234 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF 

 EDUCATION. Y. 



HOW TO TEACH. 



'IN this paper we propose to give some account of the most 

 useful methods of teaching. To enter fully into the details of 

 this subject would be to write a book ; but we trust that, even 

 in the small space allotted to us, we may be able to offer some 

 useful hints. 



Given, a person well versed in general knowledge, and specially 

 acquainted with the details of some particular branches, the 

 problem which presents itself for solution here is indicated by 

 the question, " In what way shall such a person impart to 

 others the knowledge which he has won for himself?" It is 

 clear that the answer resolves itself into two parts : first, as to 

 the manner in which the teacher should arrange and prepare 

 the various parts of each subject of instruction, so that the 

 easy should come before the difficult, and every step bo a pre- 

 paration for that which is to follow it ; and, secondly, that such 

 plans should be adopted as will best tend to excite the attention 

 of the pupil, and dispose him to exert all his mental powers 

 in order to comprehend, to appropriate, and to assimilate the 

 instruction which is being given to him. In selecting these 

 plans, and still more in using them, the teacher should bear 

 continually in mind that the communication of knowledge is to 

 be employed as the means of improving and training the mental 

 powers, and, where religious instruction is concerned, the moral 

 emotions. 



1. The first of these plans or methods of teaching which we 

 shall notice is the rote or memory method. In this system 

 certain text-books are put into the hands of the pupils, and a 

 portion is daily given to them to commit to memory. The action 

 of the teacher is confined to appointing the lessons, hearing them 

 recited, and deciding when the pupil may pass on to the next 

 portion of his work. This method is probably very ancient, and 

 was widely prevalent in our own country until recent times. We 

 can scarcely conceive anything more irksome, more insufferably 

 disgusting, to an educated and thoughtful man, than to be com- 

 pelled to spend months and years in such an employment ; nor 

 any mode of instruction more fitted to cramp and dwarf the mind 

 oi the pupil, and fill him with dislike, contempt, and dread of 

 the man who could compel him to spend his youthful years in 

 the pursuit of knowledge on such a road as this. It had, how- 

 ever, its good points, and may occasionally be employed with 

 good effect by a judicious teacher. But a lesson of this kind, 

 where the very words are to be learnt in their exact order, 

 should seldom, if ever, be given without a previous explanatory 

 exercise. If, for instance, a passage of Scripture or a hymn is 

 appointed, the teacher should take care that it is well under- 

 stood before it is committed to memory. For the enunciations in 

 Euclid, and, indeed, in all cases where it is important that the 

 words in their exact order should be remembered, this method may 

 be employed with advantage. And when such lessons are recited 

 to the teacher, not the least assistance should be given in the way 

 of prompting or suggesting, when the learner is at fault ; all help 

 of this nature defeats the object for which the lesson is given ; if 

 it is not learnt perfectly, it is useless. If the pupil cannot recall 

 the words of the lesson when required, without help, he must 

 either have his prompter at hand when required a very im- 

 probable occurrence or his labour will have been in vain. 



2. Another popular method of giving instruction is by means 

 of lectures. Crowds of people of both sexes, of all ages, and of 

 all degrees of knowledge and mental power, flock to hear a 

 popular lecturer on some interesting topic in science or litera- 

 ture. They sit passively, and listen with differing degrees of 

 attention, while the speaker pours forth eloquent platitudes and 

 superficial remarks on the subject of discourse ; and after an hour 

 or two spent in this manner the multitudes disperse to their 

 homes, to admire for a short period, a,nd then to forget.' It is 

 very doubtful whether any appreciable amount of lasting good 

 is produced by exercises of this kind they furnish a pleasing 

 amusement, and but little more. We have no doubt that one 

 hour of earnest and patient private study will do more to train 

 the mind, discipline the intellect, and fit it for the acquisition, 



. retention, and utilisation of knowledge than almost any number 



! of lectures such as these. But there is another class of lectures 



to which these remarks will not apply with equal force. In many 



places of instruction courses of lectures are delivered on given 



subjects, and the students take notes while the lectures are in 

 progress, and read text-books on the subject during the intervals. 

 An examination at the close of the course tests the degree in 

 which the pupils have benefited by their attendance. Even in 

 this case, however, the private study is of equal value at least 

 with the public lecture. 



3. The interrogative method of teaching is now in very 

 general use, both in schools and private classes ; in other words, 

 it may also be correctly termed the art of questioning ; it is an 

 art requiring for its acquisition a large amount of practice, and 

 probably a natural liking for the work of teaching. No quantity 

 of explanation and examples will make a skilful questioner ; the 

 matter is a practical one, and is to be learnt by doing. Ques- 

 tions may be divided into several kinds, such as introductory 

 questions, explanatory or teaching questions, and questions of 

 examination. Introductory questions are used before beginning- 

 a new lesson, in order to ascertain the state of the pupil's mind, 

 to discover what he knows of the subject, and to connect the 

 lesson with those which have gone before. The teacher thus 

 learns how to suit his instruction to the wants of his scholars, 

 and avoids the waste of time and power which would arise from 

 dwelling long on what is already known. This connection of 

 present teaching with past knowledge is most important. The 

 memory, as we have explained at some length in a previous 

 paper, is so constituted that it is unable to retain isolated 

 knowledge. It remembers best, and holds with the most 

 tenacious grasp, whatever is firmly linked with previous know- 

 ledge. Explanatory or teaching questions are employed during 

 the progress of the lesson. By their means the instruction 

 involved in the lesson is questioned into the pupils. In a lesson 

 on " The Form and Motions of the Earth," for instance, the 

 teacher might ask, What is the form of the earth ? and the pupils 

 would probably answer, Round. Teaclier : How do you know ? 

 Pupils : We have been told so. Teaclier : But can you prove 

 it ? Silence, and then the answer, No. Teacher: Which of you 

 have been by the seaside ? Did you watch a vessel leaving 

 the land, and sailing out to sea ? which did you lose sight 

 of first the masts or the body of the vessel ? Answer : The 

 hull. If the sea were flat, which would have first disappeared ? 

 Answer : The masts. Why ? Because they are not so large 

 as the hull. What, then, hid the hull from view before the 

 masts were lost sight of ? The sea. What does this prove ? 

 That the sea is round. Give me another word. Convex. And 

 what gives this form to the sea ? Answer : The earth. What, 

 then, is the form of the earth ? Answer : Round,. [Some of 

 the more obvious answers in this example have been omitted, in 

 order to economise space.] The teacher might then speak of 

 eclipses of the moon, and by questions bring out the facts that 

 they are caused by the shadow of the earth being thrown on the 

 moon, and that in every case the outline of this shadow is 

 circular. This could not happen were not the earth convex in 

 every direction, and therefore it is a sphere, or of some form 

 nearly approaching it. This simple and brief example will servo 

 to make clear, in some measure, what we mean by the term 

 "teaching questions." Without actually giving the informa- 

 tion, as in a lecture, we lead the pupils to make the inferences 

 and gain the knowledge for themselves ; the mind is kept active, 

 and therefore grows and strengthens, and the pupil takes 

 pleasure in the exercise, because he feels that he is at work 

 and that his labour is profitable. The same process of leading 

 tha pupil to get the required information for himself should, of 

 course, be continued throughout the lesson. 



This mode of questioning may also be used with great 

 advantage in the course of a reading lesson. If the scholars 

 are allowed to read through the lesson without explanation, the 

 mechanical difficulty of making out the words, and, in most 

 cases, the frequent occurrence of phraseology to which they are 

 unaccustomed, will prevent them from giving the requisite 

 attention to the meaning of what they read. It is therefore of 

 great importance that appropriate questions should be put 

 while the lesson is going on. Difficult words and phrases should 

 be taken up as they occur, and the moaning should be questioned* 

 out of the pupils rather than told them, on the principle which we 

 have just illustrated. An exercise of this kind often taxes 

 most severely the skill, tact, and knowledge of the teacher ; but 

 the benefit conferred by it, both on himself and his pupils, can 

 scarcely be overrated. When the reading is completed, exami- 

 nation questions should be freely put, with books closed or 



