Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN THE ART OF TEACHING THE ART OF TEACHING BY THE LATE SIR JOSHUA FITCH A NEW EDITION EDITED BY REV. FRANK JOHNSON AUTHOR OF 'FAITH AND VISION' ; EDITOR OF 'BIBLE TEACHING BY MODERN METHODS.' PUBLISHED AT 57 AND 59 LUDGATE HILL, E.G. BY THE SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION, LONDON RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED, BREAD STREET HILL, E.G., AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK. EDITORIAL PREFACE THE following lectures were given by the late Sir Joshua Fitch over forty years ago in connec- tion with the Sunday School Union classes for teachers. So far back as this, and even earlier, teacher-training was recognized by the Union to be the supreme need of the Sunday school, and it is a tribute to the leaders of that day that their pioneer efforts have flowered so abundantly, and that so much of the counsel then given and published has proved of permanent worth. None who knew anything of Sir Joshua Fitch will be surprised to find any serious utterance of his on religious education in this category. He was a great educationist, adding to theoretical knowledge and wide experience of teaching in elementary schools a practical acquaintance with Sunday school work. Further, the charm of his personality communicated itself to his words. There is nothing arid and pedantic about these lectures. They are popular in the best sense of the term sound in principle, wide in outlook, simple and picturesque in treatment. More than this, the tone and standpoint are those of a man taking the spiritual view of life. No divorce will 00179 vi EDITORIAL PREFACE be found here between education and religion. Sir Joshua Fitch was at one with all the great teachers in assuming that true education must be fashioned by the only things that matter the Will of God, and men's relation to Him. Nor was this conviction limited to Sunday schools. It moulded all his teaching on educational aims and methods. Of course dogmatic theology is not to be identified with religion; what was meant, and what is still meant, by those who occupy the same standpoint, is that character speaks louder than words. Every school should possess a sunny moral climate in which Christian graces will develop unconsciously and almost without observation. It is true that to some extent these lectures are coloured by the light of the time when they were delivered. Sunday school teachers as a class are now better educated, and the best Sunday schools are now more scientifically organized. Grading, for example, is common, and it is becoming more difficult to address teachers en masse. Lecturers to-day on method wish to know whether they are speaking to teachers of Senior classes, to Intermediate class teachers, or to those in charge of Primary classes. The bane of Adultism is also better understood. Yet, in the main, the conditions of forty years ago still exist, and the counsels here given are as applicable to-day as when they were first offered. The fact does more than suggest the changelessness of Sunday school conditions. It rather shows that the conditions of the educational problem remain permanent, and that the great governing principles of teaching have the invariableness of truth. It may also be EDITORIAL PREFACE vii added that the timeliness of lectures delivered more than a generation ago shows the mastery of his subject possessed by the lecturer. Save for a few unimportant omissions and modifications, the lectures are reprinted as they were delivered, the editor's work being limited to the sub-divisions and display of the text. It has been thought helpful to append to the Lecture on Memory Ruskin's tribute to the value of memor- izing hymns, and the passages of Scripture taught to him by his mother. FRANK JOHNSON. CONTENTS PAGE EDITORIAL PREFACE . ... V THE ART OF SECURING ATTENTION . . I MEMORY: ITS NATURE AND USE . . 34 RUSKIN ON CHILDREN'S HYMNS . . 73 PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE TAUGHT TO RUSKIN BY HIS MOTHER . . -74 THE ART OF QUESTIONING . . -75 TRAINING CLASSES : THEIR WORK AND LIMITATIONS 108 THE ART OF TEACHING THE ART OF SECURING ATTENTION BY attention, I mean fixity of thought the con- centration of the whole mind upon one subject at a time that effort of will by which we are enabled to follow what we hear or read, without wandering, without weariness, and without losing any particle of the meaning intended to be conveyed. I do not doubt that to many of you the thought occurs, "This, indeed, is the one thing which I most want. If I could only secure attention, what an admirable teacher I should be ! How happy I should be in my work ! How much success and usefulness would follow my efforts ! " Now this is a very natural reflection ; but it will be my object to prove to you that it is not a very sound one; and that attention must not be looked upon as the condition of our being good teachers ; but rather as the result of our being so. The Difficulty and Importance of Securing Attention. Let us first of all acknowledge to ourselves, that attention, such as we want to get from children, is B 2 THE ART OF TEACHING a very hard thing to give. You and I, even when we have the strongest sense of duty urging us to attend to a subject, often find that it is next to impossible to chain our thoughts resolutely down to it. The memory of yesterday's business, the prospect of to-morrow's pleasure, will intrude upon us in spite of all our efforts. We constantly lose the thread of argument, even in a book that interests us ; the eye glances down the page, but the thoughts do not follow it, and we are com- pelled to go back again, and make a renewed effort to keep our wayward minds in harness. You know how often this is true ; whether you listen to a sermon or a lecture, or read a book. It is true even when you most desire to resist the temptation. How much more is the difficulty likely to be felt by little children, who are constitutionally more rest- less than we are, whose normal natures are but partially developed, and who have at present no strong sense of duty to chide them into silence, or awe them into attention. And let us confess to ourselves, also, that we are accustomed to make very heavy demands upon a child's faculty of attention, especially on Sunday. And all the day's engagements, we must remember, relate to a subject which, although of the deepest importance, is not naturally felt to be so in early youth. Until it pleases God to impart to a little child, either through the instrumentality of wise teaching or otherwise, an appetite for sacred truths, he has no natural curiosity about them. He is naturally very inquisitive about the things that immediately surround him : he is curious to learn about the sun, and the moon, and the stars ; about ART OF SECURING ATTENTION 3 distant countries ; about the manners of foreigners ; about birds and beasts and fishes ; nay, even, about machines and many other human inventions : but about the nature of God, and about man's relation to Him, and the great truths of revealed religion, you know that there is rarely any strong curiosity in a child's mind. You do not find the appetite for such knowledge as this already existing there. You have to create it ; and until you have created it, your scholar cannot give you the fixed and earnest attention you want, without an effort which is positively painful to him. I think it important at the outset that we should be aware of these two simple facts : first, that fixed attention is a hard thing for anybody to give ; and second, that fixed attention to religious subjects is especially a hard thing for children to give. When we have fairly taken these facts into account, we shall be better prepared to avail our- selves of any counsel which may enable us to secure attention. For however hard it may be to gain attention we must get it, if we are to do any good at all in a Sunday school. It is of no use there to tell children things which go no deeper than the surface of their minds, and which will be swept away to make room for the first trifling matter which claims admission there. If children are really to be the better for what we teach, if the truths which we love so well are really to go deep into their consciences, and become the guiding principles of their lives, it is no half-hearted, languid attention, which will serve our purpose. We are not dealing with facts which will bear to be received and then forgotten ; but with truths, 4 THE ART OF TEACHING which if they have significance at all, have an eternal significance ; and if they are to have any practical value to a child at all, must not only be received by his understanding, but lodged securely in his memory, and made to tell upon the forma- tion of his character for this world and the next. How not to secure Attention. You will not get attention by claiming it, by demanding it as a right, or by entreating it as a favour ; by urging upon your pupils the importance of the subject, the sacredness of the day, the kind- ness of their teachers, or the great and solemn character of the truths you have to impart. All these are very legitimate arguments to use to older Christians. You and I, we may hope, feel their force. The sense of these things keeps us thought- ful and silent many a time, perhaps, when we are hearing a dull or unintelligible address. We feel we ought to be attentive, and so we make an effort to be so. George Herbert argues that if the preacher's discourse entirely lacks interest, we must consider that " God takes a text, and preacheth patience." Now, this is a very valid argument to us, no doubt, but it is no argument to a child. The Secret of Attention is Interest. Nothing, in the long run (except fear, which I know you would feel to be a very unsatisfactory motive) can keep a child's attention fixed, but a sense of real interest in the thing you are saying. It is necessary that he should feel that the subject ART OF SECURING ATTENTION 5 claims attention for itself, not that you are claiming attention for the subject. Depend upon it, that attention got by threats, by authority, or even by promises, or indeed by any external means what- ever, is not a genuine or effective thing. The true attention, such as alone can serve the purpose of a Sunday school teacher, must always be founded on the fact you have got something to say which is worth a child's hearing, and that you can say it in such a manner that he shall feel it to be worth his hearing. Interest depends on Preparation. And, of course, the first condition to be fulfilled, in order to secure this, is, that the teacher's own mind shall be accurately and abundantly prepared on the subject which he has to teach. It seems a trite thing to say to teachers that they should pre- pare their lessons. But I doubt whether many of us see the importance of preparation in its true light. Observe, I said a teacher should be accur- ately prepared. By this, I mean that there should be no vagueness, or indistinctness in his mind, about what he is going to teach. He should not rely on a general impression that he comprehends the subject. He must have details facts which he knows how to state with exactness and a degree of nicety and precision about his knowledge far greater than he can ever hope to impart to the children. Again, I said he should be abundantly prepared. This means that he should store his mind beforehand, not merely with what he means to impart, but with a great deal more. He does not know what topic may grow out of the lesson : 6 THE ART OF TEACHING he cannot tell what questions the children may ask, nor what illustrations he may find most effective. So he should provide himself at all points. He should look at the lesson and into the lesson, and all round the lesson, before he gives it ; gathering together, in his mind, all that can possibly throw light upon it, and become useful in his teaching. Abundant Preparation is essential. There is another reason for attaching great im- portance to abundant preparation. No man can ever teach all he knows on any subject. I doubt, indeed, whether he can teach half of what he knows. If you would be a good teacher, therefore, up to a certain limit, you yourself should have gone far beyond that limit. We must look at any fact we want to teach from very different, and perhaps distant points of view in order to compre- hend its true relation to other facts. If any teacher just gets up a lesson from printed notes, and is only barely provided with the knowledge actually required for his class, he is sure to fail, both in securing attention, and in getting the subject understood. Children will always carry away with them far less than you bring. Make up your mind at once to the fact, that a large discount, or percentage of even a successful lesson, is always lost in the very act of communicating it. There- fore, if you wish children to receive a given amount of instruction, you must be provided with a great deal more. I always notice when a man is teaching, that the moment he gets within sight of the horizon, and feels that he is approaching the limits of his ART OF SECURING ATTENTION 7 own knowledge, he falters; he becomes em- barrassed ; he loses confidence in himself : the children soon detect his weakness, and the lesson loses interest immediately. Now the practical inference from this : Get all the subsidiary and illustrative information you can possibly accumulate about your lesson, before you give it. Anecdotes, definitions of hard words, illustrations of Eastern life, verses of poetry, parallel texts and allusions, may or may not all be needed in the lesson ; but, at any rate, they certainly will be needed by your- self, to give due life and vigour to your teaching, and to make you feel confidence in your own resources. The Value of Observation. But the preparation required cannot all be obtained from books. Valuable as book know- ledge is, it is not the only knowledge, and it is certainly not all a Sunday school teacher wants. His preparation must be going on in the world as well as in his study. He must watch the incidents of every day, and see what use he can make of them in his class. If he has an open eye, and that "loving heart," which a great writer has called the beginning of all knowledge, he will be able to learn a great deal, by observation, respecting the nature of childhood, its dangers, its wants, and the peculiar teaching which is best suited for it. He will constantly be watching incidents and events, and treasuring up as much of them as can be brought to bear upon his scholars, or is likely to convey instruction to them. I am afraid some of us do not think enough of this. Why, there is 8 THE ART OF TEACHING not a circumstance that happens to any one of us, not an incident in our daily life, public or private, not a success or a failure, a misfortune or a blessing, which has not its own special significance, and is not meant to teach us some useful lesson. If we only had eyes to see and hearts to receive it, we should perceive that the history of each day's experience, even of the humblest of us every one of the shifting phenomena of our daily life illus- trates some great moral and spiritual truth which underlies it, and is meant to be recognized and understood by us. Do we husband the experience of every day ? Do we watch the lessons it teaches, the warnings that it brings, and do we try to bring it to bear upon our Sunday teaching? If we do not, we lose a great opportunity of usefulness, and throw away one of the main securities for obtaining attention. The Bookish and Unpractical Lesson will fail. For, after all, one of the first requisites in good teaching is, that it shall address itself to the actual experience and necessities of the learner, and not to any imaginary experience or necessities. We cannot fulfil this condition unless we make it our business to know what are the real dangers and temptations, the weaknesses and the want of the children whom we have to teach. I took a little child to church with me the other day ; and her remark, on coming out, was, "I don't understand that preacher, he doesn't talk like gentlemen in rooms." Now, I do not suppose that public services can ever, in the nature of things, be other- wise than strange and unintelligible to children; ART OF SECURING ATTENTION 9 but I am sure that the more Sunday school teachers talk like " gentlemen in rooms," the better. If there is anything unfamiliar, or arti- ficial, or sermonizing in your language ; if the child detects anything that sounds like falsetto in your tone; if your illustrations are bookish and unpractical ; if the virtues and the vices you talk about are not the actual virtues which it is possible for them to practise, and the actual vices into which they are likely to fall ; if, in any way, you shoot above their heads, or betray a want of familiarity with the real lives which children lead, your class will cease to feel any interest in what you say. We may now safely conclude, I think, that ample and accurate knowledge of the subject, and skill in applying it to the case of children, will, in every case, give a Sunday school teacher a right to be heard, and will enable him, therefore, without difficulty to gain the ear of his class. Mechanical Devices for securing Attention. But suppose attention is once gained in this way, we still have to inquire how it may be kept up. First, let me mention one or two merely mechanical devices for maintaining attention. Of course these are not the highest, but they are some- f chanee times useful, nevertheless. For instance, of pos- children need change of posture. The * restlessness which we often complain of in children, is not a fault, it is a constitutional necessity. It is positively painful to them to remain in one attitude long. We ought to be aware of this ; and, occa- io THE ART OF TEACHING sionally, when attention seems to flag, let the whole class stand for a short time, or go through some simple exercise which requires movement. You will often find that in this way your class will be refreshed. When the body has had its lawful claims recognized, the mind will be more at leisure to devote itself to the lessons ; the sense of weari- ness will disappear, and the work of teaching pro- ceed with more cheerfulness. I have often seen teachers and children remain sitting during the whole of a long summer afternoon, and the teacher wondering at the listlessness of his class. But I see nothing to wonder at. Indeed, for my part, I know I cannot teach with vigour and spirit for long together, while I am sitting down ; and it is hard to expect children to be better in this respect than myself. Dulness and lassitude begin to creep over the mind ; and I confess I like to see a teacher stand up, now and then, and throw a little fire and life into his lesson, as well as occa- sionally cause his scholars to stand up too. In a small class, also, attention may very often be sustained by causing the children to answer strictly in turns ; by making them take tiomng 5 " places, and by recording the number of turn ' n times the same boy gets to the top. The little emulation promoted by this plan is favourable to mental activity, and often prevents a lesson from becoming dull. It requires to be rather skilfully managed, and needs a good dis- ciplinarian to conduct it ; but I have seen the plan used with very great success, and excite great interest on the part of the children. It is parti- cularly useful in testing the result of your teaching ART OF SECURING ATTENTION n by questions at the end of each division of the subject, as it applies the test with perfect fairness and uniformity to every child in the class. What is called simultaneous reading may also prove a great help in maintaining the interest and attention, especially of a younger class. simui- Of course it must not be practised in a taneous crowded school-room, when the noise readln - would disturb other classes ; unless, indeed, you have tutored your class to read in a quiet and subdued tone (which is a great point in education, and quite worth taking some trouble to obtain). But, if it can be adopted, the plan will occasionally relieve a lesson very much. It is always interest- ing to children to do something in concert ; and if the teacher has a sharp eye, and a quick ear, he can easily secure that every child shall be tho- roughly wakeful and attentive. The exercise may often be well varied in this way. The teacher reads a passage slowly, and with correct tone and emphasis alone ; he then reads it a second time, the class joining with him, and reading in unison. He then asks them to be silent, and to keep their eyes fixed on the book while he reads, and to supply any word which he leaves out. Then he reads the passage, pausing frequently, and omitting a word to be supplied by the children. Lastly, he calls upon one and another separately to read the same passage. The plan of elliptical reading is one of the best I know to stimulate watchfulness and fixed attention on the part of the children. I have seen fifty little ones together, their eyes fixed intently on the book, all eager to pronounce the word omitted by the teacher at exactly the right moment. 12 THE ART OF TEACHING There is an indirect method of questioning, too, very familiar to you all, which is founded on the The same principle, and may serve a useful use of purpose in sustaining attention. I mean ellipses. t j ie use Q f e mp ses ^ as t h ev are called. The teacher, instead of finishing the sentence himself, pauses suddenly, and requires the children to finish it for him. Good teachers, especially those of infant schools, have long been accustomed to use this method, and have found it very effica- cious. Only it must be remembered that it is a device which wants very skilful management. The word left out of the sentence which the children are expected to supply should be one which they ought to remember, and it should also, in every case, be a definite word. There should be no vagueness in the teacher's own mind, as to what he expects ; there should be one way, and only one way, in which the sentence can be properly finished. The word omitted, moreover, should be one which it requires a little effort to recollect ; it should not be the mere echo of the word just uttered. And it is just as necessary in the use of ellipses, as in the practice of questioning, to take care that there is no guessing, and no merely mechanical utterance of a word to which the child attaches no meaning. The elliptical method is an admirable device for keeping up the attention, especially of little children ; but it can never be made a substitute for good questioning, for the simple reason that it only demands a single word, and can never enable you to be sure that the learner understands the whole sentence, of which the word forms a part. (See also page 88.) ART OF SECURING ATTENTION 13 Again : one of the greatest safeguards for the attention of the class is the cultivation on the teacher's part of quickness of eye and ear. , 5. Quick- It is surprising sometimes to see teachers ness of addressing themselves to one part of *%r.* ad their class, and apparently unconscious that another part is listless and uninterested. They seem incapable of taking in the whole class at one glance. Their eyes move slowly, and they either do not see the disorder and trifling which lurk in the corner of their class, or they do not care to notice what it would give them some little trouble to remedy. A person of this kind will never keep up attention, nor prove a successful teacher, however well he may be provided with knowledge, and however anxious he may be to do good. What every good teacher greatly needs, is a quick eye, and a comprehensive glance, which will take in the whole class at one view, or travel instantly from one part of it to the other. He should be able to detect the first rising of disorder and the first symptom of weariness in an instant, and to apply a remedy to it the next instant. It is from want of promptitude in noticing the little beginnings of inattention that classes so often get disorderly and tired. I recommend every one who wants to be a good teacher, therefore, to cultivate in himself the habit of sharpness and watchfulness. He should so train himself, that he shall become peculiarly sensitive about the little signs of inattention. It ought to make him uncomfortable to see one child's eye averted, or one proof, however small, that the thoughts of the class are straying from the 14 THE ART OF TEACHING subject. The surest way to increase inattention is to seem unconscious of it, or to allow it to pass unnoticed. I would have every teacher ask himself these questions : " Can I see the whole of my class ? Do I stand or sit so that the slightest movement or whisper on the part of any single child will be apparent to me in a moment ? Do the children all know that, whatever happens, I am sure to notice it ? Do I allow myself to remain at ease during inattention? Have I got used to it by long practice, and become reconciled to it, or does it pain me to discover even a slight proof of it ? Do I, in short, make it a practice never to go on with my lesson until I have recovered attention ? " Un- less you can answer these questions satisfactorily, you will always be plagued with inattention. For, among the minor characteristics of a successful teacher, few things are so important as alacrity of movement ; promptitude and readiness both in see- ing and hearing ; skill in finding out, at a moment's notice, who is the idlest boy in the class, and in giving him a question, or giving him a verse to read, or making him stand up at once, before his mind becomes thoroughly alienated from the subject, and before the contagion of his example has had time to spread among the rest. A sluggish, heavy, inactive-looking teacher, can never gain the sym- pathy of the children, or keep up their attention long. I have called all these mechanical methods of sus- taining attention, because no one of them has anything to do with the matter of teaching, or with the treatment of the subject ; but they are simply ART OF SECURING ATTENTION 15 external and subordinate contrivances for keeping the attention of a class from flagging. Of course no one needs, especially in a class of elder children, to adopt all these methods at once, and the better a teacher is, the better able he will be to do with- out some of them ; but we all need to keep them in mind sometimes. And I want, before I pass on to the more important part of the subject, just to remind you that all I have said on this point is founded on two principles : first, that the nature of childhood, its physical weakness, above all, its rest- lessness and need for change should be fairly taken into account and provided for by a teacher, and not set down as faults, or frowned down by authority ; and, secondly, that every child under a teacher's care should always feel that there is something for him to do. Continual employment is the great antidote to inattention. I think, that if you will keep these principles in view, you will be induced to invent many expedients for keeping up the viva- city and interest of a class besides those which I have named. Closely allied to what I have called mechanical methods is one which, however, needs some intelligence to put it in operation. I mean the practice of recapitulation, by method diligent and thorough interrogation, not jj evlew> only at the end of the whole lesson, but also at the end of each separate division of it. This is of great importance in sustaining the interest of a class. Children are not likely to take much pains in receiving and remembering a lesson unless they know that their memory is sure to be tested ; and that, however many facts or truths you 16 THE ART OF TEACHING teach, you are sure to wish to hear of them again. Every lesson should be planned out in the teacher's own mind, so as to consist of two or three distinct portions. I do not mean that he should talk about "firstly, secondly, and thirdly," to his class, or make any needless display of the skeleton or frame- work of his lesson ; but a clear logical division of the subject into two or three portions is indispens- able to the teacher himself ; and at the end of each of these, he should go over the ground thoroughly, and challenge the children to give him back all he has taught. When boys become habituated to this, they learn to expect it as a matter of course ; and are therefore induced to prepare for it, by much closer attention than would otherwise seem necessary to them. I always made it a practice, in my own class, at a Sunday school, not only to recapitulate the lesson just taught, but also to spend the first ten minutes of every Sunday afternoon in giving a few questions on the lesson of the preceding Sunday. I kept a record of those who answered best, and rewarded them by an extra mark or ticket. With elder boys, also, I always required the substance of last Sunday's lesson to be written down on paper, in the course of the week, and brought to me each Sunday. One consequence of this was, that some of the boys brought note books with them ; and it is certain that far closer attention was paid to my teaching than before. Of course, this plan involves the necessity of some system and method, and of some little trouble too ; for all the papers require to be taken home and read by the teacher. But of one thing we may be quite sure ; no one of us, child or ART OF SECURING ATTENTION 17 man, ever takes pains to grasp a subject, or fasten it in our memories, unless we expect in some way to find a use for it hereafter. So, if we wish to get a real effort of attention from children, we must do it by leading them to expect that their knowledge will be asked for again ; by showing them that when we have once taught a thing, we do not forget it, but are sure to return to it ; it may be half an hour hence, or it may be a week hence, but at any rate certainly and systematically. One of the most efficient means of kindling the interest and chaining the attention of children, is the power of using good and striking illustrations. The best teachers are always power!* 1 those who, in addition to a knowledge of their subject, and the other qualifications which are necessary, possess also what may be called pictorial power. By this I mean the power of describing scenes and incidents, so that they shall appear to a child's imagination as if they were really present to him. Now, we must always remember that the imagination is a very active faculty in a child. It is developed far earlier in the life of all of us than the judgment, and those reasoning powers which we are often prematurely anxious to cultivate. Every teacher, therefore, should know how to ad- dress himself to this faculty, and should be able to gratify that love of description which is so natural to a child. Now, how many of us are there, I should like to know, who can tell a story well, or who can so describe a thing which we have seen, that those who hear our description shall think they can almost see it too ? Yet a man is never a perfect teacher until he can do this ; and no c i8 THE ART OF TEACHING appeals to the reason and the conscience and the feelings of a child will be so effective as they might be unless we can also appeal to his imagination. Need I remind you how constantly this is recognized in the Word of God : how continually the Bible writers, and especially the great Teacher himself, condescended to the weakness of man in this respect, and addressed their teachings not to the understanding directly, but indirectly, through the medium of the senses and the imagination. What else is the meaning of our Lord's parables ? What else are those glowing Eastern metaphors, sparkling like rich gems over the whole surface of the Bible but helps to the comprehension of great truths optical instruments, so to speak, through which our dim eyes might behold doctrines and principles and deep lessons, which otherwise they could not have perceived ? Xow, it is almost unnecessary to say much as to the power of exciting attention which a teacher possesses who is able to use good illustrations. We all know what an advantage such a teacher has over others. We have all observed, when a scene is picturesquely described, or a striking illustration brought forward, or a story told, how the faces of the children have lighted up with interest, and their eyes have been fixed upon the speaker. But, perhaps, while we all acknowledge the attractive- ness of pictorial teaching, we have not all duly considered its usefulness, nor the reasons which give it its peculiar force and value. Let us look for a moment at an example or two. When we read in the Psalms the words, " The Lord God is a sun and shield," we know, and every child ART OF SECURING ATTENTION 19 knows, that the words are not literally true, but must be thought of a little before they can be understood. So we say to ourselves, "What does this mean ? The sun is the great source of light and cheerfulness, and a shield is something with which soldiers defend themselves in battle. There- fore, this must mean that God's presence and favour make a man glad and happy, and at the same time shelter him from danger." Suppose all this has passed through our minds ; we have got the know- ledge of a great truth in a somewhat indirect way, it is true ; but we are far more likely to be impressed by it, and to remember it, than if the literal fact had been conveyed to us in plain language. And why so ? Because we have had a share in finding out the truth for ourselves ; because the mind was not called upon passively to receive a truth in the form of direct statement ; but to exert itself a little, first in interpreting a metaphor, and, secondly, in drawing a conclusion from it. We are always far more interested by what we have had a hand in winning for ourselves, than by what is merely com- municated to us as a favour, or enforced on us by authority. Which of us has not a deeper feeling of the Saviour's tenderness and compassion, after reading the parable of the Good Shepherd, than we could ever have had otherwise ? When we read, " The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe ; " or, " As the mountains are about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people ; " " As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God : " or, when we come upon that glorious description in the Apocalypse of " a city 20 THE ART OF TEACHING which hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the Lord God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof," we are conscious that, over and above the value of the truths thus imparted, we receive a certain gratifica- tion from the form in which the truth is presented, and are pleased to have had something given us which we have been able to interpret for ourselves. Consider again, in regard to the lessons which lie hid in allegories and stories, that we often ,. receive them far more effectively into our The law -,! i ii of indi- minds for the very reason that they are rection. indirect, and do not at first seem to apply to ourselves. If we obtrude our moral teaching too early, or if we begin by telling the children that we hope they will learn a useful lesson from what we are going to say, children fancy that we are preaching, and are, perhaps, indisposed to listen. But if we take care that the religious truth, or the rule of conduct, which we wish to enforce, seems spontaneously to grow out of the lesson, and keeps its place as an inference to be gathered from the story we are telling, it is far more likely to be efficacious. When Nathan was commissioned to reprove David, you know that if he had gone at once, and taxed him with the offence, and said, " You have committed a great sin, and I am come to rebuke you," David would probably have been prepared with some answer. That was a form of accusation which he very likely anticipated ; and, we do not doubt, he had so armed himself with pleas of self- justification, and so skilfully "managed" his conscience, that the charge would scarcely have ART OF SECURING ATTENTION 21 impressed him at all. But, instead of this, the prophet began to tell him a narrative. "There were two men in one city, the one rich, and the other poor." He went on further, as you know, detailing the various incidents of his story, until " David's anger was greatly kindled against the man," and he exlaimed, " As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die." Not till the solemn words, " Thou art the man ! " had been uttered in his hearing, did the conviction come thoroughly home to his heart that he was really guilty. Now, why was it that Nathan's method was so effective ? Because David had listened with interest to the story without sup- posing that it concerned him. His judgment was clear and unbiassed, and he came to the right con- clusion before he perceived that the conclusion applied to himself. How much deeper and more permanent was the impression thus made than if the prophet had confined himself to a plain, literal examination of the right and wrong of David's own case ! And we may see the same thing illustrated in our Lord's parables constantly, that they not only chain the attention of the listener by their pictorial character, but they set him thinking for himself, and drawing inferences about truths of the highest value, almost without being aware of it. The most effective lessons which enter the human heart are not those which take the form of lessons. It is when we are least conscious of the process by which we are impressed that we are impressed most deeply. And it is for this reason, if for no other, that the indirect teaching which is wrapped up in stories and metaphors 22 THE ART OF TEACHING often secures more attention than teaching of a more direct and didactic kind. Can Pictorial Power be acquired ? But it is very likely that some of you may be disposed to answer, "Yes, I know that teaching, when well illustrated by stories and parables, is far more interesting to children than if it is full of dry statements ; but, then, the power to choose such illustrations wisely, and to make a good use of them, is, after all, a very rare power, and a very difficult one to acquire. I do not possess it, and I do not know how to get it. Besides, the creative genius which can invent skilful illustrations, is a special gift. It is rather the attribute of a poet than a teacher. I must learn to do without it." Now, I cannot help sympathizing with any one who speaks thus, but I should like to encourage him a little nevertheless. We may all mend our- selves a great deal in this respect, if we try. Sup- pose we endeavour to remember carefully things which we have seen, and to describe them after- wards. Suppose we practise ourselves a little more than we do in the art of telling a story. Suppose, when we have read of a circumstance, or meet with one which has interested us, we sit down and try to reproduce it in our own language in writing. Suppose we watch carefully the sort of illustration and metaphor which excites our own attention, and then carefully husband it in our memories, with a view to making use of it in our classes. Suppose, when we are going to give a lesson on some Bible narrative, we study all its details and all its sur- rounding circumstances so well, that we can ART OF SECURING ATTENTION 23 almost realize the picture of it to ourselves. Sup- pose, in short, we always keep in view the necessity of rendering our teaching more vivid, and are always on the watch for material by which it may be made more so ; I believe that we shall make a step in the right direction at least. Any man whose heart is in his work may do all this, and may become a very interesting teacher, without being a poet, and without possessing any peculiar natural gifts. If you go to the seaside, and hear the rolling of the waves, or if you stand on a hill in view of some fair landscape, which the summer sun lights up with unusual glory, try to retain your impressions, and see how far you are able to convey the picture of the scene to others. If you want to give a lesson on St. Paul's preaching at Athens, try to find out what it was that the apostle could see as he stood on Mars Hill, with the temples of Minerva and of Theseus near him ; with an eager, inquisitive crowd thronging round his feet ; with the altar, and its mysterious inscription, " To the unknown God," just in sight ; and with the blue waters of the Piraeus spreading out beyond. And if you will do this ; and if, meanwhile, you take care that your love of illustration never betrays you into levity or trifling ; that you never tell stories for the sake of telling stories, but always for the sake of some valuable lesson which the story illustrates, I cannot doubt that, by God's blessing, you will become possessed, not only of one of the best instruments for keeping up the attention of little children, but also of a key which will unlock their hearts. 24 THE ART OF TEACHING Another hint, which it seems to me is sometimes needed most by those who are the best teachers, The ad- is this Do not get into a stereotyped, o?a