The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1904-07-28


The Presentation Of the Sunday
School Lesson.
BY Geo. 6. Hurst
(fubiished by request of Rankin County
Sunday School Convention.)
In all its more important and ma
terial aspects the question of the
presentation of the lesson in the
Sunday School is largely the same
as the proper presentation of the
lesson in the day school. What
shall have 70 say on this subject is
practically the same that'I should
say to a body of day school teachers
and so | trust shall be pardoned
for Juggling in some well-worn but
none-the-less vastly important
"shop.talk." Nay, may not go
further and say that that which
prompted the assigning of this par
ticulA topic to this particular
speaker IS a ''tod-iong, delayed
recognition of the truth that the prin-
ciples governing the teaching
in the Sunday schools are the same
as those governing the teaching in
day schools, and that inasmuch as
this paticular speaker is surprised to
know = small somewhat of the
silence oFi teaching il the day
school, peffofcet,Hel must know ain
equal Somewhat of teaching 'in tire
if this faef 81 The o tga IS s. tie
! problems Of teaching be realized BY
all those present then we indeed are
on the high road to better things.
There are three elements entering
into this question of presentation:
the teacher, the lesson, and the pu-
pl. First as to the teacher.
He must Be prepared, but As that
has already been discussed I shaH
not dwell here. He must know how,
or learn how. Too many Sunday
schools make the mistake of suppos-
ing that anyone who is good or
who knows the Bible can teach
class in Sundayschool. But has
ten on to the diyision-the lesson.
There are three methods of inStrqc-
ton known to teachers, the objec-
tive, the.indirect or Socratic and the
direct, or telling method. ! shall not
of course, enter into a discussion of
the case because the subject matter
of the Sunday school lesson does
not readily lend itself to the pecu~
liar cases for which each of these
methods is designed to fit. The first
or objective method will hardly ap-
ply in the teaching Of the Sunday
school lesson. This method is based
on the fact that all material objects
are presented to the mind through
some one Of the five senses and
that primary idea cannot be
taught except by presenting to the
mind the object that will occasion
the necessary activity.
But the second, or indirect meth
Cd may be applied, and is neither
more nor less than asking questions
to ascertain the pupils knowledge.
But teachers must not suppose that
merely asking questions is teaching
by the question method. 1t is a
great deal more difficult to ask ques-
tons scientifically in teaching than
to tell the story of the lesson with
proper setting. You must make
thorough preparation, you must
know how MUCH Your pupils know
since you have to pass gradually
from the known to the unknown
and build up a knowledge of to-day's
lesson Upon the knowledge Of that
of last Sundays. Questions must
not be leading, that is shaped so
as to suggest the answer. Nothing
will put q pupil mentally to sleep
quicker OF more effectively than
such questioning. Questions must
be misleading OF shaped so as to
suggest nothing at all. This Isl