Chapter 14

(3) _Maturing of the will power._ This makes possible self-control, gives power to act independent of the impulse and influence which always determines a child's actions, power to hold steadily to a certain course even against strong opposition. This is the kingly possession of the soul with which Almighty God has chosen to leave freedom. But the soul tends to act as it has formed the habit of acting through the years under the direction of others. In the light of this fact, the importance of the earlier work of the teacher is emphasized.

#32. Opportunities of the Senior Age.#--The opportunities discussed in the Intermediate age still obtain in this period, but to them may be added three peculiarly favorable at this time.

(1) _The opportunity to give help in choice of life vocation._ The choice of that place where each shall invest his life is one of the most serious and complex problems that the pupil has to meet. Loving and sympathetic counsel often stimulates a young man or woman to aspire in the choice instead of settling down into easy mediocrity. The call of the ministry, the mission field, settlement work, every vocation involving the setting aside of selfish ambitions, is most loudly heard at this time, and often a word is sufficient to turn the decision in that direction.

(2) _To strengthen foundations of faith._ The questioning of this period makes it possible to ground belief in the verities of the Christian religion. Faith need not be blind. God gives a reasonable basis for all he asks us to accept. The careful study of facts which are the starting-point of faith will help the doubting soul to trust beyond the point of sight, and enable him to give a reason for the hope that is in him.

(3) _To establish broad interests._ If the pupil is narrow and circumscribed in his thought at this time, the fault lies in large measure at the teacher's door, for every impulse is to stretch in interest to the farthest limit in every direction. There will never again be such an opportunity to establish the world-wide interests begun in the Intermediate age, for life settles in a groove in adulthood and new interests do not readily appeal.

#33. Needs of the Senior Age.#

(1) _The influence of lives that will bear the test._ In this doubting, critical period of life, the daily life of others is the unanswerable argument for or against the power of the gospel. If for no other reason than to establish the faith of her young people, the church ought to walk in white.

(2) _Sympathy and confidence toward the pupil._ Some one has said that the word "hunger" will express the period of adolescence, and for nothing is the pupil so hungry as to be understood, appreciated, and trusted. The teacher is privileged to live into the life of the pupil at every point, and be the sympathetic friend who shall help him to work out his high calling in Christ Jesus.

#34. Difficulties of the Senior Age.#--The very things that constitute the strength of this period present many of its difficulties. The greater mental power coming with increased reason and will is apt to give rise to self-sufficiency and the doubt already mentioned. Opinions are readily and dogmatically launched, and to reverse them wounds pride. Advice may be secretly welcomed and outwardly scorned. This is the period when there is danger that wisdom may perish if the youth meet an untimely end. But far more dangerous is the tendency toward the sowing of wild oats which is so often evident. A certain recklessness easily grows out of the disturbed emotional nature and excesses lie not far beyond. For all of these difficulties, faith and prayer, an attitude of helpfulness at every point, and the love that never fails, afford the only solution.

#35. Results to be Expected.#--As the pupil emerges from the period of development into maturity, he ought to be "strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus," with interest and love as broad as that of his Master, and "thoroughly furnished unto every good work."

Test Questions

1. What are the general characteristics of the Senior Age? The years included?

2. Name three special characteristics.

3. How would you explain vacillating conduct during the early part of this period?

4. Name three opportunities of the Senior Age.

5. How may doubters be helped in this period?

6. What are two special needs of this period?

7. The chief difficulties?

8. What the results to be expected?

Lesson 10

Maturity.

The limited space of a single chapter permits only a suggestive discussion of this important period, so often neglected in the study of the pupil.

#36. General Survey.#--(1) _Keyword, "Service."_ As childhood's task is absorption, and the task of youth adjustment, so the task of maturity is service. That which has been taken in must be given out again, enriched and enlarged by its stay in the soul. This is "the last of life for which the first was made," and to fail here means to miss the meaning of living.

All the factors necessary for service are now ready. Experience and study have supplied something to give, mental discipline and unimpaired physical strength supply the power for service, the broad outlook reveals the need and place of service, and the soul's awakening toward God and the neighbor have supplied the motives for service.

(2) _Physical and mental power at the height._ Waste and repair in bodily tissues are balanced during the prime of life. If development has been normal, the will is resolute, and judgment and reason are dominating and wise, for experience has given large data from which to draw conclusions. While the "Golden Age of Memory" is far in the past, the power of retaining new knowledge through the old is strong. To enter upon unfamiliar lines of thought, however, at this time and achieve any mastery is a mark of genius at least for hard work. The soul has capacity now for the highest feelings that can stir the heart of man, yet the character of those it really experiences is determined by what life has been feeding upon. The love, joy, and peace which give glory to maturity and old age grow alone out of thought upon true and pure and lovely things and those of good report.

(3) _Development specialized, not general._ Out of the many calls and lines of interest, each life has made choice of one or more, according to taste and circumstances. Along these lines growth and development proceed. It is not that life could not continue the many-sided expansion of adolescence, but growth demands nourishment, development demands activity. The need for the expert, the multiplicity of cares and the force of habit make it difficult to "keep up" along many avenues.

(4) _Time of achievement._ Achievement may or may not be that service which manhood owes. The purpose in the task determines that. To souls especially endowed and favorably environed come the riches of intellectual research, of creation in the arts, of successes in the business world. To the many, achievement means only struggle here, but waiting treasures laid up with God.

(5) _Time of soul hunger._ The teacher of men and women always faces hungry hearts. If the soul has not found satisfaction in God, the pangs of starvation are inevitably there. If the soul does know God, there is unspeakable longing for a clearer revelation and a deeper consciousness that in the midst of life's weakness and aspiring

"God's goodness flows around our incompleteness, Round our restlessness His rest."

#37. Opportunities Presented in Maturity.#--But three great opportunities out of the many can be suggested:

(1) _The opportunity to be somebody's ideal._ Every successful life is the pattern for some eager, ambitious boy or girl. Did not Paul's exhortation to Timothy look toward this as well, when he besought him to "be an ensample in word, in manner of life, in love, in faith, in purity"?

(2) _The opportunity to count for the kingdom._ There are two lines of Christian work which call loudly to-day to men and women--personal evangelism and the missionary enterprise. These are the doors most imperative for the soul in possession of power, experience, and resources to enter. Beyond these doors lies the solution of every one of the world's problems.

(3) _The opportunity to grasp the doctrines of Christianity._ The relation of truth to truth cannot come until the mind can deal with the abstract. The little child grasps some of the facts of Christianity, but the adult mind has the power to deal with infinite reaches of truth, interdependent and self-illuminating. This is the "solid food for full-grown men."

#38. Needs of Maturity.#--(1) _Adequate spiritual nourishment._

The time of disillusionment has come, much of the optimism and buoyancy of youth have gone. Life is found to be a struggle even with its victories, and responsibilities and sorrows weigh. The teaching must present a Saviour and a salvation sufficient for great heart needs. It is for the deep things of God that life's experiences have made mature souls hungry, and there is pathos in the superficial dole meted out by so many teachers--superficial because they themselves have never lived "down deep."

(2) _The broad outlook._ To busy men and burdened women, the class ought to be a place of vision. Absorbed in one's tiny corner through six toiling days, the seventh should give opportunity to lift up the eyes and look on fields glorious in their incoming harvest. There is refreshment and inspiration and incentive now in the news from China and Japan and the islands of the sea. The teacher must bring the world-view to the class if he believes that world service is God's thought for manhood.

(3) _Emphasis on personal responsibility._ This is the pivotal point upon which a life of service turns, and it ought to be the focal point of teaching. Long enough has stress been laid on the conditions in the world and what ought to be done. The need now is for a prophet to say, "Thou art the man!"

#39. Difficulties.#

(1) _Pre-occupied soil._ "The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it becomes unfruitful."

(2) _Fixedness of habit._ Life's attitude is settled in thought, feeling, and will, and a change is possible only through the Spirit who can make all things new.

(3) _The sin of idolatry._ Every life that has not put God first now worships at the shrine of a self-elevated idol, the tangible expression of its ideal. To dethrone it from love and substitute Jesus Christ shakes to the foundations.

(4) _Weakness of spiritual aspirations._ It is a law of the feelings that repression instead of expression weakens a feeling and tends to its destruction. If the life has refused to act upon its impulses toward God through the years, the task of making the feeling strong enough to lead into action now is one beyond the power of the teacher. It must be done by God, who "is able to raise up even from the dead."

#40. Results to be Expected.#--As life nears its meridian and the west grows clearer, it ought to be with unveiled face and character changing into His likeness in beauty, love, and self-surrendered service.

Test Questions

1. What is the keyword of maturity?

2. Name four characteristics.

3. For what has the soul special capacity at this time?

4. What special opportunities are presented by maturity?

5. What are three needs of maturity?

6. What must definitely mark the teaching?

7. What three difficulties appear?

8. What results are to be expected?

Test Questions for Review

Lessons 6 to 10

1. What essentials of the Christian life may a Junior readily have?

2. How may we stimulate a Junior's efforts in right-doing?

3. What results may we look for in this age?

4. Explain the period of adolescence.

5. What are the signs of personal consciousness at this time?

6. What affects the adolescent's relation to God?

7. What important opportunities has the Intermediate age?

8. What must be guarded against in urging decision at this time?

9. What years are included in the Senior age?

10. Why are doubts to be expected in this age?

11. What results should be aimed at with Seniors?

12. What is meant by "maturity"?

13. What is the goal for this age?

NOTE.--A helpful treatment of the whole subject of child nature is found in Mrs. Lamoreaux's book "The Unfolding Life."

THE TEACHER

MARTIN G. BRUMBAUGH, Ph.D., LL.D.

LESSON PAGE 1. What the Teacher Should Be 181 2. What the Teacher Should Know 184 3. What the Teacher Should Do 187 4. What the Pupil Should Do 190 5. What Teaching Is 193 6. What an Educational Principle Is 198 7. What an Educational Method Is 201 8. What the Concrete Means in Teaching 205 9. What Instruction, Drill, and Examination Can Do 209 10. What Will-Training Leads To 212

Teaching Hints

Leaders of classes, and individuals pursuing these studies apart from classes, are urged to read the chapter entitled "Teaching Hints," on page 259, before beginning this section

Lesson 1

What the Teacher Should Be

#1. The Value of Character.#--We teach more by what we are than by what we know. Emerson once said, "What you are thunders so loud I cannot hear what you say." Everywhere the character of the teacher is counted a vital part of his equipment. Even in secular schools the teacher is required to possess a good moral character. How much more should we demand high moral and spiritual standards of the teacher in the Sunday-school! But mere goodness is not enough. We must demand, in addition to personal worth, certain other salient qualities in the person who stands before childhood as a teacher of God's truth.

#2. Training Always Needed.#--There is a common notion that teachers like poets are born, not made. This is fallacious for two reasons: (a) we do not know till we try whether or not we can teach; (b) we do know now that the greater number of teachers are made by training and not by inherited qualities. Then, too, we are told that born teachers need no training, that they can teach without preparation. This notion is false, because the best native power may be made better by proper training. We call a doctor who has had no training in medicine a "quack," and it is not too much to say the same of untrained teachers. Hence all of us will be the better fitted for our work in the Sunday-school if we have in addition to our native powers such added power as prayer and training assuredly give.

#3. A Living Example.#--The teacher should be not only a professing Christian, but a living example of the kind of life we want every child to live. It is unfortunate to place the destiny of a human soul in the care and under the directing thought of a teacher who neither believes nor lives a consistent Christian life. The teacher should be _kindly considerate_ of his pupils[.] No amount of fine teaching power can compensate for the lack of such kindly concern for the welfare of his pupils as will best lead them to crave in their own lives the same courteous and considerate qualities. He should also be perfectly _sincere_ and _frank_. There can be no such thing as "playing a part" in the presence of children. They discern with an intuition that is as certain as logic the sincerity or insincerity of the teacher. It is a mistake to flatter, to scold, to threaten or to cajole pupils. These are the marks of poor teaching. A perfectly frank teacher will never cheapen his sacred opportunity by any trick or device that has the ring of insincerity.

#4. Enthusiasm.#--The teacher should be an _enthusiast_. I had the good fortune to hear Bishop Phillips Brooks speak to a great body of men in Boston. There was in his whole manner such sincerity and enthusiasm as to carry conviction to each one in his audience. He had a good thing. He believed in it with his whole heart. He was enthusiastic in its praise. He had tested it and found it good. He wanted others to share the same splendid good. His address left an impression that years cannot dim. His enthusiasm made him a great teacher. This does not mean that one should speak in a loud tone, in high-pitched voice, with vehement manner and gesture. These are marks of weakness, not of strength. But it does mean that one should be confident of the worth of his message and anxious to impress its worth upon others. Enthusiasm is born of sincere conviction in the correctness of the thing one aims to teach.

#5. Directness.#--Much of all that is best in teaching is the result of a mastery of the theme in such way as to make all the statements and questions of the teacher _clear and direct_. One must consider his language carefully. To the child in the class words may mean quite a different thing from what they mean to the teacher. One must have the pupils' point of view, and then make all his teaching so pointed, so specific, that the meaning must be clear.

#6. Alert Insight.#--The teacher must be _alert_ and _aggressive_, discerning the favorable moment to say great truths; with his thoughts more upon his pupils than upon his text. Otherwise his power to govern is weakened and the interest of his pupils is lessened if not wholly lost. To accomplish the best things one must know in advance the scope and purpose of the lesson, and watch for the moment when, with interest at its height, he will best succeed in reaching the deepest fountains of purpose in the soul of the pupil. This quality of insight in the teacher's equipment will put the class upon a basis of work. The pupils will quickly realize that the teacher is imbued with a purpose; that he proceeds in a business-like way to accomplish a result which is seen to be of value. The very directness of the teacher is an asset of great significance. This always appeals to young persons. They like a lesson that is full of snap and action. They will not long abide a dull and dreary dragging over a subject--be it ever so fruitful in guidance.

#7. Love.#--The teacher must be a sincere _lover of childhood_ and _of the Master_. In the final chapter of the great Gospel by John, Jesus examines Peter and indicates the basis of great teaching power. It is well to study this narrative carefully. Picture Peter, at the dawn, weary and disheartened, coming from his fishless quest. The Master meets him and asks him but one question, but he asks that question three times, and each time he follows Peter's reply with the command "Feed." The lesson is plain--he that loves most feeds best, and the measure of one's power to teach the truth of God to his children is the measure of one's love for the Master Teacher. Where there is no love there can be no great teaching.

Test Questions

1. What should be counted a vital part of the teacher's equipment?

2. Is it true that teachers are "born," not "made"? Give two reasons for your answer.

3. Name two ways in which a teacher can be a living example.

4. What are some of the evidences of a teacher's enthusiasm?

5. Whose point of view must the teacher take?

6. What manner and method in teaching do pupils like?

7. What is the measure of one's power to teach the truth of God to His children?

Lesson 2

What the Teacher Should Know

#8. He Must Have, before He Can Give.#--We can give only what we possess. This law holds throughout. Peter understood this when he made the memorable reply to the beggar's request for alms: "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee." It follows that whatever we wish the pupil to know the teacher should also know, and he should know more than he can hope to teach.

#9. He Should Know His Bible.#--What do we wish the pupil to learn? Answering this will answer in part the question, What should the teacher know? Manifestly, then, the teacher should be familiar with the Bible. How very fragmentary and unsatisfactory our knowledge of the great Book is until we have studied it in a definite and systematic way--in the way we study our history or our geography. The teacher should at least know the salient features of the incomparable Text and should have well fixed in memory many of the great utterances that lie like flecks of gold upon its sunny pages.

#10. Clear and Related Knowledge.#--But the teacher should know in a more connected and also in a more detailed way the truths of the Book. The pupil's knowledge should be _clear_, by which one means that he should know a thing and not some other thing in its stead; and a teacher's knowledge should be not only clear but _related_, by which one means that he should know a thing in its relation to all other things with which it is vitally connected. This makes for system in knowledge, and gives the teacher the power to teach each fact with its due emphasis, no more and no less. Some writers on education call this kind of knowing _apperception_, by which they mean seeing a thing in its proper system and in its due relations. To say that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, that he lived in Nazareth, that he was crucified on Calvary, and that he arose from the dead on the third day, as he said he would, is clear knowledge. To see Jesus as the fulfilment of prophecy, as the promised King, as the leader of his people, as a teacher with more than human insight, as the founder of a church, and as the pattern and perfection of all endeavor, is _related_ knowledge; it is seeing Jesus as part of a great system of purpose that swept into time by the will of God.

#11.# It is well also for the teacher to possess #adequate# knowledge; he should be able to separate a fact into its parts; that is, analyze it. This analytic power makes for vivid teaching but it is a power that the pupil in his early years cannot acquire. Only the mature mind is analytic, and the teacher who knows how to analyze a fact or a lesson knows the secret of proportion in teaching, the power to know what to make emphatic, what to make subordinate. It is a poor teacher who is unable to distinguish between a vital element and a non-vital element.

#12. Related Subjects.#--The teacher should also know such related subjects as will best enable him to make clear each point under treatment in the lesson. A teacher should have a working knowledge of biblical geography and of sacred antiquities. He should know how to use a concordance, how to work up cross-references, how to interpret peculiar idioms, and in general how to use the text of the Bible in the most effective manner. He should know the general principles of organization pursued in a modern Sunday-school, together with the outlines of the history of the church, and should have a general knowledge of the translations of the Bible into the English language.

#13. Thinking Principles.#--In addition to the subject-matter, the teacher should know something of the laws of thought, and the best way to use knowledge as an agency in _forming_ these laws of thought. All these laws are scheduled in any elementary treatise on psychology, and the best method of using knowledge to train the soul is set forth in any good treatise on pedagogy. Thus to a knowledge of the subject-matter the teacher must add a knowledge of psychology and of pedagogy. Scholarship alone is not the test of a good teacher.