Principles of TeachingBennion, Adam S. (Adam Samuel)
Religion
Principles of Teaching
Bennion, Adam S. (Adam Samuel)
Religious education
Having listed the native tendencies generally, we might well now
consider them as they manifest themselves at the various stages of an
individual's development. As already indicated, they constitute his
birthright as a human being, though most of them are present in the
early years of his life only in potentiality. Psychologists of recent
years have made extensive observations as to what instincts are most
prominent at given periods. Teachers are referred particularly to the
volumes of Kirkpatrick, Harrison, and Norsworthy and Whitley. In this
latter book, pages 286, 287, and 298-302, will be found an interesting
tabulation of characteristics at the age of five and at eleven. For the
years of adolescence Professor Beeley, in his course at the Brigham
Young Summer School, in the Psychology of Adolescence, worked out very
fully the characteristics unique in this period, though many of them, of
course, are present at other stages:
CHARACTERISTICS UNIQUE IN THE ADOLESCENT PERIOD
1. Maturing of the sex instincts.
2. Rapid limb growth.
3. Over-awkwardness.
4. Visceral organs develop rapidly (heart, liver, lungs, genital
organs.)
5. Change in physical proportions; features take on definite
characteristics.
6. Brain structure has matured.
7. Self-awareness.
8. Personal pride and desire for social approval.
9. Egotism.
10. Unstable, "hair-trigger," conflicting emotions.
11. Altruism, sincere interest in the well-being of others.
12. Religious and moral awakening.
13. New attitude.
14. Aesthetic awakening.
15. Puzzle to everybody.
16. Desire to abandon conventionalities, struggle for self-assertion.
17. Career motive.
18. Period of "palling" and mating; clique and "gang" spirit.
19. Positiveness,--affirmation, denial.
20. Inordinate desire for excessive amusement.
21. Evidence of hereditary influences.
22. "Hero worship," castle building.
23. "Wanderlust."
24. Hyper-suggestibility.
25. Ideals; ambitions.
27. Yearning for adult responsibility.
Having listed these tendencies we still face the question, "What shall
we do with them? What is their significance in teaching?"
It is perfectly clear, in the first place, that we ought not to ignore
them. None of them is wholly useless, and few of them can safely be
developed just as they first manifest themselves. They call for training
and direction.
"Some instincts are to be cherished almost as they are; some rooted
out by withholding stimuli, or by making their exercise result in
pain or discomfort, or by substituting desirable habits in their
place; most of the instincts should be modified and
redirected."--(_Thorndike._)
Our concern as teachers ought to be that in our work with boys and
girls, men and women, we are aware of these natural tendencies that we
may work with them rather than contrary to them--that we may "follow the
grain" of human nature.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account