How to Teach Religion - Principles and Methods

George Herbert Betts

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• Publié par: edwoe
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 22
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg eBook, How
to Teach Religion, by George
Herbert Betts
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Title: How to Teach Religion
Principles and Methods
Author: George Herbert Betts
Release Date: May 8, 2005 [eBook #15800]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO TEACH
RELIGION***

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The Abingdon Religious Education Texts
David B. Downey, General Editor
COMMUNITY TRAINING SCHOOL SERIES NORMAN E. RICHARDSON, Editor
HOW TO TEACH RELIGION
PRINCIPLES AND METHODS
BY
GEORGE HERBERT BETTSTHE ABINGDON PRESS
NEW YORK CINCINNATI
1926

DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO HAVE IN THEIR KEEPING THE
RELIGIOUS DESTINY OF AMERICA—THE TWO MILLION
TEACHERS IN OUR CHURCH SCHOOLS.
CONTENTS
I. The Teacher Himself 13
Importance of the teacher—Three types of teachers—The
personal factor in teaching religion—Developing the power of
personality—The cultivatable factors in personality—A scale
for determining personality—The teacher's mastery of subject-
matter—Methods of growth—Fields of mastery demanded—
Service and rewards—Problems and questions.
II. The Great Objective 30
Two great objectives in teaching—Making sure of the greater
objective—Teaching children versus teaching subject-matter—
Subject-matter as a means instead of an end—Success in
instruction to be measured in terms of modified life, not of
material covered—The goal of a constantly developing
Christian character and experience—Problems for discussion.
III. The Fourfold Foundation 42
What the four-fold foundation consists of: (1) right aims, (2)
right materials to reach these aims, (3) right organization of this
material for instruction, (4) right presentation in instruction—
The aim of teaching religion is (1) fruitful knowledge, (2) right
religious attitudes and growing consciousness of God, (3)
power and will to live righteously—Selecting subject-matter to
meet these ends—Principles of organization of material—The
problem of effective presentation—Questions for discussion.
IV. Religious Knowledge of Most Worth 58
Not all religious knowledge of equal value—What determines
value of knowledge—Kind of knowledge needed by child—
Developing the child's idea of God—Harm from wrong
concepts of God—Giving the child the right concept of religion
—The qualities by which religion should be defined to the child
—The child's knowledge of the Bible; of the church; of religious
forms of expression—Problems and questions.V. Religious Attitudes to be Cultivated 76
The meaning of religious attitudes—These attitudes lie at the
basis of both motives and character—Importance of the pupil's
attitudes toward the church school and class—Enjoyment of
the lesson hour and the growth of loyalty—The sense of
mastery necessary to mental and spiritual growth—The
grounding of a continuous interest in the Bible and religion—
Growth in spiritual warmth and responsiveness—The
cultivation of ideals—The training of fine appreciations—
Worthy loyalties and devotions—Clearness of God-
consciousness—Questions and problems.
VI. Connecting Religious Instruction With Life and Conduct 91
Religious instruction must carry across to life and conduct—
Hence necessity of finding practical outlet in expression for
feelings, ideals, emotions and attitudes resulting from
instruction—The setting up of certain religious habits—
Expression in connection with the life of the church—
Expression in the home life—Expression in the community and
public school life—Expression in worship and the devotional
life—Problems for discussion.
VII. The Subject Matter of Religious Education 109
The Bible the great source-book of religious material—Yet
much material other than biblical required—Principles for the
selection of material from the Bible—Biblical material for early
childhood; for later childhood; for adolescence—Story material
and its sources—Materials from nature—Materials from history
and biography—Picture material for religious teaching—
Religious music for children—Questions and problems.
VIII. The Organization of Material 129
Four different types of organization—Organization applied (1)
to the curriculum as a whole, (2) to individual lessons—
Haphazard organization—Logical organization—
Chronological organization—Psychological organization—
Three types of curriculum organization: (1) Uniform lessons, (2)
Graded lessons, (3) text books of religion—Organizing daily
lesson material—Typical lesson plans—Problems for
discussion.
IX. The Technique of Teaching 148
Teaching that sticks—Attention the key—Types of appeal to
attention—The control of interest—Interest and action—Variety
and change as related to interest—Social contagion of interest
—The prevention of distractions—The control of conduct—
Danger points in instruction—Establishing and maintaining
standards—Questions and problems.
X. Making Truth Vivid 165
Vividness of impression necessary to lasting value—The
whole mind involved in religion—Learning to think in religion—
Protecting children against intellectual difficulties—The appeal
of religion to the imagination—Guiding principles for the
religious imagination—The use of the memory in religion—Laws of memory—How to memorize—Problems for
discussion.
XI. Types Of Teaching 183
The several types of lessons for religious instruction—The
informational lesson—The use of the inductive lesson—The
deductive lesson in religion—The application of drill to
religious teaching—The lesson in appreciation—Conducting
the review lesson—How to make the lesson assignment—
Questions and problems.
XII. Methods Used in the Recitation 201
Methods of procedure for the lesson hour—The use of the
topical method—Place and dangers of the lecture method—
Securing participation from the class—The question method—
Principles of good questioning—The treatment of answers—
The story method—Guiding principles in story teaching—The
teaching method of Jesus—Jesus the embodiment of all
scientific pedagogy—Questions and problems.
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
The teacher of religion needs to be very sure of himself at one point. He
ought to be able to answer affirmatively the question, "Have I the prophetic
impulse in my teaching?" Sooner or later, practical difficulties will "come not
singly but by battalions," and the spirit needs to be fortified against
discouragement. When driven back to the second or third line defense it is
important that such a line really exists; the consciousness of being the
spokesman for God makes the teacher invulnerable and unconquerable.
But in order that this divine impulse may attain its greatest strength and find
the most direct, articulate, and effective expression, the teacher must know how
as well as what to teach. The most precious spiritual energy may be lost
because improperly directed or controlled. Unhesitating insight into the solution
of practical problems helps to open up a channel through which the prophetic
impulse can find fullest expression.
There is no substitute for mastery of the technique of the teaching process.
Prayerful consecration cannot take its place. This ready command of the
methods of teaching, on the other hand, is in no sense an equivalent of the
consciousness of having been "called" or "chosen" to teach religion. The two
must go hand in hand. No one who feels himself divinely appointed for this
sacred task dares ignore the responsibility of becoming a "workman not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
This volume by Dr. Betts offers the earnest teacher of religion an exceptional
opportunity to make more effective his ideal of instruction. The treatment
applies the best of modern educational science to the problems of the church
school, without, however, for a moment, forgetting that a vital religious
experience is the final goal of all our teaching.
Besides setting forth the underlying principles of religious teaching in a clear
and definite way, the author has included in every chapter a rich fund of
illustration and concrete application which cannot fail to prove immediatelyhelpful in every church classroom. It is also believed that students of religious
education will find this treatment of method by Professor Betts the most
fundamenta