RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Evening Star, Issue 23421, 11 November 1939, Page 6

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

[By Forward.] The only crown 1 ask. dear Lord, to wear Is this: that I may help a little child. I do not ask that I should ever stand Among the wise, the worthy, or the great; I only ask that softly, hand in hand, A child and I may enter at Thy gate. WORSHIP IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. When little or no time and care are given to the preparation of a service of worship the result is disorder, confusion, and general lack of interest on the part of the pupils and a sense of weakness and shame on the part of the leaders. When the service of worship is brief, not over 15 minutes, and well adapted to those who are the most difficult to control; when every part of the room is provided with helpers to keep order and to secure united attention, it becomes a joy and satisfaction to the leaders and an inspiration and help to the pupils.

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL SYLLABUS. “„What course of lessons do you taker'” I asked a superintendent who was complaining about the way his school attendance was falling off. His reply was that the teachers just took “ anything they liked,” and that no particular course was followed throughout the school! There is no excuse for such a state of affairs with lesson courses arranged by experts and help in presenting them available for all. It is surprising, though, that many schools have not yet introduced any system into what they teach. There should never be any question of teachers finding “ something to teach ” ; this is provided, and the coarse of lessons should be regarded as a tool essential to the teacher’s work. But a tool must be used; how can the best use be made of the syllabus in Sunday school P In the first place it must be mastered by the teacher. Anything not thoroughly knowui cannot be taught. Familiarity with and understanding of the subject matter are both necessary if success is desired. This can only come by mastering the syllabus as a whole. Week-to-week preparation of a lesson at a time is good—but it is not enough. The whole course—or at any rate each series in turn—should be studied in general before the weekly preparation begins at all. Moreover, this period of preliminary study is the time to do the additional reading suggested in the lesson notes. As much of this reading as possible should be attempted, as there is nothing like a good background. Having acquired a good general idea of the syllabus, the teacher’s' next task is to relate it to life—that is, to the lives of his own scholars, to the problems of his own neighbourhood. The expression work also should be planned beforehand for the whole series, and all materials for illustrative purposes collected and arranged before the first lesson. The teacher is now ready to prepare the weekly lessons for presentation to the class, and this should never be done in haste. Where a weekly training class is held attendance should be regarded as a sacred duty.- In addition to the class, however, not less than one hour per week should be spent in preparation for the Sunday session. During this hour attention Should be given to the following questions;— 1. How am I going to prepare the children’s minds to receive this week’s lesson ? ’2. What is to be my method of presentation? 3. What illustrations shall I use, and when and how shall I introduce them P 4. What is the central truth T am leading up to? 5. How can this lesson be applied? What is the most suitable form of expression for the class to attempt? —Cyril Scorer. IMAGINATION. “ You speak so often of cultivating the child’s imagination,” said a teacher to her superintendent one day, ‘‘ bub I don’t see why we should spend time on things that are not real.” The superintendent gasped. “ I will explain why at teachers’ meeting. Perhaps there are others besides you who don’t understand.” There were. Trained teachers realise the value of imagination; some untrained ones unconsciously employ it; the failure of many others to make use of it explains, in large part, their failure to hold the interest of their classes. Imagination does not deal, necessarily with “ things that are not real.” As the superintendent pointed out at the teachers’ meeting, if you are teaching the lesson of David and Goliath, and your questions run like this: “ Who was David? ” “ What did he have? ” ‘‘What did he use it for?” etc. Yop are relying upon memory almost entirely. But if you ask a boy to describe what David had, what it was made of, where he got it, and how far could he shoot with it, and what he probably killed with it, then you are calling upon his imagination to add interest and to fix the details in his mind, because, by the use of this marvellous faculty of imagination you are tying the boys’ experience definitely to David’s. To answer those last questions, the boy had to use his imagination, for until he had visualised (imaged) that sling he could not answer the questions. Then if you ask him why David had a sling, you are placing the entire burden upon imagination, which rarely fails you. Imagination has its place in all teaching, and in teaching the Bible it is absolutely essential that this be realised. The Bible is centred, all of it, about persons, and personalities always appeal to the imagination with great i force. What a character _ does and ; thinks, his choices in a crisis, and the I results ensuing, are always powerfully | attractive to all of us, because we see i therein ourselves in more or less de- ! free. Now, to make the real David or oshua or Paul or Jesus understandable, imagination must be called upon to vivify and to correlate to our own experiences. But imagination has a higher function than any mentioned above. Its j highest value lies in its ability to build I moral character. Some one hag said. “ Character depends upon ideals, ami ideals are the standards which imagination forms and sets before us as the measure of our conduct. "Unless the brave deeds of a boy’s father, or David, etc., appeal to his | imagination, unless he understands the details of why and wherefore so clearly that he can picture it in his mind at will, it will never become a part of him. If the imagination habitually dwells ou noble deeds, it will form high ideals almost unconsciously. That is the highest function of this most marvellous faculty.