RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23044, 21 November 1936, Page 24

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

By Amp Hus MAKING YOUR TEACHING VITAL “One day ray kiddie relative and I made our way to the Zoo, and. in time came to the cage marked ‘Timber Wolf.’ But, lo! the cage was empty, and the keeper standing by was gruffly non-committal and wouldn’t say what had become of him. So we moved on, wondering about that wolf. By and by we came to a cage with no markings, entirely enclosed by burlap. Being a great enemy of secrecy, I wiggled a little hole in the burlap wit a lead pencil, and when no one was looking put my eye to the opening, There was the wolf. But what a wolf! He lay in a corner like one beaten, a bag of skin and bones. “ I went back to the keeper and said, ‘I have discovered the wolf Why are you hiding him?' The keeper broke down. ‘Well, it’s this way,’ he replied. ‘ For months people thronged around the wolf cage. They brought their children, who stood there and screamed, jabbered, made faces, and jumped up and down. And pointing at him, they sang, “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? ” Well, nothing alive can stand that criticism for long. The wolf did what any human being would do under the circumstances—it had a nervous breakdown. We took pity on the animal and moved it to peace and quiet. We hope the poor beast recovers, so don’t tell anybody you saw it.’ ”

This is a true story which appeared in a magazine during the year when Walt Disney’s "Three Little Pigs" was showing in the motion picture theatres throughout America. It is an illustration of the effectiveness of teaching which is vividly presented. Let it serve as the text for our discussion. At best many of life’s lessons are hard. Truth in the abstract is not ; very compelling to most people. We must make our teaching clear through efforts at saying, “This is what it means. Just as the meaning of God in human experience was made clear to the hearts of men through incarnation in Jesus Christ, so every great truth must be made flesh so that it may dwell among us in terms of the concrete living we know. In his book called “The Teacher” Dean Weigle says:-—“ There is no surer way to bring the truth home to the minds and hearts of those we teach than by effective illustration. The teacher needs the gift of imagination. He must be able to see the truth concretely, and be quick to conceive its analogies. Illustrations are of two types—stories and figures of speech. Jesus used both. To teach the fatherhood of God, He told the story of a prodigal son; He spoke of Himself as ‘ the good shepherd,’ ‘ the bread of life,’ ‘ the stone which the builders rejected ’; and of the relation of His disciples to Himself as that of ‘branches to the ‘vine.’ He likened His service to a ‘yoke’ that is easy; the spread of His Kingdom to the growth of a grain of mustard seed.” Looking at the use of illustrations in the broad sense of making teaching more vivid, we may add to these two types a number of others. These are the object, the picture, the blackboard, and the field trip. The teacher who is dealing with the various translations of the Bible will be greatly helped in making his teaching effective if he can actually show some of the different versions which have resulted from these translations. The teacher who is attempting to .develop a knowledge of and an attitude toward children in other lands will be helped if he can show attractive pictures of these children in their home life and at play. The teacher who is attempting to add a difficult word to the vocabulary of the pupil will be helped if he can write this word on the blackboard where all may see. The teacher who is attempting to give his pupils an papredation of the worship services of other faiths will be helped if he can have his pupils actually see.the service being considered. If you would use illustrations effectively, bear in mind the following considerations:— | First, through the use of illustration, j you are trying to make more clear i some main point in your teaching, i Your illustration must, therefore, be j secondary to this main point. It fails j

unless it helps to make that point more clear and attractive. It goes without saying that an illustration which is less familiar than the point to be illustrated i?. 'Y°, rse than useless. Unless, as Dean Weigle says in the book already rethe illustration is a window through which the truth may shine, and H ot a” attraction in itself which distracts the mind and clouds the vision “ I l. of no particular help in your 2 n6 ;. The following is a good exa™P?e ° f + a -j lustration which is so 9 utsi d® the P u P ils ’ experience raSstaTed:- 6 the poln ' °Il ce bear d. a preacher explain t<° T 3 .number of children thus: thl° w ’ r L wlll - ? x P lain hope so that all these little girls can go home and tell their mothers what hope is. Now, chily°u hnaw that this beautiful meotw £ , wate r that .runs behind this SM&S an C d°KS/„' md “Potation.” S° say > no Poacher should go out of his way to draw in a story naturally l fif tr ?n 10n u- hic . h does n °t may w % &S subject and which niay have doubtful value, simply because it is an interesting’ stoTv S second, the purpose of the illustration will be defeated if it is si inthe eS m?nd a of d ih^v U / ng that Utakes the from coL s i D:,ect V nde! : discussion. I have if what S wL ker t n fail - in the delivery wnat , was otherwise an excellent address because he used a story whin'i hearm tl thit d li he ima « inati °n of his fhpir Gl o+i he ,_ was unable to bring their attention back to the subieet n* hJp ad dress. Object lessons such as thf, use , pf chemicals to show how water which is unclear can be cleared Up J the addition of a few drons—used to indicate how the blood of r,.p r rl S an , cle F the heart from sinolu i lke Yu t 0 draw attention to therriselves rather than to the point which they were intended to make clear A field trip may even be nothing more nunns a ?rp U n' e , res t in + fi excursion K unless ° Thirdly uf p ? d }? see lts Purpose. .thirdly, illustrations should not be used merely as attention getters and interest holders. This is really the negative of the first point. It deserve! attention, however, because, so hfcfnn 1 15 yiola ted. While a heavy e l s ™ he lightened and greatl-y fP^ an 9fd in value by good illustraincTana !? fi ot lru6 that 3n uninterest‘nA,aj,d dull presentation can be made ?nto 3 U v siUiPly by .telling a storv or ° ick »& * nans the most common. When a storv in'af ?cte n d and well told and helps mhfin th i In anc ! blood ‘he point which the teacher is attempting to make it is a very great help in teach- * . speaker who has a good fund ot stories is always popular. Great preachers usually have the rare art of making their sermons interesting by Interspersing them with stories which as we say. “ hit the nail on the head." It requires imagination to find illustrations in the common events of life, and ingenuity to weave them into effective stones.

Another means of making teaching effective is the blackboard. Through the use of the blackboard the teacher can bring before his pupils’ eyes, as well as their ears, the things which he particularly wants to emphasise. This may include rough sketches, outline, maps, discussion outlines, or the interpretation of difficult words. A third method of making teaching more vivid is the use of pictures. Through pictures we bring the world to Dupff. He is thus enabled to behold that which could never be ma'de Quite clear to him through words only. A poster is a more elaborate use of pictures, appropriately arranged and lettered. The time is coming when the church school will take advantage of motion pictures as a means of telling stories and showing scenes which will be a great aid in teaching. A fourth method of making truth more clear is that of giving the pupil the opportunity actually to behold what is being taught. ' To be effective, teaching must be interesting and vivid. To make his teaching vivid is an art every teacher will do well to study constantly. He will put himself as much as he can in the place of the pupil and ask himself the question, “How can I make this mean something to my pupil? ” He will te*t his use of illustrations, not by the interest which has been shown in them but by the effectiveness of the teaching which may have resulted.—lnternational Journal of R.E.