No poet, painter, sculptor, builder, musician, writer or worker of any kind has ever done abiding work who did it apart from the spirit. It is a child’s nature to sing, play, dance or reproduce in some way that which impresses him. Impressions must be expressed in order to become a part of us. If the deeds of Siegfried, King Alfred or George Washington impressed the child he will tell about the hero that he admires. Here the wise teacher finds a basis for his formal work. The interest the child has in the deeds of his hero will tide him over the otherwise drudgery of spelling, composition and language forms. The heroic spirit of the hero has become his and he is not afraid of the task. Furthermore, the love he has for the hero makes the story he tells, writes, or the picture he makes of him a sacred task. He must do justice to the ideal hero. The teacher who telling a story has not gotten so near to the hero that he feels the sacredness of his life has not reached the heart of his story. There is no pattern process or method by which this may be done. Day after day as he tells the life story of a great hero he will catch something of the spirit of the man.
To retell a story is not to reproduce the language word for word, just as it was first told, but to recreate it from your view point. When the child tells a story therefore do not stop him and say, “you did not mention so and so,” breaking up the mental picture process and confusing the child with non-essential facts such as pronunciation, incorrect grammar and so on. Nothing could be more deleterious and destructive to the creative spirit. Put yourself in the child’s place. Could you tell a story if in your presence there was a superior to criticise your words and pronunciation?
No, let the child have the floor. It is his audience. He is responsible for their attention. Stand with head uncovered in the presence of this child artist and orator. Through the story he is giving back to you the world as he sees it and understands it, creating it afresh and telling what it means to him. When you told the story to him it was your message to him; now it is his message to you and to the class. Gradually, as he retells and reproduces stories, the artistic sense grows upon him,—unity, essential points, climax, finish and so on. Naturally as the child gives back his story he will leave out some points originally in the story, they are not essential to his purpose, he is giving his interpretation, and enlarging upon others and actually bringing in new points not originally in the story, but essential to his view point.
The teacher who with rude hands stops the child and says “That is not the way it is in the book or the way I told it,” makes of the child an imitator and not a creator; thwarts at the very outset one of the greatest educational advantages of story reproduction. We do not want to make the child tell a story as the teacher would, but in his own way thereby giving to his work individuality. He is a separate ego and through his personality is giving a new relation of the Divine. Day by day as he hears the teacher and the children of his class tell stories he will get standards of comparison by which he may measure his own work and improve it. Correct grammar and pronunciation? yes, but not here. The speaker, preacher or orator makes mistakes, but he would despise you, and the audience would be disgusted, if you stopped him in his speech to correct grammar. His message and the atmosphere he brings are the essentials. All else should be forgotten for the time. So it should be with the child before the class. He is the orator to reveal to you and the class the world as he sees it. For the time being sit at his feet and help him produce the atmosphere necessary for the telling of the story.
Art comes from within, not from without. Do not force, do not fuss; be quiet; wait for the child to hear the still small voice within. At first he may be timid; it is an untried world for him. He, it is true, has caught glimpses of storyland, seen its beauty and felt its enchantment, but others were leading him. Now he must lead others. As he tries he discovers that he and storyland are somehow very near to each other. As he spreads the wings of his imagination, to his delight, he can fly like Peter Pan, leap and run in this storyland. And soon he will be in the wigwam with Hiawatha or sailing the high seas with Ulysses or slaying the dragon with Siegfried. Such work comes both to child and teacher like a benediction. And the teacher remembers and sees new meaning in the words of the Hebrew prophet “And a little child shall lead them.”
EDUCATIONAL STORY TELLING
BY DR. CHARLES A. McMURRAY
Good story-telling is no longer a matter of mere entertainment. It is steadily growing into an important instrument of education. Children in earlier years, before they can use books freely and independently, are capable of receiving a strong contribution to their spiritual life and equipment by hearing the rehearsal in fitting form, of the world’s best stories. It is not merely that in this manner many of the large culture ideas can best be transmitted from generation to generation, but the mental awakening, the planting of seed-thoughts, the stimulation of mental energies are brought about. The monotony and drudgery of school work are apt to produce a sluggish mental life; the oral handling of the best stories is like a trumpet call to many a young soul awakening it out of its sluggishness and putting the vital forces into a stronger movement. It is first of all necessary that teachers should catch this spirit and receive the full force of this awakening, but a study of the stories themselves have proven in many cases to produce this result.