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CHAPTER V.

METHOD OF TEACHING.-ENGLISH.

Object of each Ordinary Lesson-Transference of Author's Ideas to Pupil's Mind-This done by taking first the leading Thoughts, and then the Details-Preparation by Teacher-Both Replenishes and Interests Him-His duty to Form the Mind, as well as Instruct it-Exercises must be Pertinent to the Lesson-Art of Reading not to be sacrificed to Acquirement of General Knowledge-But the one to subserve the other-Short Lessons necessary Schoolmasters in Three Counties peculiarly Favoured for realizing Good Teaching-Improvement of late Years-Exertions and Letter of old Schoolmaster-Reference to Examples.

THE general objects of the system of Parochial Education in Scotland, and the nature of the instruction by which the attainment of these objects is, or ought to be sought, have already been referred to, and partly exhibited, as drawn by the hands of two eminent Clergymen.

Without attempting to add anything to what is stated in the preceding chapter, the Reporter will now proceed to submit such remarks as have occurred to him in relation to the mode of teaching the several branches of education taught in

Parochial Schools, premising, that the observations at the beginning of each subject, embody what he conceives should be aimed at or avoided; and the Extracts from Reports of his Visits are to be read with reference to those observations, and as showing in what degree the practice has approximated towards, or receded from, the standard to which the Teacher ought, it is conceived, to aspire.

In descending, then, to a more particular inquiry respecting the best means of rendering the instruction efficient, and conducive, in the highest degree, to its end, it will be useful to ascertain, at the outset, what is the thing to be aimed at in the teaching of each ordinary lesson; and it will be necessary here to limit our view, for the time, exclusively to the daily lesson, without reference to its bearing upon the general scope and end of the pupil's education. It will be kept in view, that although this and some of the following chapters bear the title of " English," the remarks which these chapters contain are, in many respects, applicable to all the subjects of moral and intellectual instruction.

The Teacher's object, then, is to teach both reading, and the use of reading; and the correct idea of the complete teaching of a lesson is, that the substance of it shall be transferred to the pupil's mind so effectually, as to make it his own, independently of the lesson-book, and of the actual words in which it may there be couched. This is the proper and immediate object of every

ordinary reading lesson, viz., that the ideas of the author who is read, are to be conveyed to the pupil, in such sort, that the latter shall possess, and be able to use those ideas as a part of his own acquired and mastered knowledge.

It will be found, upon reflection, that this object the transference of the author's ideas to the pupil-will be best attained by a process analogous to that of composition, seizing first the grand outline and leading heads of the subject, and finding, through these as conductors, the subordinate details and illustrations. This is the inverse of the process of invention or discovery, which rises from the minute to the comprehensive; but it is the form in which matured thought naturally arranges and embodies itself, in the exercise of that generalization, which, in its high degree, is an attribute of minds of the greatest power. The more faithfully this process is adhered to, the greater facility will both Teacher and pupil acquire in readily and thoroughly apprehending the author's ideas in their full scope.

It is plain, that in this manner a thorough knowledge must be acquired of the matter of what is read, and that, as judgment and discrimination must be used in distinguishing that portion of the ideas, which forms the leading and prevailing matter of the piece, from those which are merely incidental and illustrative, this exercise is necessarily of such a penetrating and intellectual character, as to confer upon the mind which performs it a thorough possession of the substance of the

author's thoughts, irrespectively of the author's words, which form merely the dress in which those thoughts are clothed.

Such being the object at which (with a limited reference for the present to each lesson) the Teacher is to aim, he will best accomplish it by previously himself performing the process above described, and so acquiring a thorough mastery of the lesson. Without such a mastery, it is impossible that he can intelligently and effectually instruct his pupils. How can he put questions, or make instructive remarks, unfolding and simplifying the author's object and sense, if he have not himself ascertained where the cardinal points of the author's meaning lie? He is a slave to the mere words, if he have not extracted for himself the essence of the thought which they contain; and his instructions, therefore, will, in the case supposed, only relate to the words; for these instructions cannot rise higher than his own conceptions.

There is, therefore, a necessity for careful preparation on the part of the Teacher; and his preparation will have a twofold direction. On the one hand, by a minute dissection of the piece, he will collect the author's design, and separate the leading ideas from the subordinate, gathering up the mutually reflected lights which the different parts of a composition yield to a close inspection, and arranging the thoughts in their natural order of relative dependence. Having thus exhausted whatever the passage itself may offer for its own exposition, he will also resort to

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such means and appliances as are within his reach for obtaining illustrations, explanations, enlarged views of special points, parallel or contrasted passages,-every thing, in short, that may contribute to determine and elucidate the author's meaning, and gain more ready access, and a surer place for his ideas in the pupil's mind. sources whence such aids may be obtained will readily suggest themselves. Every department of a Teacher's reading may be made more or less subservient to this interesting application. Above all, in pursuance of what has been shown to be the grand object of the Parochial System of instruction, it will be his object to shed upon the ordinary lesson such illustration, and connect it with such truths, as may be pertinently drawn from the Holy Scriptures, and thus to form his pupils' minds to the invaluable habit of resorting for aid and light to the records of Divine truth.

In estimating the advantage to a Teacher of such a habit of preparation as has been described, it would give an inadequate conception to take into account only the additional matter and enlarged knowledge he thus brings to bear upon the lesson. He is not only more thoroughly master of the subject which he is to teach, but he comes with a mind just replenished, refreshed with new ideas, and excited to interest by inquiry and reflection. Those who have had experience know, that this condition is the most favourable for successful teaching, and that a Teacher's mind cannot be interested in the subject on which he is em

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