How to Teach Religion Part 12

ORGANIZATION OF THE CURRICULUM AS A WHOLE

The material offered in the curriculum of our church schools is not, taking it in all its parts, as well organized as that in our public day schools. This is in part because the material of religion is somewhat more difficult to grade and arrange for the child than the material of arithmetic, geography, and other school subjects. But it is also because the church school has not fully kept pace with the progress in education of recent times.

A century or two ago the day-school texts were not well graded and adapted to children; now, we have carefully graded systems of texts in all school subjects. While the logical and the chronological method of organization still holds a place in many of the public school texts, the psychological point of view, which considers the needs of the child first, is characteristic of all the better schoolbooks of the present.

Just because religion is more difficult to teach than grammar or history or arithmetic, we should plan with all the insight and skill at our command to prepare the religious material for our children so that its arrangement will not suffer by comparison with day-school material.

Three types of lesson material.--Material representing three different types of organization and content of curriculum material is now available and being used in our church schools:

1. The _Uniform Lessons_, which are ungraded, and which give (with few minor exceptions) the same topics and material to all ages of pupils from the youngest children to adults.

2. The _Graded Lessons_, which seek to adapt the topics and subject matter to the age and needs of the child, and which therefore present different material for the various grades or divisions of the school.

These are usually printed in leaflet or pamphlet form.

3. Real _textbooks of religion_ which are based on the principles used in making day-school texts. The material is divided into chapters, each dealing with some theme or topic adapted to the age of the child, the lessons not being dated nor arranged to cover a certain cycle of subject matter as in the case of the regular lesson series. The books are printed and bound much the same as day-school texts.

The uniform lessons.--Although many churches still employ the _Uniform Lessons_, we shall not hesitate to say that no church school is justified in this day of educational enlightenment in using a system of ungraded lessons. Such lessons are planned for adults. They ignore the needs of the child, and force upon him material for which he is in no sense ready, while at the same time omitting matter that he needs and is capable of understanding and using. For example, some of the topics which primary children, juniors, and all alike find in their ungraded lessons of current date are, _man's fall_, the _atonement_, _regeneration_, the _city of G.o.d_, _faith_--splendid topics all, but too strong meat for babes.

Why should we thus ignore the educational progress of the age, starve our children spiritually, and hamper them in their religious development by this obsolete system of education which has been long since outgrown in the public schools? Why should we not ignore tradition, prejudice, and personal preference, where these are in the way, and _let the needs of the child decide_? Why should thousands of church schools to-day be using the Uniform Lessons?

Some use them because they are cheaper; others because they always have used them and do not like the trouble and disarrangement of a change; others because of the doubtful theory of the inspiration that comes from having all the members of the family studying the same lesson at the same time (we do not expect all the family to read or study the same material in other lines); and perhaps others because they have not been accustomed to thinking of religious education following the same principles and laws as other education. But whatever the explanation of the use of the Uniform Lessons in our church schools in the past, let us now see to it that they give way to better material. Let us not be satisfied, even, when the ungraded uniform lessons are "improved"; they should not be improved, but discarded.

Graded lessons.--A large and increasing number of our best church schools are now using some form of graded lesson material based on the topics supplied by the International Lesson Committee. Each great denomination has its own lesson writers, who take these topics and elaborate them into the graded lessons such as we know in the Berean Series, the Keystone Series, the Pilgrim Series, the Westminster Series, etc. All such lesson material, which seeks to adapt the material to the needs of the child as he progresses year by year from infancy to adulthood, is infinitely superior to any form of ungraded material. It is easier and more interesting for the child to learn, less difficult for the teacher to present; and its value in guiding spiritual development immeasurably greater.

Some form of closely _graded lessons_ is the only kind of material which should be used in our church schools; the children have the same need and the same right to material graded and prepared to meet their understanding in religion as in language or in science. But when we employ graded lessons we must make sure that _the child, and not the subject matter; is the basis of the grading_. We must make certain that the writer of the lessons knows the mental grasp, the type of interests, the characteristic att.i.tudes, and the social activities of the child at the different stages, and then arranges the material to meet these needs. We must not simply aim to cover so much biblical material, even if we select it as well as we may to come within the child's grasp; we must have his real religious needs, his religious growth, and his spiritual development in mind, and provide for these.

Adapting graded lessons to young children.--In the graded series of lessons now most commonly used in the church schools the material is, on the whole, fairly well selected to meet the needs of the _beginners_ and the _primary section_. Interesting stories are told, and much nature material presented. The work is, of course, all presented to the pupils by the teacher, as the children cannot yet read. In some cases the stories used are undoubtedly too difficult, and not a few of them lack the elements of good story-telling.

Yet the instruction usually centers about the topics most needed by the child at this time--the love and care of G.o.d both for our lives and in the world of nature about us; the Christ-child and his care for children; lessons of kindness, obedience and love in the home, etc.

Because of this directness of appeal the child responds to the material and the teacher finds her task much easier and more fruitful than with the difficult topics of the ungraded lessons.

Graded lessons not all well adapted to ages.--As the graded lessons pa.s.s on into the _junior_ age, the adaptation of material is generally less successful than for the primary grades. The topics are based less on the interests and spiritual needs of the child, and more on the material. The lessons for the greater part consist of biblical material only, and are often too difficult for the child to be interested in them or to understand them. No coordinating principle relates the topics to each other, and the material consequently comes to the child in rather disconnected sc.r.a.ps. Too frequently this material, because it belongs to a later stage of development, is without any particular or direct bearing on the learner's experience, and hence not a.s.similated into his life.

The remedy here is to use a larger proportion of story material, of biography, of lessons from nature, and of such gems of literature as carry a spiritual message suited to the child. The caution is to avoid over-intellectualizing the child's religious instruction, and to make sure that we do not outrun his rate of development in the material we give him. The same principles should carry over into the intermediate, or preadolescence, age. The hero-worship stage is then, at hand, and the lesson material should be arranged to meet the natural demand of the child for action and adventure.

In planning a graded series of lessons it is not less important to meet the needs of the _seniors_, or adolescents, than of the younger pupils.

This has not always been accomplished. Here again, as in the earlier years, the immediate interests and needs of the learner are to be the key to the planning of material. A series of unrelated topics dealing with a distant time and civilization, with little or no application to the problems and interests that are now thronging upon the youth, will make small appeal to him. The youth's growing consciousness of social problems, his interest in a vocation, his increasing feeling of personal responsibility as a member of the family, the community, the church and the brotherhood of men are suggestions of the nature of the topics that should now form the foundation of religious study and instruction.

It is possible that the forgetting of this simple fact in the planning of material for adolescent pupils is one chief reason for the tragic loss of interest in the Sunday school which so often occurs at the adolescent stage.

Text books of religious material.--The _text book_ type of religious material differs more in the organization and arrangement of material than in the subject matter itself. The lessons are not based on a set cycle of biblical material, though, of course, such material is freely used. Usually one topic or theme is followed throughout the text, the number of lessons or chapters provided being intended for one year's work. The following t.i.tles of texts now in use suggest the nature of the subject matter: "G.o.d's Wonder World," "Heroes of Israel," "Heroic Lives," "The Story of Jesus," "The Making of a Nation," "Our Part in the World," "The Story of a Book," "The Manhood of the Master," "Problems of Boyhood," "Social Duties," "The Testing of a Nation's Ideals."

Beyond question, the material we teach our children in religion should be organized and published as real _books_ and not as paper-covered or unbound serial pamphlets. There is really no more reason why we should divide religious material up into lessons to be dated, and issued month by month, than why we should thus divide and issue material in geography, history, reading, or any other school subject. Children who are accustomed in day schools to well-made, well-bound books, with good paper and clear, readable print, cannot be expected to respond favorably to the ordinary lesson pamphlet. The child should be encouraged and helped in the building of his own library of religious books, but this can hardly be done as long as his church-school material comes to him in temporary form, much of it less attractive on the mechanical side than the average advertising leaflet which so freely finds its unread way to the waste basket.

Many of the Sunday school leaflets carry at the top (or the bottom) of the page an advertis.e.m.e.nt of the denominational lesson series--matter in which the child is not concerned, which injures the appearance of the page, and which lowers the dignity and value of the publication. And some lesson pamphlets are even disfigured with commercial advertis.e.m.e.nts, sometimes of articles of doubtful value, and always with the effect of lowering the tone of the subject matter to which it is attached. Religious material printed in worthy book form escapes these indignities. That textbooks in religion will cost more than the present cheap form of material is possible. But what matter! We are willing to supply our children with the texts needed in their day-school work; shall we not supply them with the books required for their training in religion? If the texts prove too much of a financial burden for the children or their parents, there is no reason why the church should not follow the example of the public school district and itself own the books, lending them for free use to the pupils.

Guiding principles.--The principles for the organization of the church-school curriculum, are, then, clear. Its lessons should start with matter adapted to the youngest child. It should present a continuous series of steps providing material of broadening scope adapted to each age or stage from childhood to full maturity. Its order and arrangement should at all times be decided by the needs and development of the learner, and should make constant point of contact with his life and experience. It should be printed in attractive textbook form, the paper, type, ill.u.s.trations, and binding being equal to the best standards prevailing in public-school texts. In short, we should apply the same scientific and educational knowledge, and the same business ability in preparing and issuing our religious material that we devote to this phase of general education.

ORGANIZING THE DAILY LESSON MATERIAL

The teacher's plan or organization of each lesson for presentation to the cla.s.s in the recitation is a matter of supreme importance. Even the best and most experienced teachers never reach the point where they do not need to prepare specifically for each recitation. No matter how complete the knowledge of the subject, nor how often one has taught it, there is always the necessity of fitting it directly to the needs and interests of the particular cla.s.s before us. This preparation should result in a definitely worked out _lesson plan_ which, though it may finally be modified to fit situations as they arise in the cla.s.s discussion, will nevertheless serve as an outline of procedure for the recitation. Even the teachers' manual supplied with most of the lesson series cannot take the place of this definite, individual plan prepared by the teacher himself for his immediate cla.s.s.

The lesson plan.--The first step in arranging a lesson plan is to determine the range and amount of material which is to be presented to accomplish the aim of the cla.s.s hour. This will include the lesson or story from the Bible, nature material, memory work, music, pictures or any other subject matter to be considered. In determining this point the age of the children, the time available, and the nature of the subject must all be taken into account. It is a mistake to attempt more than can be done well, or to try to do so many things that the recitation is too much hurried to be interesting or profitable.

The lesson plan should provide for a few chief points or topics, with the smaller points and the ill.u.s.trations grouped under these. To have many topics receiving the same amount of emphasis in a lesson indicates poor organization. For example, in teaching the lesson of _obedience_ from the Garden of Eden story the material may well be grouped under the following topics: 1. The many good and beautiful things G.o.d had given Adam and Eve, 2. There was one thing only which they might not have. 3.

Their disobedience in desiring and taking this one thing, 4. Their feeling of guilt and unhappiness which made them hide from G.o.d. Under these four general heads will come all the stories, ill.u.s.trations, and applications necessary to make the lesson very real to children.

Small matters of large import.--Of course the particular questions to be asked and the more immediate applications to be made must await the unfolding of the lesson discussion with the cla.s.s. Good planning requires, however, that we have a set of pivotal questions thought out and set down for our guidance; and also suggestions for ill.u.s.trations and applications under the various topics. If expression work is to be used, this should be noted in its proper place, and provision made for carrying it out. In planning for older cla.s.ses, reference should be made in the plan to special a.s.signments to be made in books, magazines or any other material.

Provision should be made in the plan for a summary at the end of the lesson period, and for the making of the final impression which the cla.s.s are to carry away with them. Nor must the a.s.signment of the next lesson be forgotten. Probably no small proportion of the characteristic failure of pupils to prepare their lessons comes from lack of definite a.s.signments showing the child just what he is expected to do, and how to do it.

Details of a typical lesson plan.--Let us suppose that we are to teach the lesson of obedience from the story of Adam and Eve to children of early primary age. Our _Lesson Plan_ might be something as follows:

I. _The Aim or Purpose of the Lesson_--OBEDIENCE.

1. Knowledge or information to be given the cla.s.s-- a. Of the Bible story itself.

b. Of the fact that G.o.d requires obedience.

c. That disobedience brings sorrow and punishment.

d. That children owe obedience to parents and teachers.

2. Att.i.tudes, and feeling response to be sought.

a. Interest in and liking for the Bible story.

b. Appreciation of G.o.d's many gifts to his children.

c. Desire to please G.o.d with obedience.

d. Sorrow for acts of disobedience.

e. Respect for authority of home, school and law.

3. Applications to the child's life and conduct.

a. Acts of obedience to G.o.d in being kind, cheerful, and helpful to others.

b. Cheerful obedience in home and school with no lagging nor ill nature.

c. Prayer for forgiveness for any act of disobedience.

II. _Material or Subject Matter to be Presented._

1. The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden.

The version of the story is important. The original from the Bible is too difficult. If the lesson material does not offer the story in satisfactory form, go to one of the many books of Bible stories and find a rendering suited to your cla.s.s. Be able to tell the story well.

2. Pictures of Adam and Eve in the Garden.

Be sure the picture is interesting, well executed, and that it shows attractive and beautiful things.

3. Prayer on obedience.

The prayer to be brief and simple, asking G.o.d to help each one to obey him and to obey father and mother, and to forgive us when we do not obey.

4. Music.

If possible, the music may correlate with the thought of the lesson. If not, let it be devotional and adapted to the children in words and melody.

5. Handwork or other form of expression material.