lesson forward. In all this tho menial attitude of the teacher is the main factor in the response he or she receives. A patronising attitude that suggests to the children “ Here is all wisdom: 1 really know all about it, but I want to see how much you know and bow much you have forgotten,” will never pet anywhere with them. But real respect for the children’s contribution, and real expectation of their co-operation in thought and experience, wall not be disappointed. For our boys and girls can do their thinking best when they may use their tongues, and really need opportunities for verbal reasoning." Our talking to them may well bo barren, but our readiness to talk with them is quite another thing.