_9 Chapter 8
CHAPTER VIII THE ORGANIZATION OF MATERIAL The organization of material to adapt it to the learner’s mind and arrange it for the teacher’s use in instruction is hardly less important than choosing the subject matter itself. By organization is meant the plan, order, or arrangement by which the different sections of material are made ready for presentation to the child. The problems of organization may apply either (1) to the _curriculum as a whole_, or (2) to any particular section of it used for _a day’s lesson_.
It is possible to distinguish four different types of organization commonly used in preparing material for religious instruction:
1. The _haphazard_, in which there is no definite plan or order, no thread of purpose or relationship uniting the parts, no guiding principle determining the order and sequence.
2. The _logical_, in which the nature and relationships of the material itself determine the plan and order, the question of ease and effectiveness in learning being secondary or not considered.
3. The _chronological_, applicable especially to historical material, in which the events, characters, and facts are taken up in the order of the time of their appearance and their sequence in the entire situation or account.
4. The _psychological_, in which the first and most important question is the most natural and favorable mode of approach for the learner--how the material shall be planned and arranged to suit his power and grasp, appeal to his interest, and relate itself to his actual needs and experience.
TYPES OF ORGANIZATION
Haphazard organization.--The _haphazard_ plan, which is really no plan at all, is, of course, wholly indefensible. No teacher has a right to go before his class with his material in so nebulous a state that it lacks coordination and purpose. It is this that results in chance and unrelated questions, irrelevant discussions, and fruitless wanderings without definite purpose over the field of the lesson, such as may sometimes be seen in church classes. The outcome of such instruction hardly can be more than occasional, disconnected scraps of information, or fragmentary impressions which are never gathered up and bound together into completed ideals and convictions. The haphazard type of organization may result from incompetence, indifference, and failure to prepare, or from taking a ready-made and poorly prepared plan from the "lesson helps" which is not adapted to our class. Pity the child assigned to a class presided over by a teacher who esteems his privilege so lightly as not to make ready for his task by careful planning.
Logical organization.--In the _logical_ arrangement of material, the first care is not given to planning it in the most favorable way for the one who studies and learns it, but, rather, to fit together the different parts of the subject matter in the way best suited to its logical relationships. The child is pedagogically ignored; the material receives primary consideration. The logical order of material fits the mind of the adult, the scholar, the expert, the master in his field of knowledge; it begins with the most general and abstract truths. But the child naturally starts with the particular and the concrete. It gives rules, principles, definitions, while the child asks for illustrations, applications, real instances, and actual cases. The logical method is adapted to the trained explorer in the fields of learning, to one who has been over the ground and knows all of its details, and not to the young novice just starting his discoveries in regions that are strange to him. The logical plan will teach the young child the general plan of salvation, man’s fall and need of redemption, the wonder and significance of the atonement, and gracious effects of divine regeneration working in the heart--all of which he needs finally to know--but _not as a child just beginning the study of religion_. The child must arrive at the general plan of salvation through realizing the saving power at work in his own life; he must come to understand the fall of man and his need of redemption through meeting his own childhood temptations and through seeing the effects of sin at work around him; he must understand the atonement and regeneration through the present and growing consciousness of a living Christ daily strengthening and redeeming his life.
Chronological organization.--The _chronological_ order of material is desirable at the later stages of the child’s growth and development. But in earlier years the time sequence is not the chief consideration. This is because the child’s historical sense is not yet ready for the concept of cause and effect at work to produce certain inevitable results in the lives of men or nations. The sequence in which certain kings reigned, or the order in which certain events took place, or in which certain books of the Bible were written is not the important thing for early childhood. At this time the great object is to seize upon the event, the character or the incident, and make it real _and vital_; it is to bring the meaning of the lesson out of its past setting and attach it to the child’s immediate present.
Psychological organization.--It is the _psychological_ organization of material that should obtain both in the curriculum as a whole and in the planning of the individual lessons. We must not think, however, that a psychological order of material necessarily makes it illogical. On the other hand, the arrangement of material that takes into account the child’s needs is certain to make it more logical _to him_ than any adult scheme or plan could do. That is most logical to any person which most completely fits into his particular system of thought and understanding.
If we succeed in making our plan of presenting material to the child wholly psychological, therefore, we need not be concerned; all other questions of organization will take care of themselves, and _the psychological will constantly tend to become logical_.
What is meant by a psychological method of arranging material for presentation has already been discussed (Chapter III). Suffice it to say here that it is simply _planning the subject matter to fit the mind and needs of the child_--arranging for the easiest and most natural mode of approach, securing the most immediate points of contact for interest and application, remembering all the time that the child speaks as a child, thinks as a child, understands as a child.
Jesus’ use of the psychological plan.--The teacher who seeks to master the spirit of the psychological presentation of religious material should study the teaching-method of Jesus. Always he came close to the life and experience of those he would impress; always he proceeds from the plane of the learner’s experiences, understanding, and interests. Did he want to teach a great lesson about the different ways in which men receive truth into their lives?--"Behold a sower went forth to sow." Did he seek to explain the stupendous meaning and significance of the new kingdom of the spirit which he came to reveal?--"The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed," or, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal," or, "The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field." And with this simple, direct, psychological, homely mode of approach to great themes Jesus made his hearers understand vital lessons, and at the same time showed them how to apply the lessons to their own lives. So throughout all his teaching and preaching; the lesson of the talents, the prodigal son, the workers in the vineyard, the wedding feast, placing a little child in the midst of them--all these and many other concrete points of departure illustrate the highest degree of skill in the psychological use of material.
ORGANIZATION OF THE CURRICULUM AS A WHOLE The material offered in the curriculum of our church schools is not, taking it in all its parts, as well organized as that in our public day schools. This is in part because the material of religion is somewhat more difficult to grade and arrange for the child than the material of arithmetic, geography, and other school subjects. But it is also because the church school has not fully kept pace with the progress in education of recent times. A century or two ago the day-school texts were not well graded and adapted to children; now, we have carefully graded systems of texts in all school subjects. While the logical and the chronological method of organization still holds a place in many of the public school texts, the psychological point of view, which considers the needs of the child first, is characteristic of all the better schoolbooks of the present. Just because religion is more difficult to teach than grammar or history or arithmetic, we should plan with all the insight and skill at our command to prepare the religious material for our children so that its arrangement will not suffer by comparison with day-school material.
Three types of lesson material.--Material representing three different types of organization and content of curriculum material is now available and being used in our church schools:
1. The _Uniform Lessons_, which are ungraded, and which give (with few minor exceptions) the same topics and material to all ages of pupils from the youngest children to adults.
2. The _Graded Lessons_, which seek to adapt the topics and subject matter to the age and needs of the child, and which therefore present different material for the various grades or divisions of the school. These are usually printed in leaflet or pamphlet form.
3. Real _textbooks of religion_ which are based on the principles used in making day-school texts. The material is divided into chapters, each dealing with some theme or topic adapted to the age of the child, the lessons not being dated nor arranged to cover a certain cycle of subject matter as in the case of the regular lesson series. The books are printed and bound much the same as day-school texts. The uniform lessons.--Although many churches still employ the _Uniform Lessons_, we shall not hesitate to say that no church school is justified in this day of educational enlightenment in using a system of ungraded lessons. Such lessons are planned for adults. They ignore the needs of the child, and force upon him material for which he is in no sense ready, while at the same time omitting matter that he needs and is capable of understanding and using. For example, some of the topics which primary children, juniors, and all alike find in their ungraded lessons of current date are, _man’s fall_, the _atonement_, _regeneration_, the _city of God_, _faith_--splendid topics all, but too strong meat for babes.
Why should we thus ignore the educational progress of the age, starve our children spiritually, and hamper them in their religious development by this obsolete system of education which has been long since outgrown in the public schools? Why should we not ignore tradition, prejudice, and personal preference, where these are in the way, and _let the needs of the child decide_? Why should thousands of church schools to-day be using the Uniform Lessons?
Some use them because they are cheaper; others because they always have used them and do not like the trouble and disarrangement of a change; others because of the doubtful theory of the inspiration that comes from having all the members of the family studying the same lesson at the same time (we do not expect all the family to read or study the same material in other lines); and perhaps others because they have not been accustomed to thinking of religious education following the same principles and laws as other education. But whatever the explanation of the use of the Uniform Lessons in our church schools in the past, let us now see to it that they give way to better material. Let us not be satisfied, even, when the ungraded uniform lessons are "improved"; they should not be improved, but discarded.
Graded lessons.--A large and increasing number of our best church schools are now using some form of graded lesson material based on the topics supplied by the International Lesson Committee. Each great denomination has its own lesson writers, who take these topics and elaborate them into the graded lessons such as we know in the Berean Series, the Keystone Series, the Pilgrim Series, the Westminster Series, etc. All such lesson material, which seeks to adapt the material to the needs of the child as he progresses year by year from infancy to adulthood, is infinitely superior to any form of ungraded material. It is easier and more interesting for the child to learn, less difficult for the teacher to present; and its value in guiding spiritual development immeasurably greater.
Some form of closely _graded lessons_ is the only kind of material which should be used in our church schools; the children have the same need and the same right to material graded and prepared to meet their understanding in religion as in language or in science. But when we employ graded lessons we must make sure that _the child, and not the subject matter; is the basis of the grading_. We must make certain that the writer of the lessons knows the mental grasp, the type of interests, the characteristic attitudes, and the social activities of the child at the different stages, and then arranges the material to meet these needs. We must not simply aim to cover so much biblical material, even if we select it as well as we may to come within the child’s grasp; we must have his real religious needs, his religious growth, and his spiritual development in mind, and provide for these.
Adapting graded lessons to young children.--In the graded series of lessons now most commonly used in the church schools the material is, on the whole, fairly well selected to meet the needs of the _beginners_ and the _primary section_. Interesting stories are told, and much nature material presented. The work is, of course, all presented to the pupils by the teacher, as the children cannot yet read. In some cases the stories used are undoubtedly too difficult, and not a few of them lack the elements of good story-telling.
Yet the instruction usually centers about the topics most needed by the child at this time--the love and care of God both for our lives and in the world of nature about us; the Christ-child and his care for children; lessons of kindness, obedience and love in the home, etc. Because of this directness of appeal the child responds to the material and the teacher finds her task much easier and more fruitful than with the difficult topics of the ungraded lessons.
Graded lessons not all well adapted to ages.--As the graded lessons pass on into the _junior_ age, the adaptation of material is generally less successful than for the primary grades. The topics are based less on the interests and spiritual needs of the child, and more on the material. The lessons for the greater part consist of biblical material only, and are often too difficult for the child to be interested in them or to understand them. No coordinating principle relates the topics to each other, and the material consequently comes to the child in rather disconnected scraps. Too frequently this material, because it belongs to a later stage of development, is without any particular or direct bearing on the learner’s experience, and hence not assimilated into his life. The remedy here is to use a larger proportion of story material, of biography, of lessons from nature, and of such gems of literature as carry a spiritual message suited to the child. The caution is to avoid over-intellectualizing the child’s religious instruction, and to make sure that we do not outrun his rate of development in the material we give him. The same principles should carry over into the intermediate, or preadolescence, age. The hero-worship stage is then, at hand, and the lesson material should be arranged to meet the natural demand of the child for action and adventure. In planning a graded series of lessons it is not less important to meet the needs of the _seniors_, or adolescents, than of the younger pupils. This has not always been accomplished. Here again, as in the earlier years, the immediate interests and needs of the learner are to be the key to the planning of material. A series of unrelated topics dealing with a distant time and civilization, with little or no application to the problems and interests that are now thronging upon the youth, will make small appeal to him. The youth’s growing consciousness of social problems, his interest in a vocation, his increasing feeling of personal responsibility as a member of the family, the community, the church and the brotherhood of men are suggestions of the nature of the topics that should now form the foundation of religious study and instruction.
It is possible that the forgetting of this simple fact in the planning of material for adolescent pupils is one chief reason for the tragic loss of interest in the Sunday school which so often occurs at the adolescent stage.
Text books of religious material.--The _text book_ type of religious material differs more in the organization and arrangement of material than in the subject matter itself. The lessons are not based on a set cycle of biblical material, though, of course, such material is freely used. Usually one topic or theme is followed throughout the text, the number of lessons or chapters provided being intended for one year’s work. The following titles of texts now in use suggest the nature of the subject matter: "God’s Wonder World," "Heroes of Israel," "Heroic Lives," "The Story of Jesus," "The Making of a Nation," "Our Part in the World," "The Story of a Book," "The Manhood of the Master," "Problems of Boyhood," "Social Duties," "The Testing of a Nation’s Ideals."
Beyond question, the material we teach our children in religion should be organized and published as real _books_ and not as paper-covered or unbound serial pamphlets. There is really no more reason why we should divide religious material up into lessons to be dated, and issued month by month, than why we should thus divide and issue material in geography, history, reading, or any other school subject. Children who are accustomed in day schools to well-made, well-bound books, with good paper and clear, readable print, cannot be expected to respond favorably to the ordinary lesson pamphlet. The child should be encouraged and helped in the building of his own library of religious books, but this can hardly be done as long as his church-school material comes to him in temporary form, much of it less attractive on the mechanical side than the average advertising leaflet which so freely finds its unread way to the waste basket.
Many of the Sunday school leaflets carry at the top (or the bottom) of the page an advertisement of the denominational lesson series--matter in which the child is not concerned, which injures the appearance of the page, and which lowers the dignity and value of the publication. And some lesson pamphlets are even disfigured with commercial advertisements, sometimes of articles of doubtful value, and always with the effect of lowering the tone of the subject matter to which it is attached. Religious material printed in worthy book form escapes these indignities. That textbooks in religion will cost more than the present cheap form of material is possible. But what matter! We are willing to supply our children with the texts needed in their day-school work; shall we not supply them with the books required for their training in religion? If the texts prove too much of a financial burden for the children or their parents, there is no reason why the church should not follow the example of the public school district and itself own the books, lending them for free use to the pupils.
Guiding principles.--The principles for the organization of the church-school curriculum, are, then, clear. Its lessons should start with matter adapted to the youngest child. It should present a continuous series of steps providing material of broadening scope adapted to each age or stage from childhood to full maturity. Its order and arrangement should at all times be decided by the needs and development of the learner, and should make constant point of contact with his life and experience. It should be printed in attractive textbook form, the paper, type, illustrations, and binding being equal to the best standards prevailing in public-school texts. In short, we should apply the same scientific and educational knowledge, and the same business ability in preparing and issuing our religious material that we devote to this phase of general education.
ORGANIZING THE DAILY LESSON MATERIAL The teacher’s plan or organization of each lesson for presentation to the class in the recitation is a matter of supreme importance. Even the best and most experienced teachers never reach the point where they do not need to prepare specifically for each recitation. No matter how complete the knowledge of the subject, nor how often one has taught it, there is always the necessity of fitting it directly to the needs and interests of the particular class before us. This preparation should result in a definitely worked out _lesson plan_ which, though it may finally be modified to fit situations as they arise in the class discussion, will nevertheless serve as an outline of procedure for the recitation. Even the teachers’ manual supplied with most of the lesson series cannot take the place of this definite, individual plan prepared by the teacher himself for his immediate class. The lesson plan.--The first step in arranging a lesson plan is to determine the range and amount of material which is to be presented to accomplish the aim of the class hour. This will include the lesson or story from the Bible, nature material, memory work, music, pictures or any other subject matter to be considered. In determining this point the age of the children, the time available, and the nature of the subject must all be taken into account. It is a mistake to attempt more than can be done well, or to try to do so many things that the recitation is too much hurried to be interesting or profitable. The lesson plan should provide for a few chief points or topics, with the smaller points and the illustrations grouped under these. To have many topics receiving the same amount of emphasis in a lesson indicates poor organization. For example, in teaching the lesson of _obedience_ from the Garden of Eden story the material may well be grouped under the following topics: 1. The many good and beautiful things God had given Adam and Eve, 2. There was one thing only which they might not have. 3. Their disobedience in desiring and taking this one thing, 4. Their feeling of guilt and unhappiness which made them hide from God. Under these four general heads will come all the stories, illustrations, and applications necessary to make the lesson very real to children.
Small matters of large import.--Of course the particular questions to be asked and the more immediate applications to be made must await the unfolding of the lesson discussion with the class. Good planning requires, however, that we have a set of pivotal questions thought out and set down for our guidance; and also suggestions for illustrations and applications under the various topics. If expression work is to be used, this should be noted in its proper place, and provision made for carrying it out. In planning for older classes, reference should be made in the plan to special assignments to be made in books, magazines or any other material.
Provision should be made in the plan for a summary at the end of the lesson period, and for the making of the final impression which the class are to carry away with them. Nor must the assignment of the next lesson be forgotten. Probably no small proportion of the characteristic failure of pupils to prepare their lessons comes from lack of definite assignments showing the child just what he is expected to do, and how to do it.
Details of a typical lesson plan.--Let us suppose that we are to teach the lesson of obedience from the story of Adam and Eve to children of early primary age. Our _Lesson Plan_ might be something as follows:
I. _The Aim or Purpose of the Lesson_--OBEDIENCE.
1. Knowledge or information to be given the class-- a. Of the Bible story itself. b. Of the fact that God requires obedience. c. That disobedience brings sorrow and punishment. d. That children owe obedience to parents and teachers.
2. Attitudes, and feeling response to be sought. a. Interest in and liking for the Bible story. b. Appreciation of God’s many gifts to his children. c. Desire to please God with obedience. d. Sorrow for acts of disobedience. e. Respect for authority of home, school and law.
3. Applications to the child’s life and conduct. a. Acts of obedience to God in being kind, cheerful, and helpful to others. b. Cheerful obedience in home and school with no lagging nor ill nature. c. Prayer for forgiveness for any act of disobedience.
II. _Material or Subject Matter to be Presented._ 1. The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden. The version of the story is important. The original from the Bible is too difficult. If the lesson material does not offer the story in satisfactory form, go to one of the many books of Bible stories and find a rendering suited to your class. Be able to tell the story well.
2. Pictures of Adam and Eve in the Garden. Be sure the picture is interesting, well executed, and that it shows attractive and beautiful things.
3. Prayer on obedience. The prayer to be brief and simple, asking God to help each one to obey him and to obey father and mother, and to forgive us when we do not obey.
4. Music.
If possible, the music may correlate with the thought of the lesson. If not, let it be devotional and adapted to the children in words and melody.
5. Handwork or other form of expression material.
Cutting and pasting pictures in notebooks; coloring, or other such work, to be done either in the classroom or at home.
III. _Mode of Procedure--the Presentation, or Instruction._ 1. Greetings to the class--opening prayer and Song of Solomon 2:1-17. Introduction of the lesson and telling of the story.
3. Discussion, questions and illustrations to reveal: a. The many beautiful gifts which God had given Adam and Eve, and which he gives us. b. How Adam and Eve were allowed to have everything except just _one_ thing among many. Application of this thought to child’s life at home, etc. c. How Adam and Eve yielded to temptation and disobeyed. Practical application to child’s life. d. How Adam and Eve felt ashamed and guilty after they had disobeyed God, and how they tried to hide from him. This can be made very real to children. e. How punishment follows disobedience. f. Why we must ask for forgiveness when we have been disobedient.
4. Summary, or brief restatement of chief impressions to carry away, and of applications to be made in the week ahead by the children themselves.
5. Closing prayer and song.
Adapting the lesson plan to its uses.--It is, of course, evident that lesson plans can be made of all degrees of complexity and completeness. With a little practice the teacher can easily decide the kind of plan that best suits himself and his particular grade of work. On the one hand, the plan should not be so detailed as to become burdensome to follow in the lesson hour. On the other hand, it should not be so brief and sketchy as not to bring out the significant elements of the lesson.
Different grades of pupils and different subjects will require different lesson plans. It is probable, however, that the three major heads of "Aims," "Material," and "Mode of Procedure" will prove serviceable in all plan making. While the teacher should have his _plan book_ at hand in the recitation, he must not become its slave, nor allow its use to kill spontaneity and responsiveness in his teaching. Both the subject matter and the day’s plan should be so well mastered that no more than an occasional glance at the details in the plan book will be required. Nothing must be allowed to come between the teacher’s best personality and his class.
1. Have you heard lectures, sermons, or lessons which were constructed after the haphazard plan? Were they easy to follow and to remember? Did they develop a line of thought in a successful way? Do you think that the haphazard type of organization indicates either lack of preparation or lack of ability?
2. Do you definitely try to organize your daily lesson material on a psychological plan? How can you tell whether you have succeeded? Are you close enough to the minds and hearts of your pupils so that you are able to judge quite accurately the best mode of approach in planning a lesson?
3. Do you study the lesson helps provided with your lesson material? Do you find them helpful? If you find that they are not well adapted to your particular class, have you the ability to make the suggestions over to fit your class?
4. Do you make a reasonably complete and wholly definite lesson plan for each lesson? Do you keep a plan book, so that you may be able to look back at any time and see just what devices you have used? If you have not done this, will you not start the practice now?
5. What type of lesson material do you use, uniform, graded, or textbook? Are you acquainted with other series or material for the same grades? Would it not be worth your while to secure supplemental material of such kinds?
6. Do you read a journal of Sunday school method dealing with problems of your grade of teaching? If day-school teachers find it worth while to read professional journals, do not church-school teachers need their help as much? If you do not know what journals to secure, your pastor can advise you. FOR FURTHER READING Strayer, A Brief Course in the Teaching Process, chapter XVI.
Betts, Class Room Method and Management, chapter VIII.
Earhart, Types of Teaching.