SUNDAY SCHOOLS’ CONFERENCE

Evening Star, Issue 17927, 24 March 1922, Page 8

SUNDAY SCHOOLS’ CONFERENCE

DIOCESAtf TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION. A conference of the Diocesan Sunday School Teachers’ Association was held yesterday. the proceedings commencing nt d a.in. "i'u St. Paul’s Cathedral, wiien holy communion was celebrated. The Bishop of Dunedin officiated. A demonstration of kindergarten methods was given by Miss Low ami her assistants (Misses Graham and Allen). A largo number of tho teachers were present, and great interest was manifested. The members ox tho association wqio latexshown over the school by the directress (.Miss Findlay), and tho system of working the classes was explained in detail. There was an intercession service at St. Peter’s, Caversham, in the afternoon, conducted by the Rev. \V. Uphill- An adjournment was made to the hall, where , the Rev. H. 0. Fenton gave si very interesting account of tho St. Sulpin system of catechism. An intercession service took place m the Cathedral last evening, conducted by the Rev. C. H. Ritchie. _ This was followed by the conference, in the crypt, to which a general invitation had been issued. The attendance was fairly numerous, and included among those present were prominent Sunday school worcei-s ol other denominations. The chairman of the conference, the Rev. J. H. Rogers, occupied the chair. Tho chief business was the delivery of two interesting lectures by the Rev. Mr Ritchie and Mr John Reid. Mr Ritchie mentioned that the Church was differently placed with regard to the training of teachers from ordinary educational work. The State had an elaborate system of training teachers, the result being that teachers became specialists in education. With regard to the Church, however, the teachers were merely a body of voluntary workers. Still, the responsibility was tho same. From the ,fa<:t, however, that Sunday school teachers were not specialists there was a lack of realisation of the responsibility of the position. Teachers must not look upon themselves as merely taking a class on Sunday; they must educate themselves for the work they had to do. Mr Ritchie gave_ some practical illustrations of the necessity of having knowledge of tho Bible, and the conditions of the times to which the various hooks belonged, in a puuu and concise maimer pointed the way to a higher ideal in preparation. Ho also stressed the fact that from the Christian standpoint there was a great difference between the Old and New Testaments. Teachers must use every means Po s s}b| 0 to be equal to tho presentation of _ Bible truths, so (that they would remain in the children's minds. Having thus dealt wit a the intellectual ho pro- 1 cceded to deal with that of inculcating moral and spiritual truth. The individu- , ality of the child counted tremendously. Tho opportunity was presented to every teacher to influence each individual soul, and this was only to bo achieved by an understanding of each. In conclusion, Mr Ritchie said that the taking of a Sunday school class did not mean only forty-five minutes every Sunday afternoon. Teachers had to be a friend of each of their children, and the responsibility followed the whole daily life of each. _ Further, it was not enough to teach children_ about Christ; they must form Christ in the child, and to that end they must have Christ in themselves. If Christ were in them, He would express Himself to the children through them. Mr Reid spoke on ‘ Sunday School Development in tho Light of Child Psychology.’ Teachers at the outset, bo said, must read books on child psychology. The Bible was not sufficient in itself for the needs of the Sunday school teachers. For this reason he took it for granted that those present had a certain amount, of knowledge of child-psychology. He condemned the system of crowding children together, and spoke of grading, emphasising the necessity of “ atmosphere. ’ It was not the sermon that_ counted ; it was the atmosphere. Tho child could not be dealt with in the mass. The school must bo decentralised into suitable departments and tho children dealt with one by one. They would only fulfil the Spirit of the Master, tho command “Feed My lambs,” by the grading of both scholars and teachers. Mr Reid strongly advocated tho getting of teachers while they were still young. That, ho said, had been largely the secret of success of the St. Andrew’s Sunday School. Then, too, they must have trained leaders. The young tea’chers must realise that they had much to learn, and a class for teachers was essential. Teachers must set themselves to “grow,” and they must bo continually growing. By numerous illustrations, many highly comic, Mr Reid showed the need for a clear idea of the individual scholar,. an understanding of his mind and point of view, and so lead on to .the desirableness and the necessity of giving each the food he needed. Tito study of child nature called aloud for graded teachers, graded children, and graded buildings. , A general -discussion followed, and several question were put, chiefly regarding tho difficulty of dealing with the - schools in small charges. ' The proceedings were closed with the singing of the doxology and tho pronouncement of the benediction.