The Average Listener. going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: 77 PART I. Teaching Work. CHAPTER 3. Elements of the Process. and they were amazed; and as they followed, they Teacher's were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him." Now if I were to ask my questions about Teaching this verse while the very words themselves were ringing in the ears of the hearers, the right answers might be given through a recall of the still echoing sounds; therefore I would, as it were, break this echo by such a comment as this: "You will remember that this was not long after the Transfiguration.” Then I would go on to ask: "By the way, how many of the disciples were with Jesus, just now?" Perhaps the answer, suggested by this mention of the Transfiguration, would be: "I think there were three; Peter, and James, and John." Or, again, A sorry test. one would say, "I don't recall how many were with Jesus, at this time." "But," I would say, "I have just read to you a verse which tells you how many were there." Yet, even then, it is quite likely that not one of my hearers could recall the statement as to "the twelve" which had been read to them, while they were not giving attention. So, again, if I were to ask: "Was Jesus at this time walking in the midst of his disciples? or were they just ahead of him?" or, "Can you tell me where the disciples were going when this incident occurred?" Not one time in ten have I ever obtained a correct answer from even my more intelligent and thoughtful hearers, on such a PART I. CHAPTER 3. Holding as well as having. test as this. And this is only one of many proofs that close attention is not easy to secure, nor is it commonly secured, in ordinary religious services. Yet without having attention, the teaching-process must still wait for its very beginning. Nor is it less important to hold a scholar's attention than to catch it. No teacher can begin to teach until he has caught the attention of his scholar. The moment that a teacher loses a scholar's attention, he ceases to be teaching that scholar. Holding the attention is as essential to a teacher's work, as keeping his balance is to a walker on a tight rope. In either case the loss is fatal to success. This being so, it is evident that a vital question to the teacher, as he begins his class-work, and at every moment as he goes on in it, is, not, Am I saying what needs to be said, and saying it so that these scholars ought to take it in? but, Am I holding the attention of my scholars? Failure at this point is, to say the least, a complete suspension of the teacher's work, and it ought to be so recognized by all. How to get attention, and how to hold it, are matters in the art of teaching which are to be studied wisely, in view of one's personal characteristics and the peculiar needs and ways of his class; but until a teacher realizes that he cannot begin to teach without having attention, or continue to teach without holding attention, he fails as yet to apprehend one of the prime essentials of the teaching-process. A Means of Transfer. II. PART I. Teaching MAKING CLEAR THAT WHICH YOU TEACH. Making Truth Clear is more than Declaring Truth; Intermediate Agencies in the Transfer of Ideas; Words Less Expressive than Visible Objects; Signs have not Always the Same Meaning; Speaking in Unknown Tongues; Children's Impressions from Unfamiliar Words; Cultivating Stupidity; Getting the Return Message. WHEN a teacher, fully possessed of a truth worth teaching, fully familiar with wise methods of teach- Teacher's ing, and fully acquainted with a scholar whom he would teach, finds himself face to face with that scholar, and the scholar, in turn, is there, all attent on receiving instruction, then comes the teacher's duty of making clear that which he would teach to the scholar; and making a truth clear is something more than stating and declaring a truth; often a great deal more. Work. CHAPTER 3. Elements of the Teaching Process. thought. Truth cannot be transferred bodily from one mind to another; it is always dependent for its transfer on some intermediate agency. The agency employed Symbols of for the transfer of thought may be words, gestures, or visible objects,—such as pictures, blocks, or figures; but in any case the agency is, at the best, only a PART 1 CHAPTER 3. "Seeing is believing." symbol of the idea, and not the idea itself. The symbol chosen by a teacher may or may not be clear to his scholar; unless it is clear, or is subsequently made so, it fails of success in its designated mission to that scholar. Words are commonly less expressive and less definitive than visible objects. A word is an arbitrary sign, adopted by those who choose to accept it, as standing for or suggesting a particular thing; it carries no meaning in itself. To those who are uninstructed in its accepted symbolism or suggestions, any word is meaningless or misleading. Just here is where visible objects often have a decided advantage in making one's meaning clear. The word "like" or "dislike," for example, would convey a clear meaning to one fairly acquainted with English ; but it would give no idea to a Hindoo, nor even to a Frenchman. But a gesture of approval or of repulsion, with an accompanying facial expression of satisfaction or of disgust, would be understood alike the wide world over. So, again, the word "dog," or the word "rose," would convey a meaning in one part of the world, but not in another, while a finished picture of the animal, or of the flower, would make the thing designated clear to any one who could see, whatever language he was accustomed to. But gestures, pictures, and words, may all fail of conveying one's meaning to another; they will fail unless they are used well and wisely. Mark Twain's Dialogue. Not all signs have the same meaning the world over. 81 PART I. The Teacher's Work. CHAPTER 3. Elements of the Pro ess. In our part of the world it is a sign of respect Teaching to bare one's head, but not one's feet, on entering a church or a private house; but in the East respect is shown, under the same circumstances, by taking off one's shoes, and keeping one's head covered. Nor is a picture equally plain to all. An outline sketch conveys an idea to an observer just in proportion to the play and training of the observer's imaginative explanation. faculties; and so it is with a map-drawing, or even with a photograph of mountain landscape. The visible object employed as an agency of instruction does not in itself make clear the thing it is designed to represent. The teacher has a work to do in making that agency effective to the end. Signs need guage. In words, far more than in gestures or in pictures as an agency of communication, there is room for misunderstanding, and there is need of care and effort in making their meaning clear. Persons who are supposed to use the same language often fail to employ words in a signification common tc both parties. A capital illustration of this truth is found Gulfs in lan in Mark Twain's description of an interview between a rough Nevada miner, using the common slang phrases of his region, and the new minister, "yet unacquainted with the ways of the mines," when the miner's object was to engage the minister to conduct the funeral services of a dead comrade. Each speaker employs his own language, which has a meaning in |