A brief course in the teaching process

by George D. Strayer

Education aims not only to enable one to avoid error, to discover truth, and to equip him with desirable habits, but also to develop the power to appreciate and to enjoy that which is beautiful, whether in literature, painting, sculpture, art, or music. It is not enough that a man be able to make a living; he ought, as a result of his education, to be able to enjoy life. Matthew Arnold’s definition of culture, “the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world,” embodies much that is essential in modern education. The ability to enjoy a drama of Shakespeare, a picture of Millet, or an opera of Wagner, means the possibility of noble pleasure, of leisure time spent in such a way that inspiration and strength, instead of possible waste, or, even worse, degradation and weakness, result. It is, then, a vital part of our school work to give opportunity for and to encourage in every way possible the development of power of appreciation.

Some of our schoolroom exercises ought to aim primarily to develop power of appreciation in the several fields mentioned above. Not that appreciation can be taught directly, but because there are conditions which are negative in their influence. No one will ever learn to appreciate music or literature or art because some one tells him that he ought and that this is worthy and that unworthy. This sort of teaching will result in hypocrisy and cant. On the other hand, the best guarantee of development along these lines is found in association with those who do genuinely appreciate. It is in this fact that we find our first suggestion for work of this kind.

Do not try to teach any one else to enjoy that which you do not fully appreciate yourself. The fundamental qualification for the teacher is power to appreciate. She must enjoy to the full that which she hopes to make appear beautiful in the eyes of her pupils. It is useless to ask children to enjoy one of Stevenson’s child rhymes, if you find yourself unable to enter into the spirit of the poem. Pictures may be hung on the wall and religiously taught; but children will not want to buy good pictures, nor are they apt to frequent the art galleries, unless they have associated with those for whom pictures are a genuine source of pleasure. The best preparation for the teacher who feels that her teaching is inadequate in those phases of her work which involve appreciation is to plan to do what she can to insure her own growth in this particular. Read more poetry, and especially read it with those who derive great pleasure therefrom, if you wish to teach poetry better. If you are familiar with the great musicians, and have through your acquaintance with their work developed some measure of appreciation for this type of expression and for the method by which the musician has been able to build up his wonderful composition, then you may rest assured that your pupils will not find music uninteresting.

The question most frequently asked concerning the teaching of those subjects in which we seek to develop appreciation is whether one must command the technique involved in creation in order to grow in power to enjoy the work of the masters. For example, must one be able to read music in order to appreciate music; must one be able to state the rhetorical excellence of Stevenson’s narratives in order to enjoy his stories; is it essential that one fully appreciate the technique of painting in order to get the most out of Corot? In general, the answer is that such knowledge of technique may either help or hinder one in his actual power of appreciation. It will hinder, if the consideration of technique is constantly uppermost in one’s mind; it will help in so far as knowledge of technique gives one the feeling of excellence or perfection of form, provided always that it is this beauty of the product which most engages the attention, and that interest in technique is subsidiary. To express the same idea in another way: if one’s knowledge of technique makes him overcritical or oversensitive, he is apt to lose all enjoyment in his concentration upon the technique, in looking for weaknesses, or in his feeling of discomfort because of imperfection. What significance, it may be asked, has this for our teaching? Mainly this, that we must remember that appreciation is in large measure a matter of the emotions, and that any attempt to overintellectualize the process will defeat the end we desire to secure.

There is no other kind of work in which the attitude of the individual at the beginning of the exercise is as important. There is a story told of a teacher who wished to teach a beautiful poem, the burden of which was the beauty of kindness to birds. She began with the birds that the children knew—sparrows. In a short time the children developed the notion, and very justly, that sparrows were a pest, that they had driven away our song birds, and that it would be a good thing to exterminate them. The children were ready to go forth to the slaughter; and then came the poem with its admonition to kindness toward birds. These children would, of course, have been more impressed had this preparatory work been omitted entirely. Very frequently for work of this kind, the very best preparation is found in placing children directly in contact with that which you hope to have them appreciate. Read the poem, play the music, expose the picture to view, and allow them to do their work. Later a somewhat more detailed treatment, possibly involving many repetitions, will give opportunity for increased appreciation.

Children should not be forced to give expression to the feeling awakened. The teacher may accept gladly such expression as comes spontaneously. She may at times ask for a selection of the part most enjoyed. Especially to be avoided are expressions such as: “Don’t you think this beautiful?” “Don’t you enjoy this?” and the like. Children under such stimulation are apt to say that they enjoy whether they do or not. They are just as anxious to do the right thing as are some of their elders. To be constantly directed, always told what to admire, means lack of confidence in one’s own ability to judge of excellence, or, even worse, the attitude of the hypocrite who admires that which he thinks it fashionable to favor. It is probably safer to judge of the success of work of this kind by the expression on the faces of the children than by the words you may persuade them to use.

In a lesson of this type the teacher does the best work when she acts as interpreter. Success depends not so much upon initiative on the part of the children as upon the ability of the teacher to sympathize with the childish point of view, and to lead them to greater heights by the force of suggestion growing out of her own joy in that which she presents. It is by voice, by gesture, by suggestion, and by explanation,—in all, by providing the most favorable opportunity possible for appreciation, keeping herself as much as possible in the background,—that the teacher makes provision for the development of this power by children.

Much is gained in power of appreciation by giving opportunity for creative work on the part of children. The group of children who have composed a song, and who have labored diligently to make the music which they have written fit the spirit and rhythm of the words, will find a new meaning in the lullaby which they are asked to learn to-morrow. Music will mean so much more than pitch, time, notes of different value, and the like. Through their own attempt they will have realized in the best possible way the fact that the music of the song is intended to express feeling in harmony with the words that they sing. The child who has attempted to draw a landscape will by virtue of that fact grow in power to enjoy the landscape placed on the wall for his enjoyment. And so for any other field in which we seek to develop power of appreciation; to attempt to create for himself will give the child a better understanding of the elements which go to make up excellence, and the contrast between his own effort and that of the master will greatly enhance the value of the latter in his eyes.

Thus far in our discussions of the lesson for appreciation we have interpreted it to mean the development of the æsthetic emotions. There is another sort of appreciation which involves rather more of the intellectual element, but which, so far as teaching method is concerned, may probably be treated to greatest advantage in this same connection. Indeed, there are cases, as in literature, where both elements are involved. In the study of a drama of Shakespeare we are concerned not only with the beauty of expression, but quite as much with the portrayal of the lives of men and women as they have acted and reacted on each other in their common environment. In history we have this drama extended to include a nation or the nations of the world in their relations to each other. In either case we have the record of cause and effect, an account of social experience fundamentally akin to our own. Appreciation here involves the ability to follow the logical relations which are recorded. In proportion as one becomes aware of the motives which have actuated men, the relationships which have existed among them, the organization and outcome of their activities, he has widened his own experience. This possibility of a vicarious extension of the child’s social experience is one of the reasons for giving history and literature a place in our school curriculum.