Principles of Teaching by Adam S. Bennion (primary phonics books .TXT) đź“•
The following definition of teaching, contributed by a former statesuperintendent of schools, is rich in suggestion:
"Teaching is the process of training an individual through theformation of habits, the acquisition of knowledge, the inculcation ofideals, and the fixing of permanent interests so that he shall becomea clean, intelligent, self-supporting member of society, who has thepower to govern himself, can participate in noble enjoyments, and hasthe desire and the courage to revere God and serve his fellows."
Teaching does not merely consist of an inquisition of questions withappropriate answers thrown in; it surely is not mere reading; nor can itbe mistaken for preaching or lecturing. These are all means that may beemployed in the process of teaching. And they are important, too. Wehave been cautioned much, of late years, not to lose ourselves in theprocess of doling out facts--but that rather we should occupy
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Moreover, the teacher enjoys the uplifting associations of his fellow teachers. Among those consecrated to a noble service, there is a spirit unknown to him who has not enjoyed such communion. Whether he is conscious of it or not, the teacher responds to the pull of such a group. Scores of teachers have testified that the associations they have enjoyed as members of a local board, stake board, or general board, are among the happiest of their lives.
And finally there is the contentment of mind that comes as a result of a duty well done. The human soul is so constituted that any task well performed brings a feeling of satisfaction, and this is doubly heightened when the duty performed is of the nature of a free will offering. Still more so when it is shared in by others to their blessing. Just as we hope for an eventual crowning under the blessing, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant," so we treasure those benedictions along the way that attend the discharge of a sacred obligation.
Questions and Suggestions—Chapter III
1. Quote some of the promises of the Lord to those who do His will.
2. How is teaching one of the surest guarantees of the blessings of eternal life?
3. What are the immediate joys attached to teaching?
4. Discuss the application to teaching of the truth—"He who loses his life shall find it."
5. What types of companionship are assured him who teaches?
6. As you now recall them, what distinct pleasures stand out in your teaching experience?
7. Discuss Section 76 of the Doctrine & Covenants as one of the most valuable promissory notes ever given to mankind.
8. Discuss the force of a duty done as a guarantee of joy.
Helpful References
Doctrine and Covenants: Slattery, Living Teachers; Sharp, Education for Character; Weigle, Talks to Sunday School Teachers; Betts, How to Teach Religion.
CHAPTER IV PERSONALITYOutline—Chapter IV
The worth of a great teacher.—Good teachers not necessarily born.—Some boys' observations on teachers.—A high school survey.—Clapp's Essential Characteristics.—Betts' Three Classes of Teachers.—His list of qualities.
"A great teacher is worth more to a state, though he teach by the roadside, than a faculty of mediocrities housed in Gothic piles."—Chicago Tribune, September, 1919.
We may stress the sacred obligation of the teacher; we may discuss in detail mechanical processes involved in lesson preparation; we may analyze child nature in all of its complexity; but after all we come back to the Personality of the Teacher as the great outstanding factor in pedagogical success. That something in the man that grips people!
Very generally this Personal Equation has been looked upon as a certain indefinable possession enjoyed by the favored few. In a certain sense this is true. Personality is largely inherent in the individual and therefore differs as fully as do individuals. But of recent years educators have carried on extensive investigations in this field of personality and have succeeded in reducing to comprehensible terms those qualities which seem to be most responsible for achievements of successful teachers. Observation leads us all to similar deductions and constitutes one of the most interesting experiments open to those concerned with the teaching process.
Why, with the same amount of preparation, does one teacher succeed with a class over which another has no control at all?
Why is it that one class is crowded each week, while another adjourns for lack of membership?
The writer a short time ago, after addressing the members of a ward M.I.A., asked a group of scouts to remain after the meeting, to whom he put the question, "What is it that you like or dislike in teachers?" The group was a thoroughly typical group—real boys, full of life and equally full of frankness. They contributed the following replies:
1. We like a fellow that's full of pep. 2. We like a fellow that doesn't preach all the time. 3. We like a fellow that makes us be good. 4. We like a fellow that tells us new things.Boylike, they were "strong" for pep—a little word with a big significance. Vigor, enthusiasm, sense of humor, attack, forcefulness—all of these qualities are summed up in these three letters.
And the interesting thing is that while the boys liked to be told new things, they didn't want to be preached at. They evidently had the boy's idea of preaching who characterized it as, "talking a lot when you haven't anything to say."
Still more interesting is the fact that boys like to be made to be good. In spite of their fun and their seeming indifference they really are serious in a desire to subscribe to the laws of order that make progress possible.
A principal of the Granite High School carried on an investigation through a period of four years to ascertain just what it is that students like in teachers. During those years students set down various attributes and qualities, which are summarized below just as they were given:
Desirable Characteristics
Congeniality. Broadmindedness. Wide knowledge. Personality that makes discipline easy. Willingness to entertain questions. Realization that students need help. Sense of humor—ability to take a joke. Optimism—cheerfulness. Sympathy. Originality. Progressiveness. Effective expression. Pleasing appearance—"good looking." Tact. Patience. Sincerity.Among the characteristics which they did not like in teachers they named the following:
Undesirable Characteristics
Grouchiness. Wandering in method. Indifference to need for help. Too close holding to the text. Distant attitude—aloofness. Partiality. Excitability. Irritability. Pessimism—"in the dumps." Indifferent assignments. Hazy explanations. Failure to cover assignments. Distracting facial expressions. Attitude of "lording it over." Sarcasm. Poor taste in dress. Bluffing—"the tables turned." Discipline for discipline's sake. "Holier than thouness."Desirable Capabilities
They also reduced to rather memorable phrases a half dozen desirable capabilities:
1. The ability to make students work and want to work. 2. The ability to make definite assignments. 3. The ability to make clear explanations. 4. The ability to be pleasant without being easy. 5. The ability to emphasize essentials. 6. The ability to capitalize on new ideas. 7. The ability to be human.A number of years ago Clapp conducted a similar survey among one hundred leading school men of America, asking them to list the ten most essential characteristics of a good teacher. From the lists sent in Clapp compiled the ten qualities in the order named most frequently by the one hundred men:
1. Sympathy. 2. Address. 3. Enthusiasm. 4. Sincerity. 5. Personal Appearance. 6. Optimism. 7. Scholarship. 8. Vitality. 9. Fairness. 10. Reserve or dignity.George Herbert Betts, in his stimulating book, How to Teach Religion, says there are three classes of teachers:
"Two types of teachers are remembered: One to be forgiven after years have softened the antagonisms and resentments; the other to be thought of with honor and gratitude as long as memory lasts. Between these two is a third and a larger group: those who are forgotten, because they failed to stamp a lasting impression on their pupils. This group represents the mediocrity of the profession, not bad enough to be actively forgiven, not good enough to claim a place in gratitude and remembrance."
Mr. Betts then goes on with a very exhaustive list of positive and negative qualities in teachers—a list so valuable that we set it down here for reference.
Questions and Suggestions—Chapter IV
1. Think of the teachers who stand out most clearly in your memory. Why do they so stand out?
2. Name the qualities that made the Savior the Great Teacher.
3. If you had to choose between a fairly capable but humble teacher, and a very capable but conceited one, which one would be your choice? Why?
4. What is your argument against the idea, "Teachers are born, not made"?
5. Discuss the relative significance of the qualities quoted from Betts.
Helpful References
O'Shea, Every-day Problems in Teaching; Betts, How to Teach Religion; Brumbaugh, The Making of a Teacher; Palmer, The Ideal Teacher; Slattery, Living Teachers; Weigle, Talks to Sunday School Teachers.
CHAPTER V PERSONALITYOutline—Chapter V
The six major qualities:—a. Sympathy.—b. Sincerity.—c. Optimism.—d. Scholarly attitude.—e. Vitality.—f. Spirituality.
To set about to cultivate separate qualities would be rather a discouraging undertaking. As a matter of fact, many of the characteristics named really overlap, while others are secondary in importance. For practical purposes let us enlarge upon five or six qualities which everyone will agree are fundamental to teaching success.
The class in Teacher Training, at the Brigham Young University, in the summer of 1920, named these six as the most fundamental:
1. Sympathy. 2. Sincerity. 3. Optimism. 4. Scholarly attitude. 5. Vitality. 6. Spirituality.No attempt was made to set them down in the order of relative importance.
1. Sympathy
This is a very broad and far-reaching term. It rests upon experience and imagination and involves the ability to live, at least temporarily, someone else's life. Sympathy is fundamentally vicarious. Properly to sympathize with children a man must re-live in memory his own childhood or he must have the power of imagination to see things through their eyes. Many a teacher has condemned pupils for doing what to them was perfectly normal. We too frequently persist in viewing a situation from our own point of view rather than in going around to the other side to look at it as our pupils see it. It is no easy matter thus "to get out of ourselves" and become a boy or girl again, but it is worth the effort.
Along with this ability at vicarious living, sympathy involves an interest in others. Sympathy is a matter of concern in the affairs of others. The rush and stir of modern life fairly seem to force us to focus our attention upon self, but if we would succeed as teachers, we must make ourselves enter into the lives of our pupils out of an interest to see how they conduct their lives, and the reasons for
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