There are certain heresies of common speech. One is, that a man can be
only what he is born to be. Apply it to the teacher’s art and it is a
heresy. The majority of men and women can become teachers if only they
will be at pains to become familiar with the secrets of the science,
study with care the best models in books, and as often as may be come
into contact with the best living teachers. There is such a thing as
_the teaching process_. We outline some needful steps in that process.
_The first is adaptation._ By it we do not mean the adaptation of the
lesson to the pupil; that belongs to the teacher’s preparation. We
mean _adaptation of the teacher to the pupil_; such a coming together
of teacher and pupil as shall cause them to agree, be in harmony, _fit
to_—that is, be adapted to each other. This adaptation must be,
1. _In the matter of knowledge._ The teacher knows much more than the
pupil. His knowledge is his treasury. From it he draws in his work as a
teacher. That which he draws must be fitted to his pupil’s want, else
it is valueless. He must therefore learn what the pupil knows, and
work along the line of that knowledge. In such a process they become
companions, and the teacher can lead the pupil almost at will. With
adaptation of knowledge—progress: without it—nothing.
2. _In the matter of personality._ The teacher and pupil who meet but
once each week, must meet on the plane of a common personality, or
their meeting will be vain. This is something finer than adaptation of
knowledge to knowledge. It is adaptation of heart to heart. It makes
teacher and pupil for the time of their intercourse in class absolutely
one. Teacher and pupil forget that either one or the other, no matter
which, is either rich or poor, well or ill dressed, old or young,
graceful or awkward, wise or ignorant, clever or stupid, and remember
only that each is the other’s hearty friend. This is one of the highest
possible acquirements of the teacher’s art, and the one who possesses it
has the gift of soul-winning.
3. _In the matter of thought._ As the former is the secret of
soul-winning, this is the secret of soul-feeding. The average scholar is
a poor thinker. He thinks that he thinks, but his is not his teacher’s
thinking. It is the ploughing of the ancients. It only scratches the
surface of the soil: and the human heart is too hard and barren to be
made productive of divine fruit by any such process. This essential goes
deeper than the other two. Its burden is to answer how shall the pupil
be brought to think on Bible themes as the teacher thinks. This is the
teacher’s most difficult problem. Its solution is possible through
community of thought, or an adaptation of the teacher’s way of thinking
to the pupil’s way of thinking.
The three essentials enumerated are possible,
1. Through a close and intimate acquaintance with the pupil. (_a_)
_Socially_; (_b_) _religiously_; (_c_) _literarily_; (_d_) _in business
relations_; (_e_) _Biblically_. Let the student give a reason why
knowledge in these particulars would bring teacher and pupil together.
2. Through personal sympathy with the pupil in (_a_) cares; (_b_) hopes;
(_c_) fears; (_d_) temptations; (_e_) joys; (_f_) pursuits. Let the
student give an illustration showing how adaptation of person to person
could be produced by such sympathies.
3. Through occasional study with the pupil of the appointed Bible
lesson—to show how (_a_) to select the most available part for study;
(_b_) to arrange it harmoniously; (_c_) to outline it; (_d_) to show its
relations to other scriptures; (_e_) to trace its historic connections;
(_f_) to understand its obscure allusions or phrases. Let the student
show that adaptation of thought to thought or mutuality of thought would
result from such study.