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effect which his teaching has produced. It may be requisite sometimes to apply the two methods alternately, over and over again, according to the difficulty of the subject, or the age, ability, and general aptitude of the pupil.

To lay down rules for the combination of these methods would be quite impossible. The circumstances in which a teacher is placed with regard to those whom he has to instruct are so various, that nothing except a correct judgment, joined with experience in his vocation, can serve him as an efficient guide.

Two other methods which may be placed together by way of contrast, are the catechetical method and the method of instruction by lecturing. In the latter method the pupil takes no part, except that of a listener. It is, therefore, little used in schools. The catechetical method, as it is in an especial degree calculated to keep up the attention of children, is the most common form which elementary teaching takes.

The literal meaning of the Greek verb Karnxew (to sound down) has little apparent connection with the sense to which those words are applied which we have derived from it. We assign the term catechetical to the method of teaching by question and answer. Questions may be asked for the purpose of ascertaining whether the pupil has understood and remembered the subject-matter of previous lessons; but this use of the catechetical method pertains rather to examination than teaching. When this method is applied to teaching, the lesson itself is first communicated through the medium of question and answer, the catechist "first instructing his pupils by questioning the meaning into them, and then examining them by questioning it out of them." From what has been said it will be seen that the teacher will at first be obliged either to answer his own questions, or at least to give such information as may lead his scholars to answer them.

*

In schools where the teaching is generally of the catechetical kind, skill in questioning is a qualification of the highest importance. The following hints are offered; and those who desire further information are recommended to consult the valuable work of Archdeacon Bather * on the subject. At the same time it is suggested that no amount of theory can make a good catechist. Considerable practice, joined with great tact and judgment, can alone insure success in the use of this important method of teaching.

With regard to the question it may be remarked—

1. That it should not be above the comprehension of the pupil, either in sense or language. If the question is not understood at first, the teacher should vary its form again and again, if necessary.

2. It should not require a very long answer.

3. It ought not often to be the form which will admit of the monosyllabic answers "yes" and "no:" such answers do not generally afford much exercise for the judgment.

4. The questions in a lesson should, as much as possible, be progressive, forming a connected series from beginning to end.

In reference to the answer, it may be remarked1. That it should be exact and to the point.

2. It should not generally be in a prescribed form of words, but as much as possible in the pupil's own language.

3. The teacher should not tell the answers at once, but should lead his pupils to it from something which is already known to them. He might occasionally use ellipses, leaving the pupil to supply the last few words of the

answer.

4. Except in the case of examination or revisal, the pupil should be allowed sufficient time to think of his

* Published by Rivington and Co.

answer.

hibited.

Random answering should at all times be pro

5. The teacher should not speak in tones of commendation after every correct answer. He should reserve his praise for particular occasions, when a good answer may have been given to a question of more than ordinary difficulty.*

The following extract from the Preface to 'Questions on Patriarchal History,' which may be obtained at the Depository of the National Society, must close our remarks on the catechetical method. After urging the necessity of allowing the child to answer as much as possible in his own words, the writer remarks,

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To give a long answer in words of his own requires a mental effort of which a child is incapable. The proper course, therefore, is to multiply the questions and subdivide the subjects, until the answer is reduced to a single clause of a sentence, which is as much as children can in general compose extemporaneously.

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A fault, occasionally found in catechetical works, although more frequently in viva voce examinations, is, that the questions are not always sufficiently precise, and do not actually call for the information which the scholar is nevertheless most unreasonably expected to communicate. The querist, if himself unexpectedly examined in his own book, would not always be able to divine the bearing of his own question.

"On the other hand, the question sometimes so obviously suggests the answer, as to afford no test whatever of knowledge or intelligence in the scholar.

"A further error is, that the questions in many cases have reference to minutia which it is useless for the scholar

*These hints are similar in substance to the remarks on the catechetical method contained in Ross's Manual of Method (published by Longman and Co.)—a book full of useful matter bearing upon the teacher's vocation.

to remember. To load his memory with innumerable dates, or with the names of persons or places of which he can know nothing but the names, is a cruel waste of time and intellect. And yet there is a strong temptation to such questions, which, however troublesome and annoying to the scholar, are very easy and satisfactory to the teacher."

Other methods of teaching might be mentioned, but their consideration would occupy a larger space than can be afforded in a book like the present, and they would be found, perhaps, to be only, more or less, modifications of the methods which have been already referred to. It may however be suggested to the teacher that he should endeavour to strike out a method of his own, after having first made himself acquainted with the general principles of the art of teaching. It is not desirable that he should confine himself to any particular system, applying it exclusively, without regard to the distinction either of time or place, of persons or circumstances; but that he should rather select from among the various systems in use those plans which his own powers will best allow him to carry out, always keeping before him the great end in view, viz., religious, moral, and intellectual education.

There are yet three points connected with the master's duties as a teacher to which some allusion ought to be made before dismissing the subject of general teaching. These are

1. The plan of requiring children to learn lessons by heart and to follow up their studies at home.

2. The necessity of previous preparation of lessons by the teacher.

3. The uses of the different apparatus of teaching.

With regard to the first point it may be remarked, that of late years the reasoning element in teaching has prevailed almost to the exclusion of the good old practice of "learning by heart." It seems to have been forgotten

that memory is the predominant faculty in children at the age when they usually attend National schools. The power of memory should certainly be cultivated while it continues vigorous, since the necessity for exercising that power diminishes as the reasoning faculties gain strength; and it is not until after the children leave school that the latter powers are developed to any great extent. The teacher may exercise the memory of his pupils without incurring the charge of being insensible to the importance of encouraging habits of thought and a desire to learn the reasons of things. All that is contended for is the proper and sufficient exercise of one of the noblest mental gifts of Providence, which is especially prominent in youth.

In schools which are slenderly provided with monitors and assistants the children of some classes may be engaged in silent preparation of lessons or learning by heart, one of the eldest and most steady of the class being placed over the rest to keep order, while the master is employed in actual teaching. By a judicious arrangement of lessons on this plan, a master with one pupilteacher or monitor will be able to manage a school of fifty or sixty children with tolerable efficiency.

The following is suggested as a routine of home lessons for the upper classes:

Monday, Wednesday, and

Friday evenings.

Tuesday
and

Thursday evenings.

Preparation of "Texts illustrating the Church Catechism" (to be repeated on Tuesday, Thursday, and Monday mornings); and "Definitions of Grammar" (to be repeated on Tuesday, Thursday, and Monday afternoons).

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Preparation of "Hymns for Schools," and Songs for Schools," alternately (to be repeated on Wednesday and Friday mornings); and lessons from "Outlines of Etymology" (to be repeated on Wednesday and Friday afternoons).

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