Primer of teacher training

Front matter

PRIMER OF CHER TRAINING

ARLO AYRES BROWN

Class Boole iW

Foreword to the Teachers of this

Course 7

Why Study to Teach? 11

I. Making a Life 13

II. The Necessary Investment 23

III. The Unfolding Life 32

IV. Religion and Everyday Life 47

V. The Word of Life 56

VI. The Nurture of Life 67

VII. The Power of Personal Influence. 78

VIII . Imparting New Ideas 89

IX. Expression as a Means of Growth. 104

X. The Recognition of Natural

Groups 116

XL Lessons for Age Groups 130

XII. The Church and the Sunday

School 144

XIII. The Challenge of a Great Task. 158

Foreword To The Teachers Of This Course

You are standing "in Christ's stead," for he was preeminently a teacher of teachers. He had a very brief opportunity; he knew that he could not go far if he tried to reach multitudes, so he chose to mingle with multitudes but to train only a few. And the success of his plan is the wonder of the world. This course of lessons for you and your class is a rare opportunity for comradeship with Jesus Christ. There is no law of teaching which may not be observed in his teaching of the twelve. Lead your pupils to feel that they are studying him and his methods. Encourage them to seek for illustrations from his own practice for every principle set forth, and if tempted to feel discouraged in the face of such skill, to remember, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

This course is a study of life, which

Foreword

means a study of lives. Too often in such a course people seem to study a textbook instead of life itself, but a textbook is of value merely as a guide to observation and in the interpretation of facts observed. One can memorize the pages of a textbook, and not be any more efficient at the end than at the beginning. Books and lessons are of value primarily as they stimulate the student to think and compare what he reads and hears with his own experience.

All of which means that in the following lessons you are to study primarily the lives which come within your experience, using those which the author may set forth simply as illustrative of the things which your students can see by looking around them.

Always begin with prayer and Bible reading.

The assignment of the next lesson may be made either immediately after the devotional period or at the close of the lesson hour. The author prefers an assignment at the beginning, so that everything which follows may deepen the impression

FOREWORD

desired as a result of the lesson for the day. However, equally good reasons make other teachers prefer the later time for assignment.

It is well to have some special assignment each week for two or three of the students. This special work will not come to any one often enough to be burdensome, and it assures the teacher of at least a few who will take part, as well as providing variety and often interesting side lights for the class. The assignment may be of material in the textbook or outside. The more outside reading done by the class the better.

The hope of the author is that this

course may give to many a glimpse of

the Sunday school opportunity and the

means by which the opportunity may be

realized to its highest possibilities. The

course is purposely introductory and un-

technical. May it mark the beginning of

a life long study of the problems of human

nature !

Arlo Ayres Brown.

Evanston, Illinois.

WHY STUDY TO TEACH?

The best kind of teachers are "born teachers/' Their birthright manifests itself in a natural interest in and love for children and young people. They possess native ability and aptitude for imparting instruction and for stimulating and guiding those who are younger and less experienced in their struggle for knowledge and for selfimprovement.

But born teachers, like gifted artists, as a rule put forth great effort to improve by means of hard study and special training whatever talent they possess. Native ability makes skill in teaching possible. Knowledge and training added to natural endowment make such skill an actual and a dependable personal possession.

For the teacher of religion special preparation is of the utmost importance. The fundamental principles upon which the process of Christian nurture should proceed are not many; nor are they difficult of comprehension. But each principle is capable of

WHY STUDY TO TEACH ?

infinite development and manifold application and leads into ever widening fields of profitable study and equipment for service.

This little volume states briefly and in simple language some of the principles the more complete mastery of which constitutes the task of teacher training. It is called a Primer because to the beginner, the teacher without previous training, it offers an easy introduction to the subject matter of other textbooks, while to the trained teacher it presents a new concise statement of truths already familiar. It is intended to awaken interest in further study and/ to inspire enthusiasm for the task and /he opportunity set before the Christian t(eacher in the Sunday school.

Henry H. Meyer.

New York City, June 1, 1916,

Chapter I Making A Life

Jesus therefore said unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture. The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. — John 10. 7-10.

"Mother, can a king do anything that he wants to do?"

'Yes, Donald, I suppose so."

"Well, mother, I'm going to be a king then."

He was only five years old, but he was trying to solve the mystery of his own life, what it was for, what he could do with it. Moreover, he unconsciously hit upon the main achievement in life — self-mastery. A little later he might have felt that the things to envy in a king were his horses and splendor, but this time his childish instinct guided him to the biggest thing in a real king — ability to command himself and others.

The interesting fact about Donald's decision is that he is right. According to his definition, he can be a king. When he becomes such he will care very little for the things which at five he counted the most worth doing. But he will be less than he might have been if he is not able to do by hard work very nearly the things that he wants to do.

And Donald's name is legion. He is in your home, in your Sunday school class. Whether boy or girl, each child is thinking these thoughts and planning to be something like a king in the future. He can do it with proper help. It is the business of his parents and teachers to see that he does do it. How can his ideals be made kingly? How can we help him to achieve them? These are the problems of this book.

There is nothing so great in God's world as life. The Son of God when here on earth talked about it continually: "I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly" (John 10. 10). 'Tor God so loved

MAKING A LIFE

the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3. 16). His teaching was all about how to live. He said nothing about preparing to die, though he did speak of activities in another world after this brief span of years is finished. As Christians we have but one task to perform — to carry out his program by making life great for ourselves and for as many others as we can reach.

What constitutes great living according to Christ's standards? Evidently, not the accumulation of property heaped up in barns, banks, or storehouses, for the man who thought this was called a fool. Evidently, not simply the refraining from evil as set forth in the Ten Commandments, for a young man who had done this went from his presence sorrowful because he lacked one thing and was unwilling to make it up.

According to Jesus, the great are those who have something to give, and who give it joyfully (Matt. 25. 31-46; 10. 39). Do you agree with him? Who are the greatest men and women in the world to-day, those who are leaders not by accident, but by popular acclaim, who stand highest in the affections of the people? Why are they so highly esteemed? In your own home who does the most good with his life? Who seems to enjoy life best? Who is most loved? You can apply the same test to the leading men and women of your community, to your school acquaintances, to your social circle. There is a common mark which distinguishes those who live most completely. It is the mark of service. They give liberally, and great gifts in joy, affection, achievement, come back to them. If the facts warrant this conclusion, then the making of a king means the growing of a life that will have much to give and will use its resources for the good of others continually.

How can such a life be produced? Not by accident, that is sure. By miracle? Not if by miracles we mean something contrary to God's laws. But the Almighty has given laws by which it can be done. He has implanted capacities to be developed by careful nurture and he has

MAKING A LIFE

promised divine aid in this nurture, but lie has also insisted that every man take his one, two, or five talents, and double them.

Three things are necessary for the nurture of an abundant life. Avoiding technical terms, they are, desire or motive, resources, and skill; and these three must be developed together. Time was when people thought that these could be developed one at a time, that life was made up of separate compartments (feeling, intellect, and will) in which one could work independently, and then put the whole together. Now we know that there is no proper building up of the intellect without a motive for study, and that an idea does not have its full value until it has been used somehow.

In producing a religious life the same laws are in force. The Christian motive is absolutely necessary for the development of a Christian. This motive may be the result of careful training in a child who has never known anything but desire to please his heavenly Father, or it may come through some startling awakening, or it may come after skill in serving others has led a man through Christian associations to seek Jesus Christ as the supreme inspiration for such service. Rut however the motive may arise, it must be cultivated until it is the compelling passion of the life.

If the abundant life is a life lived for others, in the nature of the case this involves knowing what others need and having skill in meeting their need. Test this by your own observations. What are some of the tasks to be performed by Christians to-day in the home, in the church, for the community at large? Describe the resources which you think one ought to have for the successful performance of these tasks. What is your church doing to develop these resources? What opportunities is your church offering for the development of this skill on the part of its members?

Jesus took twelve men, and prepared them for real living. How? By careful training. It was not difficult for him to bind them to him by ties of deepest affection. They were willing to die for him,

MAKING A LIFE

even though they could not understand him. But he made it his business to see that they did understand him. His methods as teacher illustrate the most modern principles of education. He taught by several senses instead of one. They heard him, they saw him, they were sent out to practice doing their future tasks.

If any man could have developed workers overnight, certainly our Lord could have done so, but he labored patiently, incessantly until his brief public ministry was brought to a close. Then one of the outstanding wonders of history occurred. These plain fishermen whom he had trained became the successful leaders of a world movement.

It is not irreverent to say that most of our healthy boys and girls start with as good a natural equipment as Peter and John. Shall we train them with divine aid to carry on the work begun by these disciples, and the multitude of faithful workers who have followed them? We can do it if we will, and next to the home, the Sunday school is our greatest opportunity.

Turn back in thought to the boy or girl in your class. What is your ideal for him? He never can make a king unaided. Nor can he be guided successfully into anything contrary to the laws of his being. Are you studying those laws? Do you know what his instincts are? What senses are the most acute? What interests are the most lively? These are the things which God has put into your hands to cultivate. Did your lesson last Sunday interest him? Why do you think so? What was actually added to his fund of knowledge? To his purpose? So far as you know what did he do with last Sunday's lesson when Monday came? Did it become a part of his conduct?

You may be responsible for just one year of his growth. Have you an ideal of achievement for that short period? In what respects do you expect him to be stronger a year from now than he is to-day? How do you expect to bring this about? What handicaps must you overcome? What aids can you count on?

When Jesus said to Peter, "Feed my lambs/ 5 he was asking Peter to take up

MAKING A LIFE

the work which he, the Good Shepherd, was compelled to lay aside. We have the same commission. Let us study carefully during the coming weeks the laws of life so that we can bring our pupils to an abundant inheritance of power and blessing.

What chance is there for the pupils in my class to become "kings"?

To what extent am I responsible for this "king" making?

What other agencies can I count upon for cooperation?

What have I actually contributed to each life thus far?

I. The task of a teacher — "making a life/' II. The ideal of Jesus — "an abundant ^ life."

III. The method of Jesus — nurture (or

training) .

IV. Our responsibility.

The Graded Sunday School in Principle

and Practice — Meyer.

The Church School — Athearn. The Spiritual Life — Coe.

The Natural Way— Du Bois.

The Making of Character — MacCunn.

Chapter II The Necessary Investment

But Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. — Luke 9. 62.

Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it? Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. — Luke Ik- 27-30.

In the training quarters of a prominent college a few years ago these words were painted in big letters where all could see: "No Quitters Allowed Here." They should be on the walls of every Sunday school room, or, better still, engraved upon the heart of every teacher. No training camp can afford to have a quitter, much less a school which is training lives for Christian service; and yet the most common weakness in Sunday school teachers is a lack of fidelity to the task. With some the thought seems to be, "This is volunteer labor, and therefore can be carelessly done."

It should be, "This is love's labor, and therefore must be faithfully done."

There is no task worth while which does not call for a heroic investment of talents. During the week you are in business. Are you free to come and go as you please? Can you drop everything and take a holiday whenever the notion strikes you? Can you play games at any hour of the day? You are a stenographer, or a professional man, or a mother, or in some other occupation. Do you find that you have more talent and more time than you need for your task, or do you wish you could put double your present resources into it? But you are responsible for the resources which you put into it. A worker is not faithful who merely gives to his task the best that he has to-day with no thought of to-morrow. It is his business to give better service to-morrow than to-day, to develop his talents for his work.

Jesus Christ asks neither more nor less in the definite tasks which he requires to have done. It is not enough for a teacher to say, "Well, I do not know anything about teaching, but I will do the

THE NECESSARY INVESTMENT

best I can/' and then go ahead year after year without any conscious effort to improve. If he said the same thing about music and promised to do his best, he would soon be practicing diligently, and while the progress might be slow, he would bring more talent to his work at the end of the year than he had at the beginning.

"I would give a hundred dollars if I could play the piano like you," said one friend, intending to compliment another.

"Umph," I should think you would," came the answer. "It cost me a cool thousand, to say nothing of the work."

We were talking about opportunities for Christian service one day. The young lady was just out of her teens and active in various forms of local church work. She wanted to give all of her time to Christian service, either as missionary, settlement worker, or in the Y. W. C. A., she did not care which. But in the course of the conversation it became evident that her preparation was inadequate, so the following remark was made: "The fact is that the world needs to-day the service which you are offering to it more than ever before. But the trouble is that the work is so difficult and requires such a high degree of preparation if it is to be satisfactorily done. I do not know anything which calls for more skill and better preparation than the tasks which we are discussing."

She looked up in blank astonishment. "O, I supposed that anybody could do those things." Then her face flushed and she said, "Of course I ought to have known better if I had thought, but I never thought."

There are plenty of people who still believe that "anybody" can do the task of training immortal lives whether they have ever given it a moment's study or not. The Almighty has given to most of us talents with which we could do it successfully, but it is our task to develop them so that they become increasingly effective.

The question is largely one of investment. Most people know that they cannot get something for nothing in the business world. But in the religious world we often invest nothing but good inten-

THE NECESSARY INVESTMENT

tions, and expect skill to come as a free gift. Perhaps God could give skill to people who do not develop their talents if he wanted to, but it evidently is against his nature to do so. He will give help generously to all who try to do his work faithfully, but expects that such workers invest their best.

Most of the effective workers whom one meets are not people whose ability came naturally. They are just average people who have given special attention to their work and developed their talents for it. It will surprise many to know how near to their door success may lie if they will devote themselves to a study of their problem. If you wished to become a doctor, or lawyer, or public school teacher, how would you proceed? If you wish to become a Sunday school superintendent or teacher, or some other officer in the church, or a social worker, you will need to follow similar plans. To be sure, you may not be able to afford as much time for one as for the other, but you must invest some, or else it would be better to give up your ambition. The question is, How will you invest your time? How can you invest one, two, or more hours a week more profitably than in the effort to improve your ability in Christian work?

Jesus never spoke very much about rewards as such and yet he did not refuse to discuss the question when he saw there was need. One of the most illuminating instances of this is where the young man whom Jesus loved turned away sorrowful because he had great possessions, and Peter asked, "Lo, we have left all, and followed thee; what then shall we have?" (Matt. 19. 27.) Jesus answered him frankly with the promise of large reward but followed with a parable of warning against working for the sake of reward and closed with these words, "So the last shall be first, and the first last" (Matt. 20. 16).

Every worker knows that his greatest joy is the consciousness of work well done, and that an eye fixed on rewards will mar the work. At the same time great rewards do come, aside from the completion of the task, and men have a right to enjoy them. We give medals to those who save lives from fire or other perils,

THE NECESSARY INVESTMENT

and there must be joy in every heart which feels that some one is living because of his effort. But there is surely a deeper joy in knowing that some one is living a Christian life because of us. The opportunity for this joy comes to Sunday school teachers as it does to few others.

Webster said, "If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds, if we imbue them with principles, with the just fear of God, and love of our fellow men, we engrave on these tablets something that will brighten all eternity."

He was an old man in a small town and the world outside had never heard of his name. But his own heart throbbed and his eye always kindled when he told how years before he had led a boy to the altar and had pointed him to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. For the boy became world-famed as missionary to three continents — Bishop William Taylor.

Give examples from your own observation or reading of men and women who have guided others to greater achievement than they themselves could possibly perform. To whom does the world owe most, in such a case, to the teacher or his pupils?

What will it cost you to become a good teacher? Do you believe that Sunday school teaching is the best place for you to invest the time at your disposal for extra Christian service? Give reasons for your answer.

Name other opportunities in which the same amount of time might be invested. How would you cultivate your talents for this activity?

Do parents get more benefit from their children than children from their parents?

Which receives the greater benefit from the other, the teacher or the pupil?

How much of his time and talent did Jesus invest in teaching?

Can you suggest any plans which would help the teachers in your school to feel more deeply the importance of improving their skill?

THE NECESSARY INVESTMENT

I. "No Quitters Allowed."

II. The price of success.

1. In business.

2. In Christian work.

III. The rewards of investment for skill in teaching and other forms of Christian service.

The Graded Sunday School in Principle

and Practice — Meyer.

The Church School — Athearn. Education in Religion and Morals — Coe. The Efficient Life— Gulick.

Chapter III The Unfolding Life

And he spake to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them: and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth: and straightway they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them: and others fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He that hath ears, let him hear. —Matt. 13. 3-9.

The mystery of life — who can explain it? A young college student is said to have boasted to a farmer that he would not believe anything which he could not explain. "See here, young fellow, will you tell me why the grass in this pasture which the sheep eat makes wool, and the grass which the cows eat makes hair?" Certainly he could not. Some one has called attention to the external similarity of a seed and a pebble. For all that an untrained eye can detect, there may be no difference. Toss them into the air, and both will fall to the ground, but bury them in rich soil, and watch for the difference. The pebble will remain in the ground until some outside force moves it, but the seed by its own inherent strength will lay hold on particles in the soil until it has strength enough to put forth a green shoot above ground. Then day by day it will drink in light and moisture until it develops into a flower, a grain, or a tree.

All life acts upon the same principle. Pebbles and stones can be moved and put wherever some outside agent wishes. But not so with a seed. It can be planted at will, but it cannot be developed except by consulting the laws of its own being. Sunshine, rain, and proper soil, must be provided if a seed is to grow. The human plant, as we know, is far more exacting. It is strange that this fact should ever be lost sight of, and yet nothing is more common than for those who are concerned with the development of human lives to insist upon doing with them as they please, instead of being careful to do what these lives actually crave and will use. For example, you want your baby to become strong. It would better suit your convenience to feed him three times a day just as you eat, and to have him lie perfectly still. But it makes no difference what you may prefer, he will not gain strength unless you feed him oftener, and permit him to stretch his muscles very much as he pleases. That is the law of his life at this stage.

But suppose as he gets older you wish him to be religious. It would be more convenient for you if he came into the same sort of religious experience which you had. Perhaps you sowed wild oats until maturity, and then asked forgiveness in a flood of tears. But, try as you will, religion will not come to a boy that way; it must either come according to the law of his own needs or it will not come at all. Many a man will tell from his own experience how hard he tried as a boy to weep at the altar, when his only sorrow was because he could not quite do what his elders expected of him. He wanted Christ to guide him in his play, to protect him from danger, to lead him to successful manhood, and there was nothing in this to cry about that he could understand. Why should a boy weep if he has little to regret in his past life and wants Jesus Christ to guide him in the future? Present Christian discipleship to such a boy is a great privilege, the very thing he needs for his everyday life, and he will usually accept the opportunity eagerly.

This book is too brief to offer a detailed study of the laws of child life. Its purpose is to introduce you to that field, and to leave the closer study for a later opportunity. The well-educated man is not the one who knows everything — that is impossible — but the one who knows where to lay his hand upon the thing he needs. If the Sunday school worker goes from this book with a sense of need and a knowledge of where to go in order to learn more about his problem, the purpose of the Primer will be accomplished.

Sunday school workers recognize seven distinct age periods in the unfolding life, as follows:

AGE

To 3 years

NAME OF PERIOD

Infancy

Early Childhood Middle Childhood Later Childhood Early Adolescence Middle Adolescence Later Adolescence and Maturity