Principles of TeachingBennion, Adam S. (Adam Samuel)
Religion
Principles of Teaching
Bennion, Adam S. (Adam Samuel)
Religious education
This method is clearly illustrated in the training of "trick" animals.
These creatures through innumerable repetitions are made to do
phenomenal "stunts." In the training for every successful "try" they are
rewarded with a cube of sugar, a piece of candy, or some other
pleasure-producing article; for every miss they are punished--made to
suffer pain or discomfort. This same sort of procedure carries over into
human affairs. Witness the hickory stick and the ruler, or count the
nickels and caresses. Ridicule before the class, and praise for
commendable behavior or performance, are typical of this same method. If
it is followed, and it clearly has a place in the training of children,
care should be exercised to see that in the child's mind in any case
there is clear connection between what he has done and the treatment
that he receives. With some parents it fairly seems as if their one
remedy for all offenses is a tingling in the epidermis--it is equally
clear that with some teachers their one weapon is sarcasm. All too
frequently these measures grow out of unsettled nerves or stirred up
passions, on the part of the parent or teacher, and have really but
little connection--remote at best--with the offense in question. There
may be an abuse in the matter of rewards, too, of course, but as a rule
few classes suffer from too much appreciation. The real art of
discipline lies in making the reward or the punishment naturally grow
out of the conduct indulged in.
3. THE METHOD OF SUBSTITUTION
Because of the fact that some stimuli inevitably lead to discomfort and
disaster--that some conduct is bad--there is need of a method of
substitution. The child's mind needs to be led from the contemplation of
an undesirable course of action to something quite different. Frequently
a child cannot be satisfied with a mere denial, and circumstances may
not be favorable to punishment--yet the correction must be made.
Substitution is the avenue of escape. A striking illustration in point
occurred recently in a cafe in Montana. A trio of foreigners, father,
mother, and two-year-old son, came in and sat down at one of the tables.
Soon after the parents began to eat, the child caught sight of a little
silver pitcher for which he began to beg. Whining and crying, mixed in
with the begging, created a good bit of disturbance. The only attempted
solution on the part of the parents was a series of: "Don't do that!"
"No! no!" "Keep quiet, Marti!" a continued focusing of the child's
attention on what he ought not to do, and an added note to the
disturbance. Then an American across the aisle having surveyed the
situation took out of his pocket a folder full of brightly colored
views. The charm worked beautifully--the meal went on free from
disturbance--and the child was happy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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