^ PRINCETON, N. J. ^ 
 
 Presented b^^^^ . *& -^^^^ .^(E.r'd^-A 3 S O Y^ 
 
 BV 1533 .S63 
 Slattery, Margaret. 
 Talks with the training 
 cl ass 
 
Talks with the Training Class 
 
TALKS WITH THE 
 TRAINING CLASS 
 
 BY / 
 
 MARGARET SLATTERY 
 
 INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 PATTERSON DU BOIS 
 
 BOSTON 
 THE PILGRIM PRESS 
 
 NEW YORK CHICAGO 
 
 1906 
 
Copyright, 1906, 
 
 By The Congregational Sunday-school 
 AND Publishing Society 
 
To 
 ELIZABETH VAN DUYNE, M.D. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 PATTERSON DU BOIS 
 
 Unless I am mistaken, Miss Slattery's book means 
 that the six-day-busy folk who run our Sunday-schools 
 are not to suppose themselves in the dilemma of either 
 becoming pedagogical psychologists or abandoning the 
 teacher's chair. The outcome of many a training-class 
 course has been too small, because too much has been 
 attempted. Many a one has read psychology with inter- 
 est and emerged from its toils too merely book-learned 
 to apply it ; others have surrendered, or, worse still, 
 believed that they knew it all. 
 
 This is not a reflection upon science, but the plain 
 story of a misfit. The profound and complex study of 
 the workings of the human mind envelops some simple 
 and vital truths for everybody. The problem is to dig 
 them out and make them usable for the practical man 
 who is in a hurry. This is what Miss Slattery means 
 to do. 
 
 Now, the method by which she attacks this difficult 
 problem is good, for more reasons than one. It is brief, 
 yet elastic, expansible. The very limited student will 
 gain some systematic idea of the child's faculties — or 
 the " paths " — from this little manual alone. The less 
 limited student will do still better by following our 
 author more closely into other treatises. This plan is 
 in itself educative. It stands for something bigger than 
 the present work. It begets a broadening habit of refer- 
 [vii] 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 ence — not to say research. Thus, people of various 
 grades of resource may get their direction and their "set" 
 from this modest, unpretentious, readable, yet earnest, 
 manual. 
 
 Note also that it is not too precise in definition, nor 
 too didactic and bookish for busy folk. It is lively, 
 with apt illustration drawn out of direct experience — for 
 Miss Slattery is a quick-sighted and tactful teacher in the 
 day-school as well as in the Sunday-school. 
 
 It is not necessary for me to refer to the book in 
 detail. It tells its own story, and it has the virtue of 
 assuming to be no more than it is. But, just in illustra- 
 tion, I want to call special attention to what it says 
 about the " feelings," about imagination, analogy, vol- 
 untary attention, habit, and the higher impulses. If we 
 understood some of these things better in ourselves we 
 should do less violence to the Book of books and more 
 justice to our fellowmen — especially the children. 
 
 Most persons know something of their own mental 
 faculties and their modes. Without meaning to make 
 expert logicians or psychologists of them. Miss Slattery 
 would take them as she finds them and, avoiding weary 
 abstractions, lead them into that better organized knowl- 
 edge which is power. 
 
 [ viii 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 
 
 My purpose in the talks which we are to have together 
 is not to give you lectures upon pedagogy or child study, 
 nor a brief treatise on Gregory's Seven Laws of Teaching, 
 or any other " laws." It is not to give you a series of 
 theoretical propositions to be worked out. It is simply 
 to give you a series of talks upon certain principles of 
 teaching familiar to many of you — at least the words 
 have become familiar to you. The talks are based upon 
 an earnest study of what the great teachers of the ages 
 have given us, upon personal experience in actual teach- 
 ing, and upon careful observation of the work of others. 
 They were written in response to a demand for a simple 
 Teacher-Training Course which would prove helpful to 
 the average busy man or woman at work in the 
 Sunday-School. 
 
 I hope they will do one thing which I am very much 
 in earnest about; if they fail in that they will have failed 
 of their real purpose. That thing is not to interest you 
 only, though I do want to do that, but to make you 
 think — think so hard that you will not read the name 
 of the book recommended and mean to look at it some 
 day, but that you will go to your library and get it. If 
 it is not there, send to a publishing house ; if you cannot 
 do that — and there are so many of us who cannot buy 
 the books we would gladly read — then ask two or three 
 teachers to buy it with you, share the reading of it, and 
 let it be the first volume in a circulating Sunday-school 
 
 [ix] 
 
THE PURPOSE OF THE BOOK 
 
 library. The books recommended discuss fully and in a 
 most helpful way the subjects of the course. The History 
 of Christianity and Kemp's History give information in- 
 valuable to a teacher, u^hile Psychology in the Schoolroom 
 will prove most helpful to any teacher. 
 
 I hope these talks will make you think so hard that 
 you will see problems you never saw before; if one sees 
 a problem there is hope of solving it. I trust they may 
 so deepen your interest that not one day shall pass when 
 you do not remember, for a moment at least, that class 
 of yours, its need, and that you must meet that need. 
 
 I wish I knew you. I would like to look at you, and 
 from the various groups choose those who really mean it 
 when they say, " I wish I were a better teacher," better 
 prepared to cope with the difficulties. A better teacher 
 means better pupils, always. The great longing of the 
 faithful men and women in the Sunday-school teaching 
 force to-day is that in some way they may be able to 
 make impressions so deep and lasting that they shall lead 
 to expression in life and character. As one learns more 
 and more about the children he is to teach and " how " 
 to teach them, his power to do this increases. None of 
 us seek to know method for the sake of method, but 
 because of what right methods can do. 
 
 To help you in a small way to become, not a faultless 
 teacher nor a celebrated or popular one, but, no matter 
 what you are now, a better equipped teacher, is the earnest 
 desire of the author and the purpose of the book. 
 
 [''] 
 
REFERENCE BOOKS 
 
 The Gospels Combined, Charles H. Pope. 
 His Life, Barton, Soares, and Strong. 
 Talks to Teachers on Psychology, William James. 
 The Making of a Teacher, iMartin G. Brumbaugh. 
 Teaching and Teachers, H. C. Trumbull. 
 The Point of Contact in Teaching, Patterson Du Bois. 
 Children's Rights, Kate Douglas Wiggin. 
 Educational Evangelism, Charles E. McKinley. 
 Methods of Teaching History) ^ ^ ^^jj^ 
 
 Contents of Children's Minds S 
 Primer on Teaching, John Adams. 
 
 For practical suggestions, see Sunday-School Problems, 
 Amos R. Wells. 
 
SUGGESTIONS 
 
 " Talks with the Training Class " is designed to be 
 the text-book of the training class. The questions at 
 the close of each chapter may be discussed in class. 
 It is suggested that while as many individual members 
 as can should own the recommended books, the class as 
 an organization should own two or three copies, from 
 which the leader shall assign the pages recommended 
 from week to week to various members for report in 
 the class. 
 
 Books recommended for Study 
 
 Some stories of the Bible, such as Dr. Hurlbut's, 
 Foster's, or Mrs. Sangster*s. 
 
 Psychology in the Schoolroom, Dexter and Garlick. 
 
 History of Christianity, W. E. Gardner. 
 
 History for Graded and District Schools, E. L. Kemp. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Important Principles i 
 
 II. Curiosity and Interest 13 
 
 III. Memory 22 
 
 IV. Imagination 30 
 
 V. Reason 39 
 
 VI. Analogy 46 
 
 VII. Attention 53 
 
 VIII. The Will 62 
 
 IX. Habit 70 
 
 X. The Gist of the Whole Matter . 79 
 
Talks with the Training Class 
 
 IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES 
 
 The Starting-Point — " Know " 
 
 That little word suggests the first principle about 
 which we shall talk. One cannot teach if he does not 
 know. And first of all, we must know our children. We 
 sometimes forget that we are teaching children. One 
 of the gravest errors in all our educational work of 
 to-day, one at which the educators of the future will 
 point in amazement, lies right here. The majority of 
 teachers are engaged in teaching subjects first, and chil- 
 dren second, and that is all wrong. 
 
 How can we know children ? By honestly wanting 
 to know them ; by wanting to know them so much that 
 we shall be willing to let our theories -about them be de- 
 stroyed, — so much that we shall be willing to give time, 
 at a sacrifice, to get acquainted with them. 
 
 I remember a child who had been in my room about 
 five months. She did not seem to care much about her 
 work, she never volunteered anything, though she an- 
 swered fairly well when questioned. Her whole attitude 
 was half-hearted. She was thirteen years old. That 
 year I observed the children's birthdays by a note on the 
 desk, with a red carnation for the boys and a white one 
 for the girls. About a week before her fourteenth birth- 
 day she stayed to make up some work. As she was 
 going out I said, " Well, Edith, your birthday comes 
 
 [ 1 ] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 next week, doesn't it ? '* " Yes," she answered with a 
 great sigh, " I wish it didn't." That was unusual at 
 fourteen, and I said, " How can that be ? I thought 
 girls liked birthdays." 
 
 Her lips trembled as she said quickly, " I don't. You 
 see, I 'm fourteen. I 've got to leave school after this 
 month. My brother got me a job in the comb shop, and 
 I 've got to go." She began to cry and added in a way 
 that was quite too much for me, " I can't take music 
 lessons or anything else. I hate the comb shop. I want 
 to go to high school but my father won't let me." This 
 was my half-hearted girl, not interested especially in her 
 work. I found out in that talk that there was an organ 
 at home, and she had a passionate longing to play but 
 had never taken a lesson. All these months she had 
 been dreading the time when she must leave school. 
 What good would it do to study ; what was the use of 
 anything ? — that was her attitude. I perfectly under- 
 stood it then. I had known Edith those months, of 
 course ; eyes, hair, voice, manner, general character- 
 istics, and yet I had not known her at all. If I had, 
 what might I not have made out of those few last 
 months of school life ! I suppose there have been many 
 whom I have never known. But my eyes have been 
 opened since those first years. 
 
 How many of your girls and boys in their teens do 
 you know ? How many of your young men and women 
 do you know ? Later I shall talk with you about " age " 
 and the importance of knowing the general character- 
 istics of periods of development, that you may " know " 
 your children in that way. 
 
 Another way by which you may come to know them, 
 is by remembering. So many of us forget, or seldom 
 think about the way we felt when we were children. 
 We are too far away to realize the child's standpoint. 
 
 [ 2 ] 
 
IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES 
 
 Let us get back now and then. Do you remember 
 what it meant to you to be invited out to tea ? to have 
 some older person whom you admired take you to a con- 
 cert, or driving, or in fact anywhere? I hope I may live 
 long enough to give to many children the unspeakable 
 joy a woman in our church gave to me when I was six- 
 teen. She took me to Boston. I shall never forget it. 
 To-day when the conductor calls out " Boston " the 
 thrill of the memory of it comes back. Boston was the 
 world to me. I have seen much of my country since, 
 but no such joy of anticipation or memory has ever 
 come to me. What she said to me in answer to my 
 expression of gratitude as we came home, I remember 
 to-day, and it did me at that time more good than all 
 the lessons in Sunday-school. That trip cost her one 
 dollar and a half. No price can be set on what it meant 
 to me. 
 
 One may learn something of children from well writ- 
 ten books, for and about them. Next summer when 
 you are in the hammock or traveling — and, indeed, 
 those of you who are able to do none of these things, 
 but who have spare moments afternoon or evening — 
 you will want something to read, and at the close of 
 this chapter I shall recommend some " light reading " 
 of a kind not advertised at news-stands — stories of 
 child life which take us back and do us good. 
 
 We may come to know much about children through 
 earnest, connected study of the general characteristics 
 of the various types of mind, of the general line certain 
 types seem to follow in their development. One of the 
 most helpful books I know in this study applied especially 
 to the child mind is " Psychology in the Schoolroom." 
 It is sane and practical, and much of it is helpful to 
 fathers and mothers as well as to teachers. If you can- 
 not read it all, be sure to read and think over earnestly 
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 the chapters on "Character," "Habit," "The Will," and 
 " Training of the Moral Sentiment." Things are clearly 
 stated and easily understood. Choose the statements 
 which impress you most ; try them with your children 
 and see if they are true. 
 
 By these means, not all at once but little by little as 
 the years go by, one may come to know the children he 
 is teaching. By some means he must know them — 
 really understand them — or fail. 
 
 Lesson Material 
 
 But it is not enough to know the child ; we must also 
 know what we are to teach htm. I wish as soon as you 
 read this article you would get a child's story of the 
 Bible, Foster's or some other, and read it through, as 
 you would read any book, that you may have the 
 story as a whole from Genesis to Revelation before 
 you. We have done so much study of the Bible by 
 portions that the simple grandeur of the whole wonderful 
 story is lost. That there should be always thorough 
 knowledge of the special portion to be taught goes with- 
 out saying. But that is not enough. I believe with all 
 my heart that a teacher of whatever grade in Sunday- 
 school should have a much broader knowledge than that. 
 How few of us have anything but a vague idea of the 
 history of the Christian Church ! And it is all so won- 
 derful ! A very helpful book is "A History of Chris- 
 tianity," by W. E. Gardner. Perhaps your pastor has 
 it. It is designed for Sunday-schools, and is clearly 
 written in a most simple and interesting way. 
 
 The other book I want you to know about is Kemp's 
 " History for Graded Schools." It is a series of stories 
 so interesting that you cannot forget them. If you get 
 this book and read the chapter on " What the Hebrews 
 Taught the World," you will thank me for having 
 
 [ 4 ] 
 
IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES 
 
 spoken of it. The chapters on " Early Egyptians," 
 " How We Got Books," " How Rome Conquered the 
 World," are fine. How many boys and girls have lis- 
 tened with eager, interested faces to what that book has 
 given me, in addition to what the Bible tells, regarding 
 the people of Old and New Testament times ! I urge 
 the reading and study of it because it will help you. 
 
 Perhaps we have already realized that the important 
 question is not, " How shall I teach this particular parable, 
 the life of this prophet?" but "What are the principles 
 underlying the teaching of any parable or prophet ? " 
 
 When once we realize this truth our minds reach 
 out after those large, general principles, and as we grasp 
 them one by one we shall find ourselves applying them 
 to the particular lesson of the next Sunday. 
 
 This is a great gain to us in power. It is so much 
 better than attending a class on Saturday, seeing a lesson 
 taught, going to our own classes and giving an exact 
 reproduction. 
 
 As we learn to let great principles guide us in our 
 preparation of the lesson, we shall find ourselves pausing 
 to say, " What part of all this material on which I have 
 prepared myself is best fitted to follow out the laws of 
 interest, what best fitted to secure attention, to awaken 
 real imagination ? " 
 
 But first we must grasp for ourselves the meaning of 
 those laws and the other great principles which underlie 
 real teaching. 
 
 The business of the teacher is first to " know." 
 The second and equally important function of the 
 teacher is to 
 
 Help Others to Know 
 
 To help others to know is not to study for them ; it 
 is not to pour into their ears the wealth of material one 
 [ 5 ] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 has acquired, but rather to stimulate, encourage, instruct, 
 in such a way that they shall come to know for them- 
 selves what he has learned. 
 
 One may say, broadly speaking, that there are three 
 pathiuays by which we may approach every human life. 
 In all my experience with children I have never found 
 one who could not be reached by at least one of these 
 three paths. They are the pathways oi feeling., knowing., 
 willing. The power of feeling includes all the conditions 
 of pleasure or pain to which the mind is subject. The 
 power of knowing includes all that comes to one in 
 the process of reasoning, memorizing, or exercising the 
 imagination. The power of willing includes all the 
 processes, attention, impulse, resolution, etc., by which 
 decision and action are reached. In the chapters which 
 follow we shall endeavor to understand in a very 
 simple way these three paths, "The Feelings," "The 
 Intellect," " The Will," for it is by working along 
 these three lines that we are able to help others to 
 know. 
 
 If these paths were clearly defined, and by following 
 a well-marked way we could arrive without fail at the 
 heart-springs of a child's life, it would be easy. But it 
 is not so. Feeling, knowing, willing are all connected 
 so closely that one cannot be taken by itself and analyzed. 
 For example, illustrating in a physical sense, I come in 
 from a walk and feel hungry. I remember that I saw 
 an orange on the sideboard. I go into the dining-room 
 and eat it. Or, a better illustration perhaps, I attend 
 a lecture upon the social conditions of slum districts. 
 The lecturer makes me feel intensely the pathos of the 
 lives he vividly describes. I leave the hall feeling real 
 sympathy for his work. I remember his illustrations and 
 the many points of the lecture. I am impressed with 
 the sensible way in which he meets the problem; I 
 
 [ 6 ] 
 
IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES 
 
 resolve to help him in his work, and I send him money 
 by the morning mail. 
 
 And again : I say a mean thing to my friend. I 
 feel ashamed. I remember her look when I said it. 
 I repent of it. I go to her and ask forgiveness. Feel- 
 ing, intellect and will worked together to produce that 
 act. The feeHng alone could not have produced it, but 
 it was prompted by the feeling. Intellect and will re- 
 sponded to feeling, and action followed. Stop a moment 
 and think what that means to a teacher. If only action 
 might always follow ! Indeed feeling if it amounts to 
 anything must be followed by action. It is almost use- 
 less to awaken deep feeling for the poor and needy, the 
 oppressed or the heathen, unless an opportunity to act 
 follows the feeling. 
 
 Periods of Development 
 
 Careful observation of the development of children 
 has led students of child-nature to believe that there are 
 in life various stages of development which are world- 
 wide. There seem to be three definite periods : — the 
 first, very broadly, from one to seven years, the second 
 from seven to fourteen, the third from fourteen to 
 twenty-one. Heredity, environment, climate, physical 
 development, all tend to make the ages differ, but the 
 limits given are in general pretty safe. 
 
 The Feelings 
 
 Let us look at these three periods with the pathway 
 o{ feeling in mind. 
 
 In the first period (one to seven) the child is slave 
 to his feelings — while they last. Once I had a boy 
 of seven years sent to my room for misbehaving in line. 
 I kept him twenty minutes. I was standing at the open 
 window and heard him say to his companion as he went 
 [ 7 ] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 home, " I think she 's mean. She 's a cross old thing." 
 He meant it just then. The next morning he brought me 
 a five-cent bar of chocolate fudge. The child of six 
 gets angry on the playground at recess. He slaps and 
 punches his playmate. At noon I see him going home 
 in great glee, giving this same playmate a ride on his 
 sled. I envy him the power to so easily forgive and 
 forget. Anger and love, sunshine and tears follow so 
 closely when one is six ! 
 
 But suppose, knowing the quarrel will be so easily 
 made up, I let it pass and it is repeated every time the 
 child meets opposition to his wishes. You know the 
 result. The repeated action prompted by the feeling 
 of anger develops a habit, in this case a wrong one. If 
 allowed to continue, the years of young manhood cannot 
 overcome it though reason and will are brought to bear. 
 This great and all-important fact makes us hopeless and 
 hopeful by turns. 
 
 Suppose feelings of generosity, of kindliness and good 
 will could be so developed that more and more they 
 prompt the acts of the child until repeated action be- 
 comes habit. Much that we most desire would result. 
 Does it mean anything that so often when people are 
 excusing the apparent selfishness of another we hear 
 them say, " Oh, well, he is the only child," or, " Well, 
 she was the baby of the family " ? It is a growing 
 conviction with me that the great aim of the teacher of 
 young children in Sunday-school or public school is to 
 cultivate by every possible means the higher feelings, 
 that they may prompt acts which when repeated shall 
 form habits that need never be broken. 
 
 In the second period of development (seven to fourteen) 
 we begin to notice a change in the place feeling takes in 
 the life of the child. Little by little the feelings are 
 brought under control of the will and reason as they 
 
 [ 8 ] 
 
IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES 
 
 develop. But they still exist, a mighty motive power. 
 This is a fact we too often forget. The desire for 
 praise, the longing to excel, the worship of heroes, all 
 indicate the important place they hold. These natural 
 desires may be wisely used for the highest welfare of the 
 child. Is there anything in your songs to satisfy the 
 heroic spirit, as in " The Son of God Goes Forth to 
 War," " We March to Victory," etc. ? Is there any- 
 thing to make them feel the compassion and patience of 
 Jesus, like 
 
 ** O Jesus, thou art standing 
 Outside the fast-closed door'*? 
 
 When a boy tells you that he thinks a certain song 
 " awful pretty " and that he 'd like to sing it every 
 Sunday, or a girl that some other song is "just lovely " 
 and that the music makes her feel " kinder funny and 
 sad," you may be sure those songs have earned a place 
 in your Sunday-school program. If during your prayer 
 the school is quiet and reverent you may be certain that 
 there is something in it to awaken that feeling. 
 
 Feelings are exceedingly contagious. This fact 
 accounts for class spirit and school enthusiasm,. Be 
 sure to plan for something each Sunday to foster a good 
 school and class spirit. Friendly rivalry in attendance, 
 in Bibles remembered, in supplemental work, the desire 
 to make "our school" the very best — these all help. 
 
 In the third period (fourteen to twenty-one) the feel- 
 ings become more and more the servants of the intellect 
 and will. Therefore in your plans for next Sunday you 
 must take advantage of the knowledge your scholars have, 
 increase it by the new facts you are able to bring, and 
 appeal so strongly to reason and will that they must react 
 upon the feelings and call them also into cooperation, 
 thus inspiring your pupil to new forms of activity. 
 [ 9 ] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 Jesus did that so often. When he healed the man 
 with the withered hand and they criticized him, see how 
 he appealed to their reason : " What man shall there be 
 of you, that shall have one sheep, and if this fall into a 
 pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and 
 lift it out ? How much then is a man of more value than 
 a sheep ! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sab- 
 bath day." A few sentences — but a model teaching 
 lesson. " Surely he must have come from God," they 
 said, and the reason reacting upon the feelings, many 
 " followed him." None of us know how to do this as 
 he did. 
 
 In all periods of development we have one great aid 
 in the cultivation of the feelings — the story. Learn 
 to use it. Read with your class in mind. Write in 
 a few sentences the main points of stories you hear. 
 Always keep a scrap envelope for those which can be 
 cut from papers and magazines. In older classes sug- 
 gest stories to be read. Also loan books you know to 
 be helpful, fitted to their needs and full of incentives to 
 better living. It will bring a rich reward. Perhaps you 
 are the only one interested enough to do it. 
 
 In most places the day of the old Sunday-school story 
 has passed. For many reasons I rejoice; for some I 
 am sorry. To be sure the child heroes were always 
 " goody " and the stories impossible, but there was some 
 wheat among the chaff, and there are men and women 
 in our churches to-day over whom those books had once 
 a great influence. If you know a few good ones tucked 
 away on your shelves don't be afraid to use them. It 
 has seemed to me that the newer stories for children lack 
 in some ways the moral stimulus the older ones had. 
 From your own reading of the best in prose and poetry, 
 give them stories to make them feel. There is no more 
 encouraging phrase than that one so familiar to you who 
 
 [10] 
 
IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES 
 
 tell stories, " I'd like to be that girl you told about." 
 "My, that boy was awful brave! I'd like ter been 
 him.'* 
 
 All the feelings are a strong part of human nature, 
 so I must take the feeling of anger and turn it into right 
 channels ; the feeling of fear and make it fear of the 
 low, cowardly and mean. I have found the story the 
 best way of doing this. 
 
 The right kind of stories must certainly awaken right 
 feelings ; feelings supply motives for actions, and so are 
 of the utmost importance in forming character. Heart 
 and brain go to make the best character, and neither 
 alone is sufficient. 
 
 A Thought for the Week 
 
 In order to teach we must know children and material. 
 To really teach is to help others to know, and through 
 the feelings we have a broad highway into the heart and 
 life of the child. In order to make others know and 
 feel the mighty power of Infinite Love which pulsates 
 through this great world of pleasure and pain, sorrow 
 and longing, we must ourselves know it so truly, feel 
 it so deeply and respond to it so fully, that it becomes 
 more and more the motive power of our lives. 
 
 FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. What two things are absolutely necessary in order to 
 really teach ? Why ? 
 
 2. In your opinion, do the majority of Sunday-school teach- 
 ers know their pupils ? Give reason for answer. 
 
 3. How may one learn to know his pupils ? 
 
 4. What is real teaching ? 
 
 5. How should this definition affect our knowledge of lesson 
 material ? 
 
 6. What should guide one in the preparation of a lesson ? 
 
 [II] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 7. By what pathways may we approach the minds of. our 
 pupils ? 
 
 8. Tell what each pathway includes. 
 
 9. Give original illustrations showing how these three 
 pathways work together to produce an act. 
 
 10. Give the three periods of development. 
 
 1 1 . What place does feeling hold in each ? 
 
 12. ''Feeling if it is really to affect character must be 
 followed by action." Do you believe this? 
 
 13. Discuss the place the story holds in the development of 
 feeling. Name stories which tend to awaken right feelings. 
 
 14. Give illustrations showing how Christ used the story to 
 awaken feeling. 
 
 15. Give the ** Thought for the Week" in your own 
 words. Do you believe it ? 
 
 PAGES TO BE REPORTED IN CLASS 
 
 Psychology in the Schoolroom, pp. 3-6, 23-26 ; chapter on 
 Feeling, pp. 196-258. 
 
 Special attention to "The Teacher's Work." 
 See James' Talks to Teachers, chapters I and II. 
 
 LIST OF BOOKS FOR LIGHT READING 
 
 Being a Boy^ Charles Dudley Warner ; The Boys King Arthur^ 
 Sidney Lanier j Real Diary of a Real Boy, Judge Shute ; Just 
 about a Boy, W. S. Phillips ; Historic Boys, E. S. Brooks ; Ten 
 Boys on the Road, etc. , Jane Andrews ; Ben Pepper, Margaret 
 Sidney ; Making of a Man, O. S. Marden ; Da'vid Ransom s Watch, 
 Mrs. G. R. Alden (Pansy) ; Physiology for Boys, Mrs. Shepherd ; 
 Physiology for Girls, Mrs. Shepherd ; Se^en Little Sisters, Jane An- 
 drews j Girls Who Became Famous, Sarah Knowles Bolton ; Historic 
 Girls, E. S. Brooks ; Heidi, Dole (translator) ; Cordelia'' s Pathnvay 
 Out, Edna A. Foster j St. Cecilia of the Court, Isabella Hess; The 
 Hoosier Schoolboy, Edward Eggleston ; Emmy Lou, George Maden 
 Martin; Beckonings from Little Hands, Patterson DuBois. 
 
 [12] 
 
II 
 
 CURIOSITY AND INTEREST 
 
 As you have carefully read and thought over the pages 
 assigned for study of the feelings, I am sure you have 
 realized anew^ the tremendous power they have in the 
 development of character. Perhaps already a new note 
 has entered your teaching as you have realized the great 
 help which sympathy, rightly directed, gives to study, to 
 moral training, to the whole complex social life. Fear, 
 anger, desire for praise, love, sympathy, respect, rever- 
 ence — there they stand, a series of gates opening into 
 the courtyard wherein dwells the human spirit. Pray 
 that experience shall teach you how to open them with 
 wisdom and care. 
 
 We said last week that the three pathways, feeling, 
 knowing, willing, act and react upon each other, makmg 
 it almost impossible to analyze an act and place it defi- 
 nitely under one head. The topic we are now to take 
 up is an illustration of the truth of that statement. 
 
 ''The Intellectual Sentiment" 
 
 There is a certain class of feelings which are not of 
 the senses purely, neither can they be classed as emo- 
 tions. They have in them certain intellectual elements 
 and therefore bend toward the pathway Knowing. 
 They include also some action of the will and so touch 
 the pathway " Willing." In Psychology in the Schoolroom, 
 vou will find these classed under the topic, " The Intel- 
 
 [13] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 lectual Sentiment." I think that is the best way to 
 define them. They include the feelings of perplexity, 
 curiosity and interest. It is an intensely interesting 
 group which we can touch but briefly. 
 
 Curiosity 
 
 Curiosity is, broadly speaking, " desire to know." We 
 are familiar with its various forms, — we all possess it in 
 greater or less degree. It acts as an appetite to the 
 mind. It is natural to a child. It is an open door into 
 the realm of knowledge. 
 
 A teacher should use it as a valuable aid in gaining 
 interest. Above the primary department in Sunday- 
 school I have found very little to awaken the curiosity 
 of the child. Perhaps this accounts for the lack of in- 
 terest in many instances. There are scores of teachers 
 who do awaken it. A model of an Eastern well, a 
 scroll, a piece of papyrus, a striking picture of places or 
 objects mentioned in the lesson, the use of a large pad 
 for drawing — all these serve to awaken curiosity, which 
 will easily develop into interest if the teacher is wise. 
 Drawing is perhaps the best way by which the Sunday- 
 school teacher can arouse curiosity. The simplest 
 drawing is always the best, and it is surprising what the 
 average teacher who " can't draw " can do with a little 
 practise and courage. Even a few striking words, or 
 the main thought of the lesson expressed briefly upon the 
 blackboard, is a help. Dr. Schauffler's blackboard illus- 
 trations, terse, clear, striking, always arouse curiosity 
 and awaken interest, as many of us can testify. We 
 can't do this as he does or as some others can, but 
 ability grows with practise, and we can do more than 
 we dream if we are in earnest. 
 
 Pictures are another means of arousing curiosity. I 
 always remember with pleasure the eager, intelligent 
 
 [14] 
 
CURIOSITY AND INTEREST 
 
 questions called out by a picture of a huge Bible, attached 
 by heavy chains to the altar, which I had fastened to 
 the blackboard, saying nothing about it. " The Pilgrim 
 Teacher " pictures and others have been published in 
 response to the need of something to help arouse curi- 
 osity and make the right impressions. 
 
 Pictures in magazines and advertising columns often 
 give one just what one needs to arouse curiosity. I 
 once cut from the advertising pages of a magazine the 
 picture of a well-dressed, fine-looking young man, just 
 raising a glass of champagne to his lips, and from 
 another page, the picture of a busy, city street where 
 a young man hatless, collarless, in an intoxicated con- 
 dition leaned helplessly against a corner saloon, while 
 the crowd passed by. I pasted these side by side on a 
 piece of manila paper. The fourteen-year-old boys 
 whom I was to teach looked bored as they opened their 
 quarterlies to the temperance lesson. I said, " We 
 won't use quarterlies yet. I have here the subject of the 
 lesson, the place, the chief characters and the text. I 
 want you to tell me what they are, for not a word is 
 written." Then I unrolled my paper. I wish you 
 might have heard the answers. Their curiosity led to 
 interest and it was with a different feeling that they 
 opened the quarterlies again, and found the same truths 
 stated there. I have done this scores of times by the 
 use of advertisements and magazine pictures. 
 
 Object-teaching is also useful in arousing curiosity. 
 I once gained the attention of fifty Y. M. C. A. Juniors 
 by a large piece of wood, perfectly good on the outside, 
 but completely destroyed on the inside by the work of 
 insects. Their curiosity enabled me to gain interest 
 and impress the lesson. 
 
 I had at one time a bright, happy, light-hearted boy, 
 who spent at least one-third of the day laughing. He 
 
 [15] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 laughed at everything, and as his mother said, " at 
 nothing." This habit was exceedingly annoying and 
 yet the instant his curiosity was aroused he became 
 serious, attentive and deeply interested. His curiosity 
 led him to find out things other children of his age 
 knew nothing about, and on questions of general infor- 
 mation he was always ready. Each morning he had a 
 new question for me. " Why do they build all gas- 
 houses round ? '* " When a caterpillar spins a cocoon, 
 does he know he is going to come out a butterfly ? " 
 " What is a coal-breaker, and how does it work ? " I 
 was obliged to appeal to him through curiosity, if I hoped 
 to reach him at all. One occasionally meets children 
 of his type. 
 
 However, there is an element of danger in all these 
 things. Too many pictures or objects in one lesson, 
 the introduction of anything which excites curiosity at 
 the wrong moment, must be avoided. The teacher 
 must be on the watch for questions asked for the sake 
 of asking, or in order to appear interested. If one can 
 be on his guard against the harmful kind of curiosity 
 and encourage the kind which seeks for knowledge he 
 has a powerful ally. Observe carefully children of your 
 acquaintance and see how curiosity is constantly leading 
 to investigation and knowledge. As you prepare your 
 lesson for next Sunday plan something to awaken curi- 
 osity. Make the look of surprise and anticipation, which 
 is such a reward to the teacher, light up the faces of your 
 children. Be sure that you use something which will 
 lead to interest in the thing you have decided to teach. 
 
 Interest 
 
 Interest is the name given to the feelings of pleasure 
 or pain which arouse the mind to activity. I wish I 
 could write that word activity in capital letters over 
 
 [i6] 
 
CURIOSITY AND INTEREST 
 
 every question the teacher uses in Sunday-school. 
 There should be something in every question to arouse 
 the mind of every child. The illustrations ought to 
 awaken his mental faculties and make them work. The 
 story you tell should cause him to feel pleasure or pain, 
 so that his mind responds and attention, memory, im- 
 agination, all cooperate to make it real teaching. 
 
 Is this true of the lesson material I am preparing for 
 next Sunday ? I ask myself that question. Sometimes 
 I answer it by drawing a pencil through some question 
 or illustration I meant to use. 
 
 Let us remember that to interest does not of necessity 
 mean to amuse, to entertain, but to arouse activity in 
 the child, to make his mind work. 
 
 Interest, as we have seen, depends upon, and is awak- 
 ened by the right kind of curiosity. I wanted a new 
 way to teach evaporation. I took four saucers, put a 
 little water in each and set them on the table. At 
 noon I was asked many questions. " What is in 
 them ? " " Just water." " What are you going to 
 do with them ? " " Leave them till morning." No 
 saucers, I am sure, ever proved more interesting than 
 did they, all the afternoon. Next morning they were 
 the first objects of interest as the children came in. 
 After opening exercises I said, " Have you looked at the 
 saucers this morning ? " A host of waving hands an- 
 swered me. "The water has gone." " Gone where ? " 
 said I. I wish I could reproduce the lesson. As 
 many children as I could call upon had something to 
 say. 
 
 Among these answers I got what I wanted, and by 
 keeping curiosity awake, could deepen interest as I made 
 them see the great areas of rapid evaporation, the effect 
 upon climate and civilization. When I was in school 
 I learned the definition of evaporation from a text-book. 
 
 [17] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 There is a difference, and just that difference exists be- 
 tween a good and a poor way of presenting truth in 
 Sunday-school. 
 
 Then, too, interest depends upon a certain amount of 
 previous knowledge. A child cannot be interested in a 
 thing of which he knows absolutely nothing. He must 
 know a little, and by using that little wisely we can widen 
 his horizon more and more. A child living on the edge 
 of a great level stretch of desert, would not be greatly 
 interested in your first story of " Coasting in Winter." 
 Notice the new ideas he would have to meet : " snow," 
 " hill," " sled," and others — familiar to us, but utterly 
 unknown to him. We must '-^ proceed from the known 
 to the unknown^ 
 
 On the other hand if a child is perfectly familiar with 
 what you are teaching it is hard to gain interest. In 
 every lesson there must be something old to use as a 
 foundation and something new to build upon it. 
 
 The matter of age makes such a difference here. It 
 is particularly noticeable in the telling of a story. The 
 child of five so often meets your story with the demand 
 that you " tell it again," while the child of nine says, 
 " I have heard that story about a hundred times ; tell 
 me a new one." In the teaching of any subject the 
 great problem is how to give drill enough to impress 
 the truth and still keep curiosity active and interest 
 sustained. 
 
 Children's Interests 
 
 Many of us have failed of our best in teaching be- 
 cause we have known nothing of our children's interests. 
 One of the most helpful studies I ever made was from 
 a collection of papers written by my pupils for several 
 years upon the subjects, " What I like to do best be- 
 tween four o'clock and six," " What I like to do best 
 
 [i8] 
 
CURIOSITY AND INTEREST 
 
 between six and eight," "The stories I like best, and 
 why." Through these papers I gained much valuable 
 knowledge of lines of interest along which I could work 
 in my teaching. 
 
 Each year from my study of these papers, and the 
 pupils who wrote them, I have been obliged to come to 
 the same conclusion, namely, that all children are in- 
 tensely interested in life and in great principles and 
 truths as they touch life ; that they are not interested in 
 abstract statements of truth apart from life. 
 
 Take, for example, duty to God, which implies rev- 
 erence, love and worship ; duty to self, — temperance, 
 courage, self-respect; and duty to others, — absolute 
 justice and real charity. In the abstract these mean 
 nothing to the child ; they have no attraction for him. 
 When we are planting our school gardens, the seeds 
 chosen first are always those with colored illustrations 
 of flower or fruit. In order to have these seeds of duty 
 desired by children they must be put up in packages 
 which interest and attract. I do this every time I 
 teach of a real live boy in his struggle to be honest ; 
 every time a self-sacrifice makes the hero I present one 
 they all desire to follow ; every time I use illustrations 
 from lives of boys and girls reared in poverty and sin 
 who have struggled to rise above their condition and 
 won ; and whenever I present vividly the great characters 
 of the Old and New Testaments — in fact, every time 
 I connect a great truth with a man, woman or child 
 who has lived it. Knowing these things, I must profit 
 by them in preparing the work for my Sunday-school, 
 else I cannot hope for success. 
 
 In a later chapter we shall see the important place 
 which interest plays in gaining and holding attention, 
 and realize the fact that good discipline without interest 
 is impossible. More than that we must constantly 
 
 [19] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 remember that unless we are interested we cannot in- 
 terest others. 
 
 A Thought for the Week 
 
 Real curiosity leads to interest. Interest means at- 
 tention, attention means knowledge, and knowledge 
 influences character and conduct. It is an endless 
 chain. Strengthen the links. 
 
 History shows us no perfect men, no faultless teach- 
 ers, but through the ages the eternal God has spoken 
 to human hearts and revealed truth. He still speaks. 
 He can — through you. 
 
 FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1 . Name the gates in the pathway Feeling. 
 
 2. What should a child be taught to fear ? to love ? 
 
 3. How do you treat a child's love of praise ? 
 
 4. What is meant by the phrase the ** intellectual sen- 
 
 timent 
 
 5. What is curiosity ? 
 
 6. Why should a teacher make use of it ? 
 
 7. Suggest ways by which curiosity may be awakened. 
 Give three original suggestions. 
 
 8. What elements of danger in all these ** means " of 
 arousing curiosity ? 
 
 9. What is interest ? 
 
 10. Upon what does interest depend ? 
 
 11. When does a child's interest in a thing cease? What 
 then ? 
 
 12. Do you know the things in which your pupils are 
 interested ? 
 
 13. In what do all children seem to be interested ? What 
 fails to interest them ? How should this affect our teaching ? 
 
 14. What two things necessary for good teaching depend 
 upon interest ? 
 
 [20] 
 
CURIOSITY AND INTEREST 
 
 15. Do your personal " interests '» make any difference in 
 your teaching ? 
 
 16. In order to interest a class, how much of a twenty 
 mmute period should a teacher talk ? 
 
 17. Give in your own words the thought for the week. 
 
 PAGES TO BE REPORTED IN CLASS 
 
 Psychology in the Schoolroom, Curiosity and Interest, pp 32 
 33, 254-257 ; Summary, p. 258. Just to make you think, read 
 pp. 259-279. 
 
 History of Christianity, pp. 13-38. 
 
 Kemp's History, pp. 66-75. 
 
 See James' Talks to Teachers, chapter X. 
 
 [21] 
 
Ill 
 
 MEMORY 
 
 It was evening and an old man sat at the window 
 gazing out into the darkening street. But he did not 
 see the shadows falling over the tiny green leaves which 
 that day had reached out for the sunshine. He was far 
 away across the plains amid the mountains of his early 
 home. There was a smile upon his face, a smile that 
 trembled and died away only to shine out again. There 
 was a light of joy, a shade of sorrow and then a calm 
 content in his faded eyes. The old man was dreaming. 
 He was gazing at the pictures hung through the years 
 in memory's long, winding gallery. When the lamps 
 were lighted and the children begged for stories, for help 
 on lessons, for experiences in the war, he looked again 
 at the pictures, gave them the stories they loved, growing 
 young again as he looked into their bright faces and 
 answered their eager questions. 
 
 What if he had not remembered ? What if the years 
 with all their store of knowledge, their joys and sorrows, 
 had been blotted out ? How hard the days would have 
 been, how cheerless the long twilight ! 
 
 How marvelous it is — this thing we call memory! 
 With what intense interest we can study it, test it, strive 
 to cultivate it ! Without it every other faculty of the 
 mind is warped and stilted. Indeed without memory 
 and attention mental growth is impossible. With an 
 earnest desire to know all we can about it, we turn for 
 
 [22] 
 
MEMORY 
 
 the present from the pathway Feeling, and open our 
 study of Knowledge, by an effort to understand Memory. 
 
 Memory 
 
 Memory is the act of the mind by which it retains 
 and reproduces ideas which it has gained. Every act of 
 memory really includes three acts. First the mind takes 
 hold of an idea ; this is called apprehension ; then the idea 
 is kept hidden away in the mind, which is retention ; 
 finally it is brought back when desired, and this is 
 reproduction. As we commonly speak of memory, it 
 means the second and third acts, that is, the power to 
 retain and reproduce ideas. 
 
 The power to reproduce an idea depends upon two 
 things : first the impression which is made upon the 
 mind, and second the association with other ideas already 
 in the mind. If we could teach every fact we want our 
 pupils to remember in such a way that a deep impression 
 and natural association are made, we might be sure of 
 success. 
 
 Have you ever used carbon paper and lead-pencil in 
 making copies ? If you have, you know the harder you 
 bear on, the deeper impression and clearer reproduction 
 you get. In some measure this is true when you write 
 upon the minds of children. There is this difference, 
 however : carbon paper is made very much alike. It is 
 passive. But the brain material of these boys and girls 
 of ours is entirely unlike, and it reacts. The thing 
 which will make a deep impression, be retained, and 
 reproduced clearly by the child with excellent memory, 
 meets a different fate with the faithful plodder who takes 
 in slowly, requires endless repetition, but in the end 
 retains, and reproduces slowly and painfully. It meets 
 still a different fate with the really dull child, or with 
 the child who takes in quickly, reproduces easily, but 
 
 [23] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 has no power of retention, and cannot tell to-morrow 
 what he seemed to know to-day. As we have seen in 
 our previous study, to work to the greatest advantage 
 we must know our children. 
 
 We may be sure of this general truth : the deeper the 
 impression made, the longer the mind will retain the 
 idea and the more easily reproduce it. 
 
 How Impressions Are Made 
 
 One day when I was in the eighth grade my teacher 
 cried because one of the boys had been arrested for 
 stealing. It made a tremendous impression upon all 
 of us. Years after, when several of the class met in re- 
 union, we spoke of this teacher, and some one immedi- 
 ately asked, " Can you ever forget the day she cried ? " 
 None of us had forgotten. Why did it make such an 
 impression ? Because it was so unusual. She was 
 generally calm and undisturbed. None of us had ever 
 seen a teacher cry. The strangeness of it made the 
 impression deep and it stayed. We can all give hundreds 
 of experiences to illustrate this point, — accidents, times 
 of special joy or sorrow, great events in our lives, which 
 made us say, " I shall never forget as long as I live." 
 
 There are other things in our lives which have made 
 deep impressions for an entirely different reason. They 
 stay with us simply because we have heard them so 
 many times. Repetition has impressed them so deeply 
 that they stay. 
 
 Oftentimes a child picking daisies in the field, a pic- 
 ture of a bit of summer sea in the moonlight, the sudden 
 glimpse of a pure white Easter lily, will call up for us a 
 long train of memories, because these things are similar 
 to other experiences and impressions of the past. They 
 " remind " us. An act of memory takes place through 
 the force of association. 
 
 [24] 
 
MEMORY 
 
 Sometimes we remember things easily because of the 
 sequence of ideas. We learn the multiplication table 
 and names of the books of the Bible in this way. In 
 technical terms we say that memory follows the law 
 of contiguity and we can remember because things 
 which occur together, or are impressed in close succes- 
 sion upon the mind, or are connected through cause and 
 effect, tend to recall each other. 
 
 The Application for the Sunday-school Teacher 
 
 What good will knowledge of these facts do the 
 Sunday-school teacher ? Personally, it has made me 
 think carefully about the material I am to present to my 
 child. It has made me ask myself what there is in it to 
 make an impression, and to teach that thing. There 
 may always be the impressive manner. The term 
 "impressive speaker" is a common one. There are 
 " impressive teachers." If one believes that what he is 
 to teach has vital good in it for his children then his 
 manner will show it. There are some things in Sunday- 
 school lessons which I cannot teach children. I am 
 convinced that they are of no value to the child. If I 
 attempted to teach them it would be saying words^ which 
 is never teaching. 
 
 As I realize in my study of memory that ability to 
 retain and reproduce depends upon the power of the 
 impression, I must think of ways to make the impression 
 powerful. I must have new ways to open the lesson, 
 differing from, " Now, children, what is our lesson 
 about to-day ? " Some months ago, one of my teachers 
 being absent, I took his class of boys, about twelve years 
 old. When I went into the class I sat down in the 
 teacher's chair and waited a moment. They opened 
 their quarterlies ; I closed mine. I said, — " There was 
 such a crowd you couldn't even get near the door. 
 
 [25] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 This was partly because the street was so narrow and the 
 houses arranged like this," and I slipped out my picture, 
 gave a few words of explanation and put it away. " But it 
 was mostly because everybody wanted to hear the man who 
 was speaking and see the wonderful things he was doing." 
 
 An impression was made at the very beginning because 
 it was a new way of starting out. By question, illustra- 
 tion and story I had to deepen that impression, until 
 they saw the roof torn up, the man let down, the miracle 
 performed and knew that Jesus not only cured the man 
 but forgave him. Weeks after when I asked for that 
 miracle I got it from this class. 
 
 The study of memory helps me to realize how im- 
 portant it is to drill on what I have taught. It makes 
 me seek new ways to ask old questions. It makes me 
 appeal to eye, ear, hand, every entrance and faculty by 
 which I can hope to impress important things. To me, 
 general knowledge of each book of the Bible seems 
 important. With that in mind, I take, for example, 
 Joshua. I refer to him constantly, comparing him with 
 other heroes. I refer to Jericho, to the Jordan, wherever 
 it is profitable in other lessons. Finally I test : I say, 
 " I am thinking of the letter J. J makes me think of 
 a book, a man, a river, a city. Can you name them ? " 
 Eager hands answer me. Next Sunday I ask, " About 
 what does the book of Joshua tell ? " I get these four 
 things promptly ; later I test to see if they have stayed. 
 In the same way I can let the contents of Genesis or 
 Kings cluster about the important men, being careful not 
 to burden the memory with endless detail. According 
 to what laws of memory have I been working ? 
 
 The study of memory makes me realize that isolated 
 facts do not stay long in the mind ; that ideas must be 
 associated with other ideas if they are to remain. Then 
 I begin to think about certain Golden Texts. Their 
 
 [26] 
 
MEMORY 
 
 connection is often so slight that I have to think a long 
 time before I find it. 
 
 I have found very few children who remember these 
 isolated texts, but a great many have been able to give a 
 dozen verses about Love and as many more about Faith. 
 Try it and see if I am right. 
 
 The study of memory has helped me realize that there 
 is a period in a child's life when he cannot reason and it 
 is useless to appeal to him through that avenue, but he 
 can remember. This is the time to give him things to 
 remember. From the time he is able first to " learn by 
 heart " up to the eleventh year certainly, I can give him 
 the best chapters, psalms and hymns to learn, and if he 
 learns them then they will stay. 
 
 When the reason begins to act, I must change my 
 method of impressing upon the memory. Then comes 
 my opportunity to search for natural associations, for 
 similarities and contrasts, and to make comparisons. 
 For this reason about the sixteenth year is a good time 
 to have comparisons between Moses, Saul, David and 
 St. Paul. Through these comparisons the characteristics 
 and the important events, with the consequent influence 
 upon the life of each, may be fixed. 
 
 You will feel the importance of association of ideas as 
 a means of impression if you test your own memory on 
 long lists of words like, " apple, railroad, pencil, chair,'* 
 etc., where there is no natural association, and a list 
 like, " fire, smoke, water, engine, hose," etc., where a 
 natural association does exist. Indeed to search for nat- 
 ural association of ideas becomes one of the most important 
 factors in preparing a lesson. 
 
 In a word, the study of memory as a faculty is helpful 
 to me as a Sunday-school teacher because it makes me 
 think. And a thinking teacher is a growing teacher, the 
 only kind worthy of a place in the Sunday-school. 
 
 [27] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 A Thought for the Week 
 
 We teach, and impatiently cry for results. God 
 teaches and with majestic patience waits through the 
 years for the lesson to be learned. We see the sowing 
 and are sometimes discouraged. God sees the ultimate 
 harvest, and there is no discouragement with him. 
 
 FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. What is memory ? 
 
 2. What does an act of memory include ? 
 
 3. What is meant by apprehension ? By retention ? By 
 reproduction ? Illustrate. 
 
 4. Upon what does power to reproduce ideas depend ? 
 
 5. How are impressions made ? 
 
 6. How does kno^vledge of these things benefit a Sunday- 
 school teacher ? 
 
 7. How should the age of pupils influence what is required 
 of the memory ? 
 
 8. For what should a teacher search in the preparation of 
 every lesson ? Why ? 
 
 9. Is it possible to teach so that all children will re- 
 member ? Give reasons for your answer. 
 
 10. What do you really mean when you say, ** I can't 
 remember" ? 
 
 1 1. Can memory be cultivated ? Illustrate. 
 
 12. Suggest ways by which important ev^ents in the life of 
 Christ may be impressed. What law of memory did you 
 follow in your suggestion ? 
 
 13. Which makes a deeper impression, words, or things? 
 How should this influence teachers ? 
 
 14. Give the thought for the week in your own words. 
 
 15. What is your weakest link ? 
 
 PAGES TO BE REPORTED IN CLASS 
 
 Psychology in the Schoolroom, pp. 1 14-138. Special atten- 
 tion, pp. 118, 119, 132, 134, 137. 
 
 [2g] 
 
MEMORY 
 
 History of Christianity, pp. 38-56. 
 
 Report to class the illustration of a mother's prayer and a 
 of Scripture. 
 
 Kemp's History, pp. 329-346. 
 
 See James' Talks to Teachers, chapter XII. 
 
 [29] 
 
IV 
 IMAGINATION 
 
 I HAVE been sitting in a crowded, noisy accommoda- 
 tion train for the last hour but I did not know it. I 
 might not know it now if the conductor had not called 
 out "Tickets, please," right beside me. I have been 
 spending the hour in a land where I would like to go 
 often. It is a good place to forget the hard, bare pov- 
 erty of facts for a little while, and rejoice in the wealth 
 which it has to offer. It is a land where one may 
 always be sure of good company, for poets, artists, mu- 
 sicians and inventors visit it often and come back to 
 give to the world a " Divine Comedy," a " Last 
 Supper," a " Tannhauser " or a " telegraph." It is 
 the realm of the imagination. 
 
 I spent this morning in a country far across the sea 
 at Horeb where Moses received the commission to go 
 unto Pharaoh. I saw his look of astonishment and dis- 
 may as he answered the Voice from the bush saying, 
 " Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh ? . . . I 
 am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." I heard the 
 searching question in reply, " Who hath made man's 
 mouth ? ... is it not I, Jehovah ? . . . Go, and I 
 will . . . teach thee what thou shalt speak." And the 
 shepherd was not simply one called Moses, a famous 
 Hebrew dead long ago. He lived, he was real, I knew 
 him and as the train rushed on I heard over and over 
 again his words, so like the words of to-day in the world 
 of facts, — " Send thou by the hand of another." 
 
 [30] 
 
IMAGINATION 
 
 How could he become so real to me ? Because of one 
 of the most wonderful powers given to man, that of the 
 imagination. It is a power which many engaged in the 
 training and development of boys and girls have feared 
 and with some reason. The over-stimulated imagina- 
 tion certainly works evil. The person who spends his 
 leisure in building castles and enjoying day-dreams of 
 greatness to be his sometime is not usually the one who 
 does the work of the world. He sees the thing done 
 and fails to see the process. The books filled with the 
 wholly impossible stories which find their way into the 
 hands of our boys and girls have done untold harm in 
 this way as well as by provoking deeds which have 
 wrecked their lives. I wonder how many Sunday- 
 school teachers know what stories are interesting the 
 children in their teens. This of course is the parents' 
 business, but so often when parents fail it becomes the 
 business of the teacher. For some years it has been a 
 problem with me how one may best make boys who are 
 reading this trash, which is sure to send them out on 
 wrong paths, see the utter impossibility of the story 
 which to their imagination is so interesting and probable. 
 By knowing when to say just the right word one may 
 exert an influence which shall transform this wonderful 
 faculty from a source of evil to one of great good. 
 
 Constructive imagination rightly used is a most won- 
 derful power of the mind. It has made the progress 
 of the world possible. Columbus constructed in his 
 imagination a northwest passage to India and it led him 
 to a new world. All the triumphs of science were at 
 first theories and existed only in the imaginations of 
 men. The child uses constructive imagination every 
 time he takes the blocks given him and builds his house. 
 To find what we can do to help rightly develop this 
 power is the purpose of our study. If we limit the 
 
 [31] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 imagination, crush it, or confine it, we may be depriving 
 the world of a poet, inventor or musician. If we let it 
 run riot we may give to the world a fanciful, impulsive 
 dreamer or one so addicted to exaggeration that his word 
 cannot be trusted. It is because of the possibilities of 
 imagination that it is worth the most earnest study by a 
 training-class of Sunday-school teachers. 
 
 Imaginative Power Differs 
 
 All children have not the same power of imagination. 
 Most children have some, and for the first seven years 
 exercise it freely. This is the time when facts and 
 fancies get into a very confused state; when fairies 
 people the wood, imaginary children come to play in 
 the garden, stones talk, and " Red Riding Hood " and 
 the " Three Bears " are a source of constant delight. 
 But this period is comparatively short. What we can 
 do with it and whether it is a way by which we can get 
 into the mind of the child the things we want there, are 
 questions which interest us. 
 
 One Sunday I walked home from Sunday-school with 
 a little five-year-old girl. She had a yellow daffodil in 
 her hand and showed it to me proudly. " My teacher 
 gave me this," she said, " and it says something." I 
 took it, listened and confessed I could not hear what it 
 said. "I guess I'll have to tell you," she said. "It 
 says, ' Be like merry sunshine ' ; that's what it says. 
 You put it in a vase and fresh water every day and in 
 the morning when you look at it, it nods its head like 
 this and says, ' Be like merry sunshine,' and then you 
 mustn't be cross once all day. When Jesus was a little 
 boy he was like merry sunshine all the time." 
 
 Yes, I could see the nodding head now and as I looked 
 out came the words. I am sure that little tot was a 
 better child because of what the daffodil taught her. She 
 
 [32] 
 
IMAGINATION 
 
 knew what the " white, white Hly " said, too. Her 
 teacher was wise. Birds and flowers can talk ; it is only 
 that we cannot understand. 
 
 The singing angel chorus, the shepherds, the tiny baby 
 in the manger on that first glad Christmas night, how 
 real they are in those early years ! So firmly fixed by 
 the power of imagination are they that all the after years 
 cannot quite wear out the glow as we remember. 
 
 The power of young children to make real and living 
 the facts given them offers a splendid opportunity to the 
 wise teacher to make vivid the Bible stories so full of 
 imagery. Have you ever heard a five or six-year-old 
 repeat the story of the baby Moses after it had been well 
 told ? Nothing can be more real. Your own imagina- 
 tion must be dead if you do not see a real live baby in a 
 basket, " about as big as that." Pictures help so much 
 and it is so necessary that they be true conceptions. 
 Sometimes I think that the teacher of young children 
 needs, more than anything else, the ability to tell a story 
 and the sympathy which will keep her from telling that 
 which is horrible or shocking to a child. 
 
 But how about our ten and twelve-year-olds ? Now 
 fancy begins to give place to fact. Yet this is the time 
 for constructive imagination to act as a powerful aid, 
 though the basis is changed. Nowhere in all the world 
 can one get something out of nothing. We sometimes 
 think that the imagination creates, but it does not. In 
 all spheres of knowledge and life there is but one Crea- 
 tor. Imagination builds up " images " and makes real 
 something which has come from the material within the 
 mind. Take an Indian, for example, who has never 
 seen a house of any sort. He has lived in a wigwam in 
 the wilds of the forest. He cannot imagine a modern 
 house. There is nothing on which the imagination can 
 build. But let him once see a house, even though it be 
 
 [33] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 poor and mean ; he then has a basis, and though he 
 cannot get a clear image of the modern house in all its 
 detail he can get some conception of it. One can help 
 him imagine a larger house, more rooms, more windows, 
 better furniture. In the revelation of St. John the 
 apostle creates no new thing. He has streets^ but of 
 gold, a river of crystal, gates of pearl, a tree of life. St. 
 John has used the only terms he knew, but by making 
 the streets of gold and the gates of precious pearl, he 
 has tried to picture the beauty, the grandeur, the wonder 
 of heaven. 
 
 To me this is a fact of tremendous significance — 
 first to me as teacher, and then to my pupils because of 
 my teaching. Unless I have in my own mind because 
 of reading, study, pictures, travel or conversation with 
 travelers, some idea of Eastern dwellings, cities and 
 customs, it is impossible for me to imagine the story 
 of " The Lost Coin," " The Prodigal Son," " The Lost 
 Sheep." And unless to me these scenes are clear and 
 real through the power of my imagination which is based 
 upon the material already in my mind, I cannot help to 
 make it clear to my children. More than that, unless 
 through pictures of Oriental scenes or vivid word pic- 
 tures I have given my child something with which to 
 construct in his imagination the scene I am describing, 
 it cannot be real to him. It is because I realize the 
 great importance of these facts that I urge Sunday-school 
 teachers with all earnestness to know, in a simple way, 
 history at the time of Christ and during the early cen- 
 turies after his resurrection. When I prepare to tell the 
 Christmas story to Junior or Intermediate grades I 
 review and have clearly in my mind the picture of the 
 world at that time, Rome's power, commercial conditions, 
 life and customs in Palestine. Not that I wish to tell 
 it all to them, but that it may be clear and real in my 
 
 L34] 
 
IMAGINATION 
 
 own mind. One year I drew on manila paper a great 
 Roman soldier in armor, put up the picture of a heathen 
 temple in Greece, let the scholars name the gods that 
 were worshiped and tried to make them see the vast 
 power of mighty Rome. Then I pictured the little inn 
 of Bethlehem, and the baby, who, though the Roman 
 world did not even know of his coming, was one day to 
 be acknowledged Lord of the greatest nations of the 
 earth when Rome and Greece were dead. I did not 
 dwell in this grade upon the sweetness of the mother 
 or the weakness of the little one. Why ? Because I 
 wanted them to see more in the Christ-child than they 
 did in the kindergarten or primary and I must provide 
 their imagination with larger things on which to build. 
 If I have a class of adults I must make the advent of 
 that child mean still more if I am to help the imagination 
 conceive the larger and larger Christ. Do we not fail 
 in much of our teaching because we give to the sixteen- 
 year-old the same Moses, David and Christ which we 
 gave to the child ? Please discuss in the class. Let us 
 remember we can no more " cultivate " imagination 
 until seeds are sown in the memory than we can culti- 
 vate flowers without seed in the soil, but having the seed 
 sown, by the practise of imaging to ourselves what we 
 read and hear, by telling stories orally, by writing brief 
 descriptions of places, cultivation is possible. Nothing 
 could be more helpful to a training-class than a Bible 
 story told by one member at each meeting to the rest of 
 the class, not being at all afraid of giving and receiving 
 helpful criticism. The only way to gain more imagina- 
 tion is to use what we have. 
 
 An Aid to Sympathy 
 
 The unimaginative person may be emotional but he 
 cannot be really sympathetic. None of us enjoy or 
 
 [35] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 suffer in exactly the same way, yet our joys and sorrows 
 have something in common and the imagination can help 
 one put himself in another's place. It is through the 
 imagination that it is possible to put ourselves upon the 
 plane of the child and sympathizing with him see things 
 as he does and understand in his way. It is through 
 the imagination of the child that he can be made to 
 sympathize with the poor and unfortunate. One should 
 never be cruel nor in any way shock the child to arouse 
 sympathy by appealing to imagination, but if done wisely 
 much of the unkindness of children toward others who 
 are unfortunate can be checked. I have found such an 
 appeal to sympathy a great blessing again and again when 
 made for those children who suffer so keenly because 
 others " make fun of them." 
 
 It Furnishes an Ideal 
 
 But perhaps the greatest service which the imagination 
 renders in the training of children lies in its power to fur- 
 nish an ideal. The ideals of children, those they " want 
 to be like," differ widely. Age, environment and tempera- 
 ment make a great difference. For about four years I 
 collected a most interesting series of papers from public 
 school children written under the subject, "When I grow 
 
 up I want most to be like because " . I wish 
 
 you might read these papers for yourselves. There were 
 boys who wanted to be a certain motorman, the driver of 
 the watering-cart, a certain grocer (because he has three 
 horses and a big trade), a certain physician (he drives a 
 fast horse and once he made forty calls in one day), 
 John Paul Jones, Lincoln, my uncle who was killed in 
 the War, President Roosevelt, etc. ; girls who wanted 
 to be like their mothers, teachers, characters in books, 
 a certain milliner, a nurse, etc. In all the papers I col- 
 lected, three girls in their teens wanted most to be like 
 
 [36] 
 
IMAGINATION 
 
 Christ. I wonder if it was an indication of anything in 
 our teaching. I am inclined to think it was and would 
 like to urge the presentation to our boys and girls, from 
 nine to sixteen especially, a stronger Christ, that he may 
 represent the things out of which they may build up an 
 ideal greater even than all the other great and helpful 
 ideals of the various age periods. Please discuss in the 
 training-class. It is of tremendous importance. Ask 
 your pastor to talk it over with you if I am not clear. 
 If we can so present Christ that he shall grow larger, 
 more of a friend, more wonderful and inspiring, the ex- 
 ponent of the loftiest principles in the world, with each 
 succeeding year we shall have done much to insure 
 obedience to his commands and desire to follow his 
 example. 
 
 A Thought for the Week 
 
 I had often imagined the sea, but the sea was more 
 than I imagined, and it satisfied. I had often dreamed 
 of the mountains, but the mountains were more than I 
 dreamed; they satisfied. Men have imagined the Christ, 
 summing up in him the best conceptions of human brain 
 and heart, but the Christ is greater than the imagination 
 makes him, and when seen he will satisfy. 
 
 FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. How has imagination influenced the history of the 
 world ? 
 
 2. What evils lie in over-stimulated imagination ? 
 
 3. What may result from crushing the imagination ? 
 
 4. Have you observed any connection between imagina- 
 tion and children* s lies ? Illustrate. What have you done 
 about it ? 
 
 5. Give suggestions as to how in Sunday-school we may 
 appeal to the imagination of young children. 
 
 [37] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 6. Give suggestions for teachers of children from ten to 
 twelve. 
 
 7. What is meant by ** constructive imagination " ? 
 
 8. Why is it of great service to the teacher? 
 
 9. **A11 Sunday-school teachers should be familiar with 
 secular history at the time of Christ and during early centuries 
 after the resurrection." Do you believe this ? Give reasons. 
 
 10. How does imagination aid sympathy? Illustrate. 
 
 11. How does imagination furnish ideals? Illustrate. 
 
 12. How may a teacher use these facts in presenting Christ 
 to children ? 
 
 13. Can imagination be culdvated ? How? 
 
 1 4. Is it worth while ? Give reason for answer. 
 
 15. Give the thought for the week in your own words. 
 
 PAGES TO BE REPORTED IN CLASS 
 
 Psychology in the Schoolroom, pp. 140-147. 
 History of Christianity, pp. 57-86. 
 Kemp's History, pp. 54-65. 
 
 [38] 
 
REASON 
 
 Have you ever thought what it means to think ? It 
 means the action and reaction of the most delicate, in- 
 volved and perfect instrument in the world — the human 
 brain. It means the difference between animal and man. 
 It means civilization and progress. Yes, it means hope, 
 faith, love and God. 
 
 What a pleasure it would be to talk together for our 
 lesson this week about the development of thought from 
 the days of the childhood of the race until to-day ! But 
 we must not. Our subject is, however, closely related 
 to it, for we are to talk about reason. 
 
 Reason is the highest step in the progress of thought 
 and is the last topic we shall discuss under what we have 
 called the pathway Knowledge. 
 
 Conception 
 
 The first step in reasoning is conception^ and to an- 
 alyze and understand the involved process of conception 
 is a difficult task. We shall consider It in a very simple 
 way. First, one must know the meaning of a much 
 used word which sometimes seems mysterious but is 
 not, — the word " concept." A concept Is a class idea. At 
 first I may have the single idea " orange," which is a 
 percept. I have gained the idea " orange " through sen- 
 sation and perception. I know It is round, yellow, has 
 skin, etc. I get the idea "apple" in the same way. 
 
 [39] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 Banana, plum and peach follow. Then I begin to put 
 all these single ideas together and I get the general idea, 
 " fruit." Fruit is a general or class thought, and I say 
 I have the " concept, " fruit. 
 
 The ability to think the single idea, or individual, 
 " orange," '■' pear," " plum " and " apple " into a class 
 which I call " fruit," is the power of conception. In the 
 same way I think corn, rye, oats and barley into a class 
 and have the concept, " grain." In order to reason one 
 must first have clear concepts, and good power of con- 
 ception. 
 
 Judgment 
 
 When we have two concepts we compare them and 
 decide for ourselves whether they agree or disagree. We 
 have the percept " cat," and the concept " animal." 
 We compare and give our judgment, " The cat is an 
 animal." We have the percept " eel " and the concept 
 " fish," and we say the eel is a fish. In order to reach 
 right judgments we must have clear ideas of the things 
 to be compared. Thus we must have a clear percept 
 "eel" and a clear concept "fish," else the judgment we 
 reach may be wrong. A child says an " eel is a water 
 snake, a whale is a fish, a spider is a bug." The child 
 is continually giving incorrect judgments, because of the 
 lack of clear concepts and the haste with which he makes 
 conclusions. In this we all err with him. The lack of 
 clear concepts, undue haste and the bias of feeling weaken 
 all judgments. Perhaps the greatest enemy to ability to 
 give sane, wise judgment comes from the ease with which 
 we appropriate the judgment of others to save the trouble 
 of thinking. We must strive constantly not to allow 
 children to do this. 
 
 In school last week a bright boy of twelve said in class 
 recitation, " It says on page sixty in the history that 
 
 [40] 
 
REASON 
 
 Charles I made promises which he never kept, cheated, 
 and lied to both his friends and enemies ; and then in 
 the next paragraph it says that Charles was always a 
 gentleman no matter what happened. Please tell me 
 how he could be? " To test him I said, " His manners 
 were perfect, he never forgot to be polite, he was very 
 courteous to women and children." " Well," protested 
 the boy, " he lied and cheated and I don't see how any- 
 body could be a gentleman and do that." I wish you 
 might have heard the twenty-four in the class discuss it. 
 What was responsible for this boy's judgment, " Charles 
 was not a gentleman even if the book says so " ? 
 
 Reason 
 
 k.% judgment is the result of the conclusions reached 
 by the comparison of concepts, reason is the result of 
 conclusions reached by the comparison and analysis of 
 judgments. The purpose of the book forbids entrance 
 into discussions of the process of reasoning which might 
 easily plunge us into the depths of logic where those who 
 know most of these matters are still seeking conclusions 
 upon which they can agree. In our simple treatment or 
 the subject this is what we wish to avoid. 
 
 Most of our reasons are reached and lessons taught 
 through one of two processes or by both combined. 
 These processes are known as induction and deduction. 
 Using the inductive method I teach : — Jacob sinned ; he 
 repented ; God forgave him. David sinned, repented 
 and God forgave him. Elijah sinned, repented and God 
 forgave him, therefore the conclusion, " If a man sin 
 and repent, God will forgive him." By the deductive 
 method I teach, " If a man sin and repent, God will for- 
 give him." Jacob sinned and repented ; God forgave 
 him. David sinned and repented; God forgave him, 
 etc. 
 
 [41] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 In the first case I start with the particular truth, 
 " Jacob sinned, repented, and God forgave him," and 
 reach up to the general truth, " If a man sin and re- 
 pent, God will forgive him." In the second case I 
 start with the general truth and then proceed to par- 
 ticular instances. 
 
 Watch yourself this month in the preparation of your 
 essons and see which method you use. 
 
 The fact is that neither method alone is sufficient 
 for good teaching. There must be a combination of 
 both. First, leading step by step from the particular in- 
 stance to the general truth ; then enforcing, impressing 
 and testing that general truth through particular instances. 
 
 We also reason by analogy. We find two things 
 which resemble each other. A certain thing is true of 
 one, therefore we conclude it is true of the other. 
 " What man is there of you," said Christ, " who, if his 
 son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone ; or 
 if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent ? If 
 ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto 
 your children, how much more shall your Father who is 
 in heaven give good things to them that ask him ? " 
 
 In the next chapter we shall attempt to see how 
 effective teaching by analogy can be made, and what 
 a great aid it must prove in reaching sane conclusions 
 in the reasoning process. 
 
 A Warning 
 
 We must remember that reason is the product of 
 years of growth and training. The mistake is often 
 made of attempting to force children to see reasons at 
 an age far too early. The early years are for gathering 
 material and storing the memory that when the right 
 time comes there shall be something in the mind upon 
 which to base reason. 
 
 [42] 
 
REASON 
 
 The Reasoning Period 
 
 When a child reaches the age of fifteen the reason Is 
 active. It will grow more and more active during the 
 next five years. The " why '* of mere curiosity has 
 been exchanged for the " why " of reason, and if pos- 
 sible we must satisfy it. Such a new and marvelous 
 world is now opening before them ! Every day new 
 phases of life reveal themselves, and to thinking young 
 people there are multitudes of new and vital questions 
 to be solved. Some children seem to accept It all with- 
 out a question, saying nothing, apparently thinking little, 
 but with the majority it is not so. During the later 
 years of this period there seems to be, with a great 
 number of young people, a tendency to turn away from 
 the first glad acceptance of religious truth toward a so- 
 called " doubt." It Is of these young people I wish 
 especially to speak. I do not believe one should lead 
 them to express their doubts, but when they do, may 
 God give us the wisdom we need more than at any 
 other time in our work. The phrase " I don't believe " 
 more often means, " I cannot understand," and I know 
 from experience that It is possible to make them feel 
 that it is the inability to understand which leaves them 
 so perplexed. 
 
 They are not wicked doubters, these questioning young 
 people of ours. They are striving to reason out answers. 
 The only person who never questions is the one who 
 never thinks. I have had girls and boys in their later 
 teens tell me that they " don't believe in anything, not 
 even that there is a God." " If there Is," they say, 
 " why does he let such things happen ? " Well, I have 
 met that question and answered It for myself; all I can 
 do is to give them my answer. I have found that. If 
 wisely treated, they almost always return to a larger and 
 better faith when the period of doubt Is over. It can be 
 
 [43] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 made a short period for many of them, if we can lead 
 them to see the marvelous power of Almighty God whom 
 they question. How impossible it is for the human mind 
 to understand the great problems they are attempting to 
 solve, and yet the mind must ever seek to solve them. 
 
 The main thing it seems to me is to rob doubt of its 
 heroic element by not treating it as wicked. Then we 
 can help them as best we may to reach conclusions 
 which shall in a measure satisfy. Let us remember 
 that the best and highest reasoning never leads to final 
 disbelief. The reason seeks the positive always rather 
 than the negative. Personally, I am not as anxious about 
 these young people as I am about those who say, " There 
 is a God ; all you teach is true," and then live as if there 
 were no God and none of it were true. 
 
 I have talked with you about this particular " why " of 
 the later adolescent period because I believe that one 
 explanation of our loss of pupils of this age is owing to 
 the fact that the mind craves reasons and many teachers 
 are afraid to face the questions either in attempt to answer 
 or in acknowledgment that the human mind cannot as 
 yet solve the problem. Subjects brought up in class, in 
 which all the members are vitally interested, are often 
 set aside for those about which they care nothing. 
 
 A Thought for the Week 
 
 Faith is greater than Reason, and Love is greater 
 than either. Where Reason fails, Faith and Love may 
 succeed. So let us be sure that our teaching springs 
 from a great love and a genuine faith. 
 
 FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1 . What is the first step in reasoning ? 
 
 2. What is a concept ? Illustrate. 
 
 3. What was the Hebrew concept *' God" in earliest times? 
 
 [44] 
 
REASON 
 
 4. How did it change during various periods ? How does 
 our concept differ from theirs ? 
 
 5. I heard a teacher say, **That boy has no conception 
 of honesty or honor." What did she mean? What can she 
 do for him ? 
 
 6. What is conception ? 
 
 7. How is judgment reached? 
 
 8. Give causes of incorrect judgments. Illustrate. 
 
 9. Are parents in any way responsible for conclusions 
 reached by children about lying, swearing, cheating, etc. ? Give 
 reason for answer. Are teachers in any way responsible ? 
 
 10. By what methods do we reason ? Give illustrations of 
 each. 
 
 11. What difference does the age of the pupil make in the 
 power of conception ? Judgment ? Reasoning ? 
 
 12. How should these facts influence teaching? 
 
 13. How should we treat the honest questioning of the 
 adolescent period ? 
 
 14. Read the last paragraph under '* The Reasoning Period." 
 Do you believe it ? Give reasons for answer. 
 
 15. Give thought for the week in your own words. 
 
 PAGES TO BE REPORTED IN CLASS 
 
 Psychology in the Schoolroom, pp. 153-180. Special attention 
 to pp. 155-159, 166, 167, 169, 170. Induction and Deduction, 
 PP- 174, i75» 178.^ 
 
 History of Christianity, pp. 11 7-1 40. 
 
 Kemp's History, pp. 258-274. 
 
 James' Talks to Teachers, chapter XIII. 
 
 [45] 
 
VI 
 ANALOGY 
 
 One winter night I hurried around the corner through 
 the drifting snow into the chapel where the warmth and 
 light, the flowers and pretty dresses made a most inter- 
 esting contrast to the cold and darkness outside. It was 
 a monthly social and after an hour of conversation and 
 refreshment there was an entertainment to which I failed 
 to listen except now and then, though it was a good one. 
 I did not listen because I had learned a lesson in psy- 
 chology that evening in a new and forceful way and I 
 could not resist thinking about it. 
 
 I had noticed as the different people entered the room 
 how each hesitated a moment on the threshold and 
 looked about him. Perhaps he nodded to one or an- 
 other, then entering sought some interesting group, 
 joined it and in a few moments became a part of it, 
 sharing its laughter and fun. Some of the groups were 
 large, others of two or three. Some stood about in the 
 center of the room and others took chairs and withdrew 
 to a corner. Here and there were the " wanderers " 
 drifting about from group to group, spending a few 
 moments with each. But I was especially interested 
 in a man who came in alone, hesitated quite a long 
 time at the open door, walked about, put his hands in 
 his pockets and stood quietly observing it all. When 
 I thought of him again half an hour later he was pass- 
 ing through the hall and went out the side door. My 
 lesson began. 
 
 [46] 
 
ANALOGY 
 
 The room was no longer a room but the human brain 
 with its mystical " grayish matter and cells " of which 
 we speak so easily that we forget the marvel of it all. 
 And the people were no longer people, but Ideas hesi- 
 tating at the threshold. I saw each new arrival from 
 the world without entering the brain. Here was an Idea 
 coming alone, waiting a moment, then joining quickly 
 and easily the group in the center, soon to become a 
 part of it. I saw another Idea join itself to a small 
 group in the farthest corner and a third wandering about 
 associating with first one and then another of the central 
 groups. Yes, and I saw a fourth enter, stop a moment 
 beside the various groups, hurrying on each time, until 
 when I looked for it, lo, it had gone through some side 
 door. It was this last Idea in which I was most inter- 
 ested. Why had it gone ? For the very same reason 
 that the man left the chapel. It found no group in 
 which it belonged, no associates, nothing to which it 
 might attach itself. There seemed to be no place for 
 it and it went out. 
 
 As I thought about it I seemed to see as a new reve- 
 lation the old law of " Association of Ideas " with which 
 I had been so long familiar, — an explanation of the 
 reason why children seeming to know, and even able 
 to repeat certain facts in history, geography or Bible 
 study, knew nothing about them two days later. The 
 fact had gone, the knowledge poured in had vanished, 
 largely because it was unconnected, isolated material 
 unable to find any group with which to associate itself. 
 If this be true what must I do ? The answer is plain, 
 — attempt to teach in such a way that the new Idea 
 which I present shall be associated with some Idea 
 already in the mind, that when it enters it may find a 
 group of kindred Ideas ready to welcome it. This was 
 clear. Now that little word so mighty that it often 
 
 [47] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 thwarts our best theories challenged me — " how " can 
 it be done ? I then began to study with new eagerness 
 a path over which Ideas seem to travel easily and when 
 they enter the mind to be welcomed and kept. The 
 name of the path is 
 
 Analogy 
 
 Truth is abstract but comes to us through the concrete 
 largely. In order to make the abstract plain, to make it 
 come within our pupils' comprehension and become a 
 part of their store of knowledge we must be able to 
 make them note comparisons and see relations. Speak- 
 ing broadly, this " seeing relations " is analogy. The 
 word analogous comes to us from the Greek and means 
 " having certain attributes In common," " bearing re- 
 semblances," " like," so that in using the pathway 
 Analogy, I am really saying, "This new Idea, un- 
 familiar, strange, is like this common every-day expe- 
 rience with which you are familiar." 
 
 How perfectly Christ did this ! He was talking with 
 shepherds. The rocky slopes, the thorns, the sheepfold 
 with its ninety and nine, the missing one, the joy of 
 friends when the shepherd after weary hours of searching 
 returned bearing the lost one on his shoulders, were all 
 familiar. They made a well-defined group of associated 
 Ideas. Into this group Christ introduces the new Idea, 
 " As the friends of the shepherd rejoice with great joy 
 over the finding of the sheep, so the angels of heaven 
 rejoice over one sinner that repents." 
 
 And again using the same group of Ideas in the mind, 
 adding to knowledge already gained new knowledge closely 
 associated with it, he teaches, " I am a Shepherd, a good 
 Shepherd, I know my sheep, they hear my voice and follow 
 me." I doubt if a single shepherd in his audience failed 
 to understand the lessons or ever quite forgot them. 
 
 [48] 
 
ANALOGY 
 
 One day he walked through a vineyard. It was in 
 good condition, the vines trimmed and pruned ; here and 
 there were large clusters of grapes, and he taught his 
 disciples, — I am like the vine, you are like the branches. 
 The branch separated from the vine is useless; it can 
 never bear fruit ; it is thrown into the fire and burned. 
 Neither can you do anything apart from me ; you must 
 abide in me if you would live and bring forth fruit. A 
 simple, natural, powerful lesson. I am sure that scores 
 of times in after years as the disciples passed the ripened 
 clusters in the vineyard his words came back to them. 
 
 There is nothing in all that has been written on 
 pedagogy which so moves one and spurs him on to better 
 effort as the reading and rereading of these lessons 
 taught by the Great Teacher. 
 
 Jesus appreciated the knowledge his pupils possessed ; 
 he made use of what they already had, as a basis for the 
 analogy by which he taught the new thing. Let us recall 
 what we learned in our first lesson, that we must know 
 the child, his mental and moral standards and his envi- 
 ronment in order to be able to appreciate the amount of 
 knowledge he possesses. Then we can begin our search 
 for analogies which can make clear to him new truth. 
 They lie all about us ; we need only to thoughtfully 
 look for them. 
 
 A while ago I heard a young man teach a class of 
 eleven-year-old boys what I call a fine lesson. The 
 faces of the boys were eager and interested. The golden 
 text was, " No man can serve two masters." The 
 young man said: "When I was going down Main 
 Street I saw a dog trotting along with a paper in his 
 mouth. Behind walked his owner, a boy about twelve 
 years old whose name was Frank. Across the street 
 was another fellow, about fifteen, shuffling along the 
 sidewalk. He espied the dog and gave a quick, sharp 
 
 [49] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 whistle. The dog pricked up his ears. In a moment 
 he started across and reached the middle of the street, 
 when Frank saw what he was doing and whistled. The 
 dog started back. The boy across the street gave an- 
 other whistle, held up something in his hand, and called, 
 ' Come here, sir.' The dog started toward him, he 
 heard Frank whistle again and started back. For a few 
 seconds everybody on the street looked and laughed. I 
 wish you might have seen that dog race toward one and 
 then toward the other. He did not know what to do 
 nor which way to go. He couldn't follow both ; he had 
 to choose between them. At last a decided whistle and 
 a loud command from Frank brought him back, and he 
 trotted along slowly behind his master down the street. 
 I tell you there are times when we fellows get into about 
 the place of that small dog. I have been there a good 
 many times. I know a boy who was in that place less 
 than a week ago." 
 
 Then followed two clear, brief illustrations right out 
 of a boy's experience, with the right and wrong pulling 
 hard, striving for mastery. A few clear questions and 
 the lesson went on to a fine climax. The interest 
 never flagged. When the teacher finished that lesson 
 and they repeated the golden text, it meant something. 
 The analogy used in the lesson was homely, but it 
 made them see the truth. 
 
 Dangers 
 
 In teaching by analogy one must use care as with any 
 good thing. The analogy must be clear. It must be 
 simple and brief. If one has to explain and to stretch 
 a point to make an analogy he would far better drop 
 it. If obliged to use a new word, it must be taught 
 first. The limited vocabulary of a child often ruins the 
 effect of what would otherwise be good analogy. When 
 
 [50] 
 
ANALOGY 
 
 wisely used, analogy is, in my opinion, the surest and 
 most effective path over which the teacher can send new 
 thoughts to the mind of his pupil. 
 
 A Thought for the Week 
 
 Jesus did not always find his analogies in the writings 
 of the scribes or in the scrolls in the temple. He found 
 them in life. That is why they counted. From the 
 nature world and the world of men and women he drew 
 his lessons. We must learn to do it too, if we want 
 to teach effectively. There are 
 
 *' tongues in trees, books in the running brooks. 
 Sermons in stones, and good in everything/' 
 
 God help us find it that we may give it. 
 
 FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. What is the relation between analogy and the law ** pro- 
 ceed from the known to the unknown " f 
 
 2. What is the relation between analogy and the phrase *' a 
 point of contact " ? 
 
 3. What is meant by ** association of ideas " ? 
 
 4. Give reasons why much that is told children is forgotten 
 so easily. 
 
 5. What is the meaning of the word '* analogy " ? 
 
 6. Look through the Gospels and find analogies used by 
 Christ. 
 
 7. What must one avoid in teaching by analogy? 
 
 8. Study the given words, searching for analogies which 
 they suggest. Outline briefly lessons to be taught by means of 
 the analogy. A watch, how is it like a boy ? A camera, 
 how about focus, film and shutter ? A candle ; a lantern ; a 
 lighthouse ; a ruler ; a mirror ; a telephone ; a mountain ; 
 a spring ; a railroad ; a wreck ; a sword ; a soldier ; snow ; rain ; 
 
 [51] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 a flood ; a fire ; a diamond ; gold ; coal. Make a list of your 
 own. 
 
 9. Give the thought for the week in your own words. 
 
 PAGES TO BE REPORTED IN CLASS 
 
 Psychology in the Schoolroom, pp. 179, 119-133. 
 
 History of Christianity, pp. 86-117. 
 
 Kemp's History, pp. 33, 53. 
 
 See James' Talks to Teachers, chapter IX. 
 
 [52] 
 
VII 
 ATTENTION 
 
 One summer afternoon a young man sat under the 
 pines on a sloping hillside thinking deeply. Two hours 
 passed and suddenly he raised his eyes to the distant 
 mountains, and said, " I will." That " I will " sent 
 him to an island in the southern Pacific to spend his life 
 with a degraded, barbarous race, whose eyes he slowly 
 opened until they saw their Creator and worshiped him. 
 
 Across the river sat another young man on a bench 
 in a green and beautiful park. He seemed to be think- 
 ing earnestly. Suddenly he said aloud, " After all, I 
 will," and sauntered off to join companions who had in- 
 vited him to a game in the corner club-room. That 
 "I will" cost him in the end home and friends, and 
 sent him to a prison cell, — a thief. 
 
 What a tremendous power it is which makes possible 
 decision and resolution ! One trembles in the presence 
 of such a power as he realizes the consequences which 
 may follow the " I will " which, of all creation, only 
 man can say. 
 
 As we consider and try to analyze in our next few 
 talks the pathway Will, we must remember that the 
 deliberate " I will " is the basis of man's character, and 
 the " I will " of the crises in life is being made by the 
 " I will " of each day. You will remember that the 
 pathway Willing includes all the operations of the mind 
 leading to action, — Attention, the Will, and Habit 
 
 [53] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 being the special things we shall consider. The power 
 to gain and hold attention is the one great desire of 
 every teacher, for without it he cannot really teach. 
 
 The other day when the sun was pouring light and 
 heat upon the sandy playground, one of the boys took a 
 burning-glass and held it over his straw hat. When he 
 removed it the place was badly scorched. He asked, 
 " Why," and was much interested in the explanation. 
 Attention is very much like that burning-glass ; it 
 gathers up and centralizes and brings to focus upon one 
 thing all the mind power. Attention is not a distinct 
 faculty, but rather a state of the mind. 
 
 Two Kinds of Attention 
 
 We shall talk over attention of two kinds. Involun- 
 tary — without the will, and Voluntary — with the will. 
 Involuntary attention belongs to the feelings, as we saw 
 in our study of curiosity and interest. Voluntary atten- 
 tion belongs to the will and is gained through continued 
 effort. A street piano playing outside as I write may 
 claim my involuntary attention but through voluntary 
 effort I bring my mind back to my work and the piano 
 is soon forgotten. In involuntary attention the stimulus 
 comes from the outside. Some people never get away 
 from this sort of attention. The mind yields itself to 
 one thing after another all day, flitting from this to that 
 as a bee does from flower to flower. Genuine attention 
 for long periods is impossible for such people. In vol- 
 untary attention the stimulus comes from within ; it is 
 conscious effort. 
 
 The teacher in the primary grade seeks and gains 
 involuntary attention. He must depend upon curiosity 
 and interest to stimulate it. In all grades we must depend 
 more or less upon interest, for while the will may bring 
 the mind and the subject together, attention cannot be 
 
 [54] 
 
ATTENTION 
 
 given for a long period unless there is some element of 
 interest and a basis for association. 
 
 To please me a child may make a great effort to pay 
 attention, but if interest be lacking it can be given only 
 for a short time. Every teacher of experience knows 
 how futile is the hope of gaining anything but the most 
 fleeting attention by rapping on the desk, ringing a bell 
 or shouting, " Attention." He also learns through ex- 
 perience that a class may sit perfectly still, with eyes 
 riveted upon his face, and minds busily engaged upon 
 some interesting subject far removed from the one he is 
 presenting. A keen teacher learns to recognize this 
 look of seeming attention. 
 
 Involuntary attention depends almost wholly upon the 
 teacher. If he has imagination, can tell stories well, has 
 a good voice and winning manner, can adapt his material 
 to the age and mental equipment of his class, he will be 
 able to successfully hold attention for longer or shorter 
 periods. 
 
 The Center of Attraction 
 
 A thousand things are continually knocking at the 
 door asking our attention. A ride on a railroad-train 
 well illustrates this. Gorgeous maples, yellow birches 
 against dark pines, goldenrod, a blue lake here and there, 
 towns large and small, bill-boards which will be looked 
 at, the calling of the stations, boys selling papers, and 
 surrounding passengers, how they swarm about us de- 
 manding our attention ! Yet it is possible to read or 
 write in the train and be wholly oblivious to all of it, if 
 the book or the letter is a greater attraction. The teacher 
 who wins the involuntary attention of his class must be 
 a greater attraction than anything else.which is clamoring 
 for attention. He must be the center, and by changes 
 of attitude, of voice, by illustration, by story, he must 
 [55] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 keep the center. Noticing inattention when using the 
 voice I naturally use in teaching, I have often lowered it 
 suddenly, almost to a whisper, and regained attention 
 instantly. If sitting, I have stood, or stepped to the 
 board to draw some illustration, and so brought back 
 wandering eyes and thoughts. Some teachers do this 
 naturally and unconsciously, and others have to learn 
 through experience to do it. 
 
 To Gain Voluntary Attention 
 
 Although we could never teach without involuntary 
 attention, no teacher is satisfied with that alone. He 
 must work constantly toward the attention which is 
 given voluntarily despite other attractions. This atten- 
 tion some teachers seem unable to gain. Their Sunday- 
 school hour is filled by a series of stories, pictures, maps^ 
 symbols, etc., which attract artention to themselves, but 
 do not give opportunity for real teaching. One has a 
 right to expect voluntary attention from the average 
 nine or ten-year-old for short periods. At twelve, chil- 
 dren ought to be able to give strict attention for twenty 
 minutes if the teacher has thoughtfully prepared the les- 
 son with his special class in view. If he is sure there is 
 plenty of fresh air, and disturbances such as loud talking, 
 continual moving about, passing of books and papers are 
 removed, the attention will be much more intense and a 
 greater impression can be made. 
 
 This done, we may strive to inspire our children to 
 pay attention because they should. The desire to win 
 the teacher's approval is a great incentive to many chil- 
 dren. If the teacher expresses pleasure at efforts made, 
 it is a help in gaining further effort. A wide-awake, 
 ambitious child may be encouraged to give attention that 
 he may make a higher class, or use a more difficult book, 
 if health and age permit. I once had an entire class in 
 
 [56] 
 
ATTENTION 
 
 Sunday-school work for three months giving splendid 
 attention and studying at home that they might use the 
 same quarterly as the oldest class. The last Sunday in 
 June I named two classes in the Sunday-school not one 
 of whose members has been spoken to for inattention 
 since January ist. The fact was written in the secre- 
 tary's book, and they have determined to make the 
 record for a year. If a child at the age when voluntary 
 attention is to be expected, can be led to see that it is a 
 great thing to make himself give attention, it helps, espe- 
 cially with boys. I explained one day to a class of school 
 children that it was more difficult and worth far more 
 to be able to make yourself study when you wanted to 
 listen to another class than to be able to perform on 
 the trapeze. " It is hard to make the muscles of your 
 body obey, and harder to make your mind muscles obey. 
 Some children have to look up when a person enters," 
 I said, " and have to keep on looking until he leaves the 
 room ; they can't help it. Other children are strong ; 
 they just glance up and go right to work again. Once 
 in a great while some one is strong enough to hear a 
 door open and not even look up, but that is hard, and 
 only a few can do it." A few mornings later the super- 
 intendent entered and talked with me at my desk ; I was 
 amused at the conscious effort put forth to glance up 
 and go right back to work again. When the superin- 
 tendent left, an eleven-year-old boy, with a look of pride 
 on his face raised his hand and said, " Please tell me if 
 you saw me not look up ? I read every minute you 
 were talking." I praised him gladly. Children make 
 it a matter of pride not to listen when recitation is going 
 on in another class, and little by little they gain power to 
 pay attention. 
 
 Fear of punishment also makes some children give 
 attention. This is the very lowest motive to which one 
 
 [57] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 can appeal, and I am always ashamed if I have to do it. 
 Young children should never be punished for not paying 
 attention, but the older ones, especially the lazy, are 
 spurred on to effort oftentimes by such punishment as a 
 wise teacher can give. The punishment must always fit 
 the offense, and depend upon the disposition of the child 
 who is to receive it. If it will help the child in his de- 
 velopment the teacher must not hesitate. The matter 
 of disposition often explains inattention. At one time 
 I had in my room a boy of twelve who was the most 
 inattentive child I have ever met. It was not the inatten- 
 tion of a weak, nervous child but seemed to be wilful. I 
 tried to interest him without avail. He said he hated 
 geography, didn't like arithmetic, and finally I said, 
 "Well, my boy, what do you like; what would you do 
 all day, if allowed to do just as you please ? " I have 
 never forgotten his reply. " I don't like jogaphy and all 
 the other studies except painting, and I don't like ter 
 come to school." Then in a defiant tone he added, 
 ♦■' I don't care for nuthin'." He was mistaken. When 
 we reached the period of knights and lords and castles, 
 and the Crusades he couldn't resist and was interested in 
 spite of himself. He could draw pretty well and was 
 chosen to illustrate a book written by the children on 
 " Knights of Olden Times." He was exceedingly proud 
 of this. Later he was appointed " Inspector of Desks," 
 and these offices won him completely. His interest and 
 power of attention grew rapidly and I was rejoiced. 
 Occasionally I have met just this type in Sunday-school. 
 It takes patience to win them. 
 
 It does not really matter by which of the legitimate 
 ways one wins attention and develops the power. The 
 point is to focus the faculties upon the thing to be 
 taught until, with young children through interest and 
 curiosity, and with older ones through interest and effort, 
 
 [58] 
 
ATTENTION 
 
 the end Is accomplished and the child grows Into a habit 
 of attention — this Important habit which will enable us 
 to sow deeply the thoughts which will lead him on to 
 higher and truer living. 
 
 The Teacher's Attention 
 
 Careful observation of teachers at their work has con- 
 vinced me that many teachers have not the power of 
 attention themselves. I have seen teachers In Sunday- 
 school conducting the lesson with one eye on the class 
 and the other watching visitors, officers, other classes, 
 or the clock. Such teachers cannot hold the attention 
 of the class. I recall now a teacher with many good 
 qualities. She was pretty and winning In manner, but 
 she wasted nearly half the period getting ready to teach. 
 It took her a long time to take ofF her gloves. She 
 failed to hold her class because she was continually bor- 
 rowing during the ,Sunday-school hour ; pencils, blanks, 
 a Bible, quarterly were needed, and she seldom had them. 
 By the time she was ready the class had found many 
 things not at all connected with the lesson to claim their 
 attention. 
 
 The attention that the teacher must give is peculiar. 
 If he gives his whole mind to the pupil, his questions will 
 be weak ; there will be repetition and he will grow Into 
 the — "What did Moses do when he — Fred, will you 
 let Harold alone, — What did Moses, — Frank, you are 
 not giving attention now '* — type of a teacher. On the 
 other hand, if he concentrates every power upon the 
 lesson, Harold and Fred will have ample opportunity 
 to consult each other If they wish. 
 
 The attention which the teacher must give Is both 
 voluntary and Involuntary. It Is extended over a wider 
 space, and includes far more than that which the pupil 
 gives. The ninth grade boy paid his teacher a real com- 
 
 [59] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 pliment when he said, " He can teach right along, and 
 look volumes at the same time if you are doing anything 
 you shouldn't." 
 
 Every teacher needs to be able to do this. The eye 
 is after all the great controlling power. Learn to in- 
 clude all your pupils in your glance as you teach. I 
 once had a teacher whom I thought looked always at me 
 when he talked and every other pupil in the class thought 
 the same. A keen eye, a quick ear, well-prepared ma- 
 terial in which one is interested, heart and soul, and the 
 problem of gaining attention is half solved. 
 
 Suppose we watch ourselves this week and test our 
 own power of voluntary attention, in church, at lectures 
 and concerts, and especially in our reading and study. 
 If we take careful note of ourselves I am sure we shall 
 be able to better appreciate the struggle our children 
 have to make in response to demands that they " pay 
 attention." 
 
 A Thought for the Week 
 
 The whole mind concentrated upon the one thing in 
 hand at the moment explains the success of many a life. 
 " This one thing I do " was the secret of Paul's power. 
 
 FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1 . What is attention ? 
 
 2. Name two kinds of attention. 
 
 3. Under what pathway may involuntary attention be 
 classed ? 
 
 4. How may involuntary attention be gained ? 
 
 5. Upon what does involuntary attention depend ? 
 
 6. Explain fully the act of voluntary attention. 
 
 7. How may voluntary attention be encouraged ? 
 
 8. Upon what does voluntary attention depend? 
 
 9. Describe a teacher's attention. 
 
 [60] 
 
ATTENTION 
 
 10. What relation exists between attention and thought ? 
 
 1 1 . What place in the qualification of a teacher does ability 
 to gain attention hold ? 
 
 12. What difference exists in power of attention at six and 
 sixteen ? What diiference in method must follow ? 
 
 13. What diiference may physical conditions make in power 
 of attention ? 
 
 14. Discuss special pupils whose attention you have been 
 able to gain ; those you have failed to hold. What method 
 did you use in each case ? 
 
 15. Give thought for the week in your own words. 
 
 PAGES TO BE REPORTED IN CLASS 
 
 Psychology in the Schoolroom, pp. 28-45. See chapter on 
 Discipline, pp. 367-390. 
 
 History of Christianity, pp. 140-170. 
 
 Kemp's History, pp. 18-32. 
 
 See James' Talks to Teachers, chapter XI. 
 
 [6.] 
 
VIII 
 
 THE WILL 
 The Will 
 
 " Make us desire the best things that we may live 
 as Christ lived," prayed a young girl in the Christian 
 Endeavor service. She prayed better than she knew, 
 for what we are depends upon what we desire to a far 
 greater extent than we realize. At the basis of the 
 will, the foundation of its complex acts, lies desire. 
 
 Desire 
 
 We may say, speaking broadly, that desire when 
 analyzed is made up of impulse and appetite. The 
 cravings of the animal system demanding satisfaction 
 constitute the appetites with their long train of results 
 both good and evil. The imitative movements, the 
 strange promptings to action without definite purpose, 
 the things which the child does because he "feels like 
 it" — these make up impulse. 
 
 In the course of the development of the mind, then, 
 we have appetite and impulse creating desire ; desire 
 when gratified, returning through imagination and feel- 
 ing, demands satisfaction again and again until it be- 
 comes a sort of habit, and the child has formed strong 
 inclinations toward action along certain lines, which last 
 through life. 
 
 As we attempt to develop the will along right lines we 
 come to realize that it means persistent encouragement 
 of the inclinations- toward the good, and starving and 
 
 [62] 
 
THE WILL 
 
 weeding out of inclinations toward the bad. When a 
 child is hungry he craves food; when thirsty, drink. 
 He is driven toward gratification of the desire that he 
 may be satisfied. If the food and drink are of the right 
 sort every part of his physical being develops and he is 
 a healthy, natural, growing child. The child craves 
 companionship, active pleasure, love. He could not 
 name these desires ; they are vague. Impulse spurs 
 him on to seek companionship and pleasure and if the 
 result satisfies, he will seek it again in response to 
 another impulse. If the companion and the pleasure 
 be of the right sort, natural growth and real develop- 
 ment of this part of his nature will follow. Whenever 
 a child feels desire for a thing, believes he can secure it, 
 and so seeks it, a definite act of the will takes place. 
 
 As I note carefully the general trend of his appetites 
 and impulses as seen in his actions, the desire is born in 
 me to so train the child that the lower desire shall be 
 ruled by the higher, until principle becomes more and 
 more the basis of action ; I desire to so train his will 
 that it shall grow strong enough to control. If I could 
 do this I should give him a perfect will ; all I can hope 
 to do is to get as near the ideal as possible. 
 
 As his teacher I realize that certain appetites, im- 
 pulses, inclinations come to him as an inheritance and 
 often they are against him in his struggle for self- 
 control. I realize, too, that his home training is often 
 merely repression of the lower or inconvenient impulses 
 and appetites. He is controlled by another will stronger 
 and more developed, and his own receives no training. 
 He is a slave to another will until he rebels. If this be 
 true, when he gets away from the home restraint, it is 
 possible for the repressed impulses and appetites to burst 
 forth — and a wreck follows. 
 
 As his teacher I am responsible for neither his in- 
 
 [63] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 heritance nor his home training. I am responsible for 
 what I do and fail to do with him while he is in my 
 charge, and for what training it is possible for me to 
 give him indirectly through my influence and example. 
 
 I can help him by constantly keeping in mind the 
 aim to teach him so that the higher impulse shall con- 
 trol. It is possible to do this through stories, even with 
 small children. I know a little fellow of seven named 
 Wilson who the Sunday before Independence Day heard 
 in Sunday-school the story of a boy who did not fire his 
 crackers and gun because his mother was sick. The 
 story was well told. On the morning of the Fourth, 
 Wilson's mother awoke with a very severe headache. 
 Wilson blew his horn and threw his torpedoes, his only 
 response to his mother's remonstrance being, " It's 
 Fourth of July and I'm going to blow it." Suddenly 
 he stopped and seemed to be touched by her suffering. 
 He went over to her couch and whispered, " I sha'n't 
 do it any more, mother. Frank didn't shoot his gun 
 when his mother was sick." 
 
 Wilson had won a victory. The lower impulse had 
 yielded to the higher. He was influenced by compassion 
 for his mother's suffering, but he was also influenced by 
 the imitative impulse to do as " Frank " had done. 
 Frank was a mystery to the mother but she was grateful 
 for his influence. 
 
 Wilson has only begun the conflict between the 
 higher and lower which will last many a year. Later 
 his father will give him weeding in the garden and 
 errands to do. The desire to play will be very strong, 
 but if the desire to please his father be stronger he will 
 be governed by that. As he grows older the con- 
 sequences of his acts will be a factor in guiding his 
 desires. He may learn through experience that going 
 in swimming when he is very warm brings results he 
 
 [64] 
 
THE WILL 
 
 never wants again. Next time he is tempted to go, 
 under the same conditions, the consequences of his last 
 experience will have a restraining influence. " I never 
 want to do that again," he will tell you. If only the 
 discipline of consequences would always restrain wrong 
 desires, what an influence it would have ! 
 
 However, teachers can make a child see vividly the 
 consequences of evil acts and, although he must always 
 learn through experience largely, the teaching has its 
 influence. If this teaching is coupled with strong, posi- 
 tive instruction the better impulses and desires can be 
 awakened. 
 
 By example and story, by illustration verbal or black- 
 board, by question and suggestion, by discipline, by 
 environment so far as he can influence it — in every 
 possible way the teacher must study to create a desire 
 for the very best. Indeed I am convinced that the 
 teacher's business is just this, to create and encourage 
 desire for the best things in life. 
 
 Choice 
 
 In his earlier years the child has impulses and follows 
 them without thought of results. But as he grows older, 
 desires conflict and he does not know what to do. The 
 intellect begins to assert its power ; reasons why he 
 should or should not do a thing are presented in turn and 
 he must listen to them. After thinking about it he 
 finally decides what to do. He has then exercised the 
 highest power of the will, that of deliberate choice. 
 
 It is most interesting to watch children from ten to 
 twelve exercise this power of choice. I watched an 
 eleven-year-old boy a few weeks ago. Idleness is his 
 fault and his work was not done when I called for it. 
 I told him he might choose between two punishments : 
 he might write a note to his mother telling her about 
 
 [65] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 the waste of time and asking her to see that the work 
 was done before he went to bed, or he might complete 
 it while the other children were enjoying the entertain- 
 ment in the afternoon. " I can't choose/* he said, " be- 
 cause I was going down to see Harry's baseball outfit 
 and stay to supper, and I'll have to come home so early 
 1 can't have any fun." Then in a moment, " I want 
 to hear Clyde's story and the violin solo awfully, and 
 the charades." His brows were knit and his whole 
 attitude showed the struggle. After some time I saw 
 him take out his block and begin to write the letter. 
 
 Some time after a girl about twelve had a hard struggle 
 to choose between what she wanted to do and what she 
 ought to do. Her aunt said she must get home from a 
 class picnic at half past six. If she kept her promise to 
 do so she would miss the long trolley ride the others 
 decided to take. It was with great interest and sym- 
 pathy that I watched desire to remain and desire to 
 obey present themselves in turn. At last she chose 
 to go home as she had promised. It was a splendid 
 victory. 
 
 If we are observant we may see our children each day 
 making the little choices which determine character. 
 I believe we should allow the child more and more to 
 choose for himself. In this way we are helping to cul- 
 tivate the habit of deliberate choice which, of course, 
 children do not have, and which so many of us who are 
 older wofully lack. It becomes the passion of the true 
 teacher to so influence his children that the choices they 
 make shall be right. 
 
 Resolution 
 
 But after the choice has really been made something 
 more is necessary. One must resolve to stick to it, and 
 persevere until the thing is accomplished. If a child is 
 
 [66] 
 
THE WILL 
 
 continually making choices which never amount to any- 
 thing because he has no power of resolution and cannot 
 hold out, we may well tremble for him. We must go 
 to work with all earnestness to stimulate and encourage 
 him in his resolution until he feels the satisfaction which 
 comes when a thing is really done. 
 
 If there is a long wait between the time when a child 
 resolves to do a thing and the time when he can begin 
 to carry out the resolution, it is very much harder. The 
 test of the strength of a resolution is determined by the 
 length of time one can persevere in it. If only we 
 could persevere in all the resolutions made to do and be, 
 how much better off the world would be to-day ! As we 
 realize it we begin to note very carefully the choices 
 made by our children, especially as the time approaches 
 when they are ready to decide to be Christians. After 
 the child has given expression to this resolution is the 
 most critical time in his religious experience. It is at this 
 time, when the child needs help most, that he is so often 
 neglected. Often parents oppose his wish to unite with 
 the church at fourteen or sixteen and he is told to wait 
 until he is older. The result usually is that the reso- 
 lution weakens and dies out. If the child had been 
 allowed to unite with the church and then given some 
 part in its work that he might carry out his resolu- 
 tion to do good, a constant and natural growth would 
 result. 
 
 One of the most important things for us as Sunday- 
 school teachers to decide is the method we shall follow 
 with our children during the critical years when they are 
 making their choices and resolutions. No one can do 
 this for us. It is a problem we must meet ourselves and 
 solve for our own children under conditions which exist 
 in our own schools. It must be met and it can be 
 solved. 
 
 [67] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 A Thought for the Week 
 
 Christ desired above all else to do the will of his 
 Father. The purity, unselfishness and heroism of his 
 life were the result. In proportion as that desire governs 
 our lives shall we be able to live as he lived. 
 
 FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1 . What is meant by desire ? 
 
 2. When does a definite act of the will take place ? 
 
 3. What is sometimes the result of a child's home training ? 
 
 4. What is the difference between repression and develop- 
 ment of the will ? 
 
 5. For what part of the child's training is the teacher 
 responsible ? 
 
 6. How may I influence a child's impulses and desires ? 
 
 7. How may the discipline of consequences influence a 
 child ? 
 
 8. What may we say is the business of the teacher? Do 
 you believe it ? 
 
 9. What is the highest function of the will ? 
 
 10. Describe the act of choosing. What mind faculties are 
 called into play ? 
 
 11. ** We should allow the child more and more to choose 
 for himself." Discuss this statement. 
 
 I 2. After choice has been made, what more is necessary ? 
 
 13. What is the most critical time in a child's religious 
 experience ? Why ? 
 
 1 4. What is a strong will ? 
 
 15. What is the difference between a strong will and an 
 obstinate will ? 
 
 16. In your opinion which is the strongest man, one ruled 
 by feeling, intellect or will ? 
 
 17. Discuss your treatment of children with whose wills 
 you have come in contact. 
 
 18. Give in vour own words the thought of the week. 
 
 [68] 
 
THE WILL 
 
 PAGES TO BE REPORTED IN CLASS 
 
 Psychology in the Schoolroom, pp. 280-302. Special attention, 
 pp. 288-296. 
 ^ History of Christianity. Review by questions, pp. 173-190. 
 
 Kemp's History, The Crusades, pp. 293-315. 
 
 See James' Talks to Teachers, chapter XV. 
 
 [69] 
 
IX 
 
 HABIT 
 
 As I took the car that afternoon I was thinking of 
 habit and its mighty sway over all of us, though we are 
 so often unconscious of it until we see men and women 
 hopeless slaves to its power. 
 
 The poor wretch I had seen walking up and down 
 past the open door of the saloon made me realize it 
 anew. He seemed to be struggling against its power, 
 but the struggle was short, and he entered to forge one 
 more link in the chain. 
 
 The thought of the relentless grasp of habit so im- 
 pressed me that I saw as never before the force of that 
 old saying " Character is a bundle of habits." I began 
 to give special attention to little habits of my own and 
 of friends. I saw business men take out their watches, 
 return them to their pockets only to look again a few 
 seconds later, though they could not tell me the time 
 when I asked it ; I heard the repetition of certain phrases 
 in conversation, saw unconscious movements of hands 
 and feet, and heard given as an excuse over and over, 
 " I've gotten into the habit of it." The habit of taking 
 two cups of coffee at breakfast, reading a certain page in 
 the evening paper first, retiring at ten o'clock ! Habits 
 innumerable ! 
 
 That week of observation sent me into school and 
 Sunday-school with renewed determination to do my 
 best toward the formation of habits which my children 
 need never struggle to unlearn In later years. 
 
 [70] 
 
HABIT 
 
 Habit belongs to both psychology and physiology. A 
 child bends low over his desk for two years in school, 
 and then meets a teacher who realizes what it will mean 
 unless the habit Is broken. The child will have a strug- 
 gle If he overcomes the habit. He will have to exercise 
 will and memory and also be obliged to fight against 
 acquired positions of muscles and tissues. The longer 
 the fight Is delayed the harder the victory will be. If 
 nothing be said to him until at eighteen he wakes up 
 to the fact that he is very round-shouldered, habit will 
 have become such a master of muscle that will has a 
 tremendous task if it attempts to straighten his spine. 
 
 We saw last week that every act of the will was 
 caused primarily by impulse and desire. It is true of 
 habit. In the beginning there must be some motive for 
 the act, and if the act is repeated regularly, less and less 
 will-power Is needed until the act is performed with 
 practically no effort of the will and has become pure 
 habit. If the habit Is a good one. It Is of great value 
 because it makes conduct easier. If one forms the habit 
 of telling things exactly as they are, the years tend to fix 
 the habit, and danger of being led astray Is lessened. 
 On the whole, habit is a most valuable agency in the 
 development of character, and It Is our purpose this 
 week to see what desirable habits we as teachers can 
 form. We labor under a great disadvantage, as we 
 all realize, because six days must Intervene before we 
 can again emphasize and repeat our teaching, and only 
 now and then can we give the children under our direct 
 guidance opportunity to act in accordance with our 
 teaching. The reason we covet the power to teach in a 
 way that the memory shall be so impressed as to carry 
 the teaching through the week is because we realize the 
 great importance of regular action In the formation of 
 habit. 
 
 [71] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 Motive 
 
 Behind every habit lies a motive, so that when the 
 teacher begins to plan the formation of good habits and 
 the destruction of bad ones in his children the first step 
 is a search for motive. " Why does the child do this ? '* 
 is a constant question. Here is a child who lies every 
 time he is accused of anything. "I didn't do it" falls 
 from his lips before the accusation is finished. The lie 
 of imagination is entirely different from the lie of con- 
 venience. Why does he lie ? In his particular case he 
 lies to save himself from punishment. He is a coward. 
 He is afraid of punishment but not of lying. As I study 
 his case I may find that he has been severely and un- 
 justly punished and has come to the conclusion that it is 
 better to lie and escape. My task then is clear. I must 
 make him despise his cowardice and give him a profound 
 fear of a lie, while I do my best to introduce into his 
 make-up courage enough to take his punishment, even 
 though severe, rather than lie. When Ananias fell dead 
 " great fear *' came upon all who knew, a fear of lying 
 and deceit, and it had a tremendous influence upon those 
 who constituted the Church in the first few years. One 
 of the worst things which can happen to a child is to tell 
 a lie and not get caught. I am glad when I find a child 
 who is afraid to lie. 
 
 Here is another child who lies from an altogether dif- 
 ferent motive. He wishes to appear to be what he is 
 not ; to get better marks, a higher standing, the approval 
 of teachers and parents. My task is to change his 
 motive; to make him bend every effort to be what he 
 wants to seem ; to make him feel the despicable mean- 
 ness of hypocrisy. 
 
 If the teacher seeks out the motive and finds it, then 
 he is ready to give persistent treatment until the habit of 
 
 [72] 
 
HABIT 
 
 truth-telling is formed and fixed through the years so 
 that it will be hard to lie. We must aim to make the 
 conscience so sensitive that it suffers keenly whenever a 
 lie is told. This sincere love of the truth is inspired by 
 example fully as much as by teaching. 
 
 I shall never forget a brown-eyed, frank little fellow 
 of twelve who was discussing with a group of other boys 
 one who had been found guilty of stealing. The boys 
 were expressing opinions freely. " Besides stealing he 
 lied. He was always a coward," said one. " He was 
 all the time afraid somebody would find out and tell on 
 him. I know a fellow he gave ten cents not to tell 
 where he'd seen him." Then the brown-eyed boy 
 threw his head back proudly. " Well," he said, " Fm 
 glad of one thing; there can't anybody find out and tell 
 anything on me, and I wouldn't pay anybody ten cents, 
 for there's nothing to find out that everybody don't 
 know." I can never forget the fine challenge In his 
 face, the glorious courage that shone out in his eyes, the 
 courage which belongs only to those who have nothing 
 to hide. I saw a blush pass over the face of the boy 
 nearest him. He couldn't say it. The presence of 
 that absolutely truthful boy was an example, a reproof 
 and a help to every one in his school. 
 
 Patience in Forming Habits 
 
 Habits cannot be broken in a day, neither can they be 
 made in a day. It requires great patience as well as 
 skill. The child who comes to school and Sunday- 
 school dirty and unkempt cannot be taught to be clean 
 and neat by a few lessons given incidentally or even by 
 personal conversation. Yet I have seen many a miracle 
 along this line wrought between ten years and fourteen 
 by patient instruction and sympathy. I have looked 
 more than once with surprise and pleasure at some neat, 
 
 [73] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 pretty fifteen-year-old girl who has been slowly learning 
 such habits of cleanliness that I could not recognize the 
 child I knew five years before. 
 
 Nowhere in our work do we feel so keenly the need 
 of the parents' help as in our attempt to encourage 
 habits of regular attendance and responsibility in the sup- 
 port of the work of the church. We must have it. 
 
 It is not enough that the teacher should meet the 
 exaggerated tale of the child with the look which says, 
 " Of course this you are telling me is not true." The 
 parent in cooperation must receive such tales in the same 
 way until the child realizes that his story is not accepted 
 and repeats it more truthfully. To make any effort 
 efl^ectual, we must have the parents' support and sym- 
 pathy in our effort. 
 
 Preventive Work 
 
 The prevention of the first act which will lead to the 
 formation of undesirable habits is one of the great privi- 
 leges of the teacher. For example, the cigarette habit, 
 which is working with our boys evil which no one can 
 realize as does a teacher, may in the majority of cases be 
 prevented but with difficulty broken. An appeal to rea- 
 son, to athletic ambition, with clear, emphatic instruction, 
 having no suggestion of the "goody-goody" makes an 
 impression upon the average boy. 
 
 " You don't dast ter smoke 'cause yer afraid of yer 
 mother," said one of my boys in a taunting way. '^ I 
 dast not to smoke when fellars ask me and that's more 
 than you can say," was the answer. It gave me the 
 basis of all my future arguments. The fact that some 
 boys are so courageous that they dare not to do things, 
 that they are free and will not be made slaves to any 
 habit by the teasing remarks of other boys, is an appeal 
 to the element of courage and " dare " and has helped me 
 
 [74] 
 
HABIT 
 
 many times with my boys. I have found that children 
 like to break themselves of little habits. The eleven- 
 year-old girl who gave me a pin every time she said 
 " ain't,'* feeling great pride in the lessening number until 
 at the end of the fourth week she had stopped using the 
 word, is an illustration. Encouraging this effort to 
 break with habit is preventive work because the child 
 who realizes the effort needed to break bad habits is 
 more responsive when urged to refrain from forming 
 them. 
 
 A search for motive is the fundamental work of the 
 teacher who would form right habits. The elevation 
 and strengthening of motive holds an important place in 
 the teacher's creed. 
 
 At no time in his experience does a teacher realize 
 more fully the necessity for knowledge of the individual 
 pupil than when he attempts a definite course of habit 
 making or breaking, with his class. We find a general 
 knowledge of the characteristics and temperament of each 
 child is absolutely necessary if we are to strengthen good 
 habits and destroy the bad. 
 
 Temperament 
 
 Let us try to make a simple classification of these 
 children according to temperament. 
 
 We must remember that no classification is com- 
 plete and satisfactory and that we shall probably never 
 meet in our classes a child who is a pure type. The 
 study will, however, be suggestive and help us analyze 
 more closely the temperaments with which we come in 
 contact. 
 
 Here, then, is a bright-faced, light-haired little girl. 
 She is lively, eager, very excitable. She is quickly 
 roused to action, effort, or anger, but she is not very 
 deeply roused. She has the sanguine temperament. Over 
 
 [75] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 in the other class Is a slender, pretty girl. Her features 
 are delicate, her large, bright eyes are very expressive 
 as they respond to all that interests her. Her motions 
 are graceful, she loves poetry, music and pictures and 
 responds to all the beauties of nature. If she should 
 answer truthfully the question so often put to children 
 of her type, " Where is your common sense ? " she would 
 say, " I have none." She does not know what it is to 
 be practical. She has the reflective temperament. 
 
 In the next class is a boy whose large, full face with 
 its thick lips and sleepy eyes seems almost without 
 expression. It does not appeal to one strongly. His 
 mind as well as his body moves very slowly. Possessing 
 plenty of patience himself he taxes yours to the utmost. 
 He has the phlegmatic temperament. 
 
 Beside him is another boy, whose sallow face and dark 
 eyes light up only when deeply stirred. He knows how 
 to persevere until a thing is done. He has confidence 
 in himself and usually is strong-willed and has good 
 mental powers. He has the energetic temperament. These 
 temperaments are sometimes summed up under two 
 heads, the motor^ including the first two, and the sensory^ 
 including the last two. 
 
 All about you on every side are the hosts of children 
 whose temperaments are combinations of these pure 
 types, and like all combinations they are difficult to 
 understand. 
 
 The child with sanguine or reflective temperament 
 gives little trouble as far as discipline is concerned. If 
 you can be firm and yet show that you care for him you 
 have a strong hold. His affection is easily won. With 
 such a child the value of the formation of right habits 
 cannot be overestimated. The best thing a teacher can 
 do for a child of reflective temperament is to find practical, 
 definite ways for him to work out the great truths he 
 
 [76] 
 
HABIT 
 
 grasps so quickly but finds so hard to apply to his daily 
 life. The energetic and phlegmatic with their combina- 
 tions are sure to give trouble unless handled with wisdom 
 and care. These are the children whose development 
 can be almost hopelessly blighted by a careless hand. 
 Just how to lead a phlegmatic boy to see the best there 
 is before him, at the same time giving him a motive strong 
 enough to make him exert himself, is not an easy prob- 
 lem to solve and no rules can be given, but it has been 
 done, therefore it can be done. 
 
 Just how to help the child of energetic temperament 
 to choose the highest ideals to which he shall give all 
 the determination, confidence and will of his nature is a 
 problem no less difficult, and it, too, has been solved. 
 When a teacher has made children of these temperaments 
 see and begin to work for the " best things " he may 
 rejoice, for he is adding to the class of men and women 
 who have after all done the work of the world. 
 
 And now I want to make what seems to me a most 
 important suggestion to you who are really taking up 
 this study in earnest. Look for these types and combi- 
 nations in your class, take out your note-book, write 
 the child's name at the top of the page and watch his 
 development. Keep notes of your treatment of him and the 
 result. The very fact that you are keeping " biograph- 
 ical notes " makes you interested as never before and 
 will be far more valuable than many a course in child- 
 study, for you are learning to engage in child-study for 
 yoursef. Personally I count this individual character 
 and temperament study the most helpful I have done in 
 the past five years. 
 
 When you are able to recognize a child's character- 
 istics you can more intelligently work through desire, 
 choice and resolution to develop his will, form his habits 
 and develop his character. 
 
 [77] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 A Thought for the Week 
 
 Habit is a cord strong and stout which binds with the 
 power of iron and steel. We are not responsible for the 
 cord, only for the few threads we are called upon to 
 contribute to its making. May God help us make those 
 threads pure, strong, resistless. 
 
 FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. What is meant by habit ? 
 
 2. How does discipline affect habit ? 
 
 3. Why is the formation of right habit so important ? 
 
 4. Describe the relation between motive and habit. 
 
 5. What is meant by '* preventive work " ? 
 
 6. What habits may be formed in the Sunday-school ? 
 Illustrate. 
 
 7 In your opinion is there any danger of making a child a 
 creature of habit ? Illustrate. 
 
 8. Make a classification of children according to tempera- 
 ment. 
 
 9. Why are all such classifications unsatisfactory ? 
 
 10. Describe a child with sanguine temperament ; reflective ; 
 phlegmatic ; energetic. 
 
 11. Discuss pupils of various types and combinations which 
 you have met in your experience. What problems have they 
 presented ? How have you met them ? 
 
 12. Why is the keeping of ** biographical notes '* a help to 
 a teacher ? 
 
 13. Give in your own words the thought for the week. 
 
 PAGES TO BE REPORTED IN CLASS 
 
 Psychology in the Schoolroom 5 Habit, pp. 306-328 j Tempera- 
 ment, pp. 342-346. 
 
 History of Christianity, Review questions, pp. 192-201. 
 
 Kemp's History, pp. 348-377. 
 
 Sec James' Talks to Teachers, chapter VIII. 
 
 [78] 
 
THE GIST OF THE WHOLE 
 MATTER 
 
 And now the time has come when we must face 
 squarely the question, " What makes a successful Sunday- 
 school ? " There is but one answer and it is brief, — 
 " The teacher." 
 
 Lesson courses broad in conception and rich in 
 material, fitted to the needs of the various pupils, are 
 absolutely necessary, but they cannot make a successful 
 school. Rooms adapted to Sunday-school needs, music, 
 maps, the stereopticon, wisely chosen pictures and libra- 
 ries, all the machinery of an up-to-date Sunday-school, 
 — these are most necessary in solving the problem, but 
 these cannot make a successful school ; no system of 
 grading, however carefully planned and carried out, no 
 examination questions, promotion exercises or diplomas, 
 not even large numbers in attendance can make a suc- 
 cessful school if the teacher, the right sort of teacher, be 
 lacking. A teacher of the right sort will make use of 
 as many of these means as possible, but he and not they 
 will make the school a success. 
 
 The Ideal Teacher 
 
 A teacher of the right sort ! Let us try to describe 
 him. He will not only be an ideal teacher, but he will 
 be a teacher with ideals. Ideals are the things in life 
 most real. We think of them sometimes as hazy, 
 indefinite, intangible, apart from life. It is not true. 
 
 [79] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 What we are as teachers to-day we are because of our 
 ideals. We have not reached our ideal ; if we have we 
 are dead. But we are what we are because of what we 
 want to be, and unless we have before us, ever present 
 in our inner consciousness, a clear conception of what a 
 teacher ought to be, we have no aim, no standard of com- 
 parison, no persistent call to a higher and higher level. 
 
 I know a teacher whose ideal is to keep her class 
 reasonably quiet. To do this she tells them stories of 
 her own adventures, reads to them, hears them say the 
 golden text — if they can, and scolds them a little if they 
 can't — spends the last precious five minutes in looking 
 over the Sunday-school papers, and goes home satisfied. 
 Nothing can be done for her or with her until she has a 
 better ideal. One great purpose of the training-class is 
 to raise standards and thus elevate ideals. 
 
 A teacher of the right sort is one with a purpose. And 
 what that purpose is determines his value. Students 
 entering normal and training-schools are sometimes 
 asked the question, " What is your purpose in coming to 
 this school ? " The usual answer contains, in some 
 form, the expression, '*• I wish to teach." This state- 
 ment may mean much or little. It may mean that out 
 of the multitude of ways by which a person can earn his 
 livelihood, teaching appeals most strongly. In order to 
 get the largest return for his labor he enters the school 
 to be trained. His purpose is to get the reward, — a 
 salary. And this is right, but if that be his only purpose 
 he can never be a teacher of the right sort. It may 
 mean that he is intensely interested in method and sub- 
 ject, and his purpose in attending such a school is to 
 gain more knowledge and to learn the best way of im- 
 parting it. And that is right. But if that be the only 
 purpose, he cannot be a success. It may be that he 
 loves children, enjoys being with them and wishes to 
 
 [80] 
 
THE GIST OF THE WHOLE MATTER 
 
 spend his time carefully guiding their instruction, watch- 
 ing their development and finding deepest satisfaction 
 in leading them into ever enlarging fields of knowledge. 
 Even this is not enough. 
 
 Why does a teacher of the right sort teach geography ? 
 To give knowledge of people, places and industries ? 
 Yes, but he must do more than that. Every lesson 
 must be taught for itself in the best possible way, but 
 unless every subject in the school curriculum is planned 
 to teach the pupil how to live, and unless it has definite 
 value in the formation of character, it might better be 
 dropped, and the pupil sent out-of-doors to learn his 
 lessons from trees, flowers and birds. 
 
 When I dictate a working drawing to my pupils, what 
 am I doing ? I am teaching them how to do the thing 
 in hand, but I am also teaching them necessity for accu- 
 racy, which they will need all their lives. When, later, 
 some boy holds up the box which he makes from that 
 drawing, and turns to me with a look of despair, saying, 
 "Oh, I measured my cover wrong and it won't fit," he 
 has learned the lesson. He cannot make it fit ; even if 
 he pastes on a piece, the pasting will show. The lesson 
 develops his character. 
 
 A teacher of the right sort realizes that in every lesson 
 there must be direct or indirect influence upon character, 
 else the lesson is a failure. 
 
 If these things should be true of the purpose of the 
 teacher in a public school, where of necessity religion, 
 which is the greatest power in the development of char- 
 acter, cannot be taught, how much more should they be 
 true of the purpose of the Sunday-school teacher where 
 religion is the thing to be taught ! 
 
 Yes, a teacher of the right sort will be one with a pur- 
 pose and that purpose — to influence life and character. 
 
 He will teach the Bible, its great characters, its won- 
 [8i] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 derful laws and poetry, history and geography, but more 
 than all that he will teach that the God of the Bible so 
 loved the men of the world that he gave his only begot- 
 ten Son that through him they might find eternal life. 
 
 The teacher with this purpose will be thoughtful, will 
 be faithful — he cannot be present in Sunday-school two 
 Sundays and absent three — he will be sympathetic, en- 
 tering into the joys and sorrows of every pupil in his 
 class. He will be courageous, expecting to meet prob- 
 lems and with patience and effort to solve them. He 
 will be generous in his criticisms, absolutely sincere, and 
 above all he will be cheerful, for of all the places in the 
 world the Sunday-school has no room for a pessimist. 
 He will also be a student, constantly preparing himself 
 to do better and better work as the years go by. 
 
 Is he discouraging as we look at him ? No, not for 
 a moment. He calls forth all our effort, our best effort, 
 to at least approach the level where he stands. He is a 
 splendid challenge — a glorious example whose motto is 
 " Excelsior." 
 
 The Ideal Pupil 
 
 I am sorry we cannot discuss him here, — he would 
 be most interesting. I am sure as every teacher remem- 
 bers himself as a pupil and recalls his own present class, 
 he will be ready to agree that the ideal pupil is as rare as 
 the ideal teacher. As he begins to think about it there 
 may burst upon him a great truth, which, if he really 
 sees it, will make all his teaching, not a task entered 
 upon with dread, but a service looked forward to with 
 pleasure. 
 
 An Ideal Relation 
 
 I may fail of my ideal ; my pupil may fail of his 
 ideal ; and yet it is perfectly possible to have between 
 
 [82] 
 
THE GIST OF THE WHOLE MATTER 
 
 us, as teacher and pupil, an ideal relationship which shall 
 triumph even over lack of training and lack of knowl- 
 edge ; a relationship which shall fill me with eager long- 
 ing to be more and know more, for his sake, and to 
 inspire him to larger efFort, that he may not disappoint 
 me. There is hardly a Sunday-school in our country in 
 which there could not be found at least one illustration 
 of just this thing. 
 
 The gist of the whole matter is this, — the thing 
 which counts for most in the Sunday-school, as every- 
 where else in the world, is the person himself — what 
 he is. I know and face the fact squarely because I 
 must, — that it is possible for me to open hand, heart 
 and brain to receive the things which will train me, de- 
 velop me, increase my power and influence, and make 
 me of real service to the world, or I can close hand, 
 heart and brain to them all, cease to grow, and lose my 
 power because I am satisfied with what I have already 
 attained. This, no true teacher will ever do. 
 
 The Thought of the Book 
 
 May God help me to know that I may teach; and 
 help me to live^ that what I teach shall count. 
 
 FOR DISCUSSION 
 
 1. What makes a successful Sunday-school ? 
 
 2. What things, though necessary, may fail to make a 
 successful school ? 
 
 3. Describe briefly ** a teacher of the right sort." 
 
 4. What is an ideal ? 
 
 ^5. ** We are what we are because of what we want to 
 be. * ' What does this mean ? Do you believe it ? 
 
 6. What should be the purpose of the teacher in the 
 Sunday-sghool } 
 
 [83] 
 
TALKS WITH THE TRAINING CLASS 
 
 7. What adjectives can be used in describing an ideal 
 teacher ? 
 
 8. Do you believe that we should teach the geography and 
 history of the Bible, its preservation through the ages, its place 
 in its development of civilization ? Give reasons for your 
 answer. 
 
 9. What else is necessary ? 
 
 10. What is meant by an ideal relation between teacher and 
 pupil ? What can bring it about ? 
 
 11. In your opinion, what is the ** gist of the whole 
 matter" ? 
 
 I 2. Give in your own words the thought of the book. 
 
 PAGES TO BE REPORTED IN CLASS 
 
 Psychology in the Schoolroom, pp. 333-338. 
 
 History of Christianity, Review questions, pp. 203-209. 
 
 Kemp's History. Read first chapter. Read last chapter. 
 Realize the development of the world in the record which lies 
 between. 
 
 Story of the Bible. If you have not already done so, complete 
 the book. 
 
 [84] 
 
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