The plea for a more unified curriculum, a more rational mode of approach, a more scientific method of procedure in organizing the school life of our little children is growing in intensity. It demands that the experiences and activities of the children be given fair play; that in order to enable their reactions to be the best possible, they be permitted to deal with real situations in school as they do elsewhere and to profit by their rich social inheritance. Much of this social inheritance is expressed in art form, in painting, sculpture, rhythm, song, poetry, story and drama. These are as much the privilege of every child as are the more obvious elements of! his social inheritance, the economic and industrial. They should be equally taken for granted. This thought has been incidentally expressed before, but it is so far-reaching in its effects that it deserves to be given expression for its own sake. So long as art expression is considered a luxury rather than a necessity, the lives of children and mature people alike must be more meager and limited, less resourceful, convincing and rebounding than the promise of their original nature and the richness of their social inheritance warrant or justify.
Literature deals with all phases of human experience; it is a source of inspiration; it lends zest and dignity to labor ; it expresses man's attempt to interpret the phenomena of nature; it clothes general truths in allegorical garb ; it shows human nature and nature in relation ; it enters into every activity of human life ; it conveys ethical standards of conduct in impersonal setting, thus constituting itself a force in the initiatory steps toward improvement of individual, personal conduct by furnishing objectives to be realized.
Reading and literature are closely related in that reading, like oral language, is a vehicle by means of which literature is conveyed from generation to generation. Here- in lies the responsibility of using reading with small children as well as with older ones for the purposes of this transmission, rather than for the manipulation of value- less material required of them until recently.
It is never too early to grow a taste for good literature. Is this not proven by the appreciation which even two- and three-year old children show for Mother Goose rhymes and simple, cumulative folk tales? Unless this stimulus is applied at an early age, a most valuable opportunity is neglected; it may never recur. A case illustrating this point Is that of an intelligent man above the age of thirty, who had never read poetry and who, realizing this fact, could not compel himself into a fondness for and an appreciation of this form of literature.
It is in early childhood, not at a set time in an isolated period, but in close contact with all child experiences and activities, that the treasures of literature must be made accessible to the mind and heart, and by the process of absorption, as it were, be permitted to influence the life. The inheritance of literary treasures is so great, that only the best need be used. Even by the exercise of some elimination there is no danger of exhausting the supply, not though the life be one of four score years and ten.
The esthetic value of literature must never be lost sight of. Literature must never become primarily a device for didactic teaching. However, the ethical value of literature is great, not merely because it holds up to the child high ideals and some of the best creations of man's brain. The love of literature may easily become an appetite merely, unless it becomes, as it were, part of the marrow of our bones. The opportunities for translating the ideals it presents into terms of human conduct are superior to the ordinary direct method because of the impersonal character of the appeal. To illustrate: A group of children is studying the King Arthur legends, reading Tennyson and other versions imbued with the atmosphere of the times. In the process of representing the story, characters are chosen not on the basis of who can render the best 'performance,' but on the basis of who will derive the greatest benefit from such an impersonation. 'Suppose a shy, loose-jointed, slouchy boy is selected for the part of King Arthur. Under the demand of the part, the boy begins to stand erect and to carry himself with a measure of the dignity required. If he does not, his companions remind him of his deficiency not in his private capacity, but as representative of the character chosen, bringing about the desired effect. Here is the teacher's opportunity in private to offer a fruitful suggestion: "You did splendidly. Do you realize how well you stood, spoke, looked? How you made the others play up to your part? How easy it would be to do this every day? How much it would help you in class, in getting a job, in business? etc., etc." Thus an ideal conceived by impersonation from literature may become fruitful by changing for the better many personal habits. In this manner does dramatization become educational. Illustrations of this type might be multiplied indefinitely.
Here is another suggestion. Do not insist continually upon children's 'telling the story back' to you as a language exercise. This practice vitiates the main purpose of a good story. Let the children live the story, let them play it, creating their conversation as they go along or using that of the book. They will get all the language exercise necessary out of this and get it more sanely. Also, if you wish the story retold, have the child retell it as one character in the story, telling only what has come within the experience of that particular character. By thus representing one at a time the main characters, you will 'get back' the essentials. You will get a great deal more. Instead of a parrot-like repetition of the story, you will get from every child original thinking, a projection of himself into a new situation, a reconstruction of the story from a different angle and an exercise in discrimination and judgment worth immeasurably more than mere reproduction. Applied to the story of The Wolf and the Three Little Pigs, this would mean that the first two little pigs would tell their experience up to the time where the little house of straws and sticks tumbles in upon them, their conversation ending in a squeal as they are attacked by the wolf; the wolf would tell his tale up to the point possibly where he decides to climb down the chimney, ending with a howl as he falls into the water; the third little pig would tell his story from the meeting of the man with the bricks to the happy conclusion of the story. Such constructive story-telling has a distinct value in itself and paves the way for the telling by the children of wholly original stories.
Tell or read the stories and the poems to the children at the proper time; love them and render them well. There is no excuse for poor or hurried presentation of literary gems. The children will love them because you do and because of their intrinsic appeal. They will without compulsion learn some gems; they will attempt to create some of their own; they will live the stories in play and understand the characters and situations by so doing. Their experience and their power of appreciation will grow. At the same time their knowledge of the meanings of words and their usage of language will improve beyond any goal attainable through formal, set language exercises.
Language is a means of communication, a social achievement. It is as much a means of stimulating thought and action in others as it is an avenue for self-expression. Hence its function is primarily the transmission of thought. This interpretation of language should ever be in the mind of the teacher, because upon it depends her treatment of language in the schoolroom. In order most easily and adequately to produce thought and action in others, certain language forms have from time to time been accepted for universal usage; for this reason these correct and choice forms are taught in the school. To achieve this goal is always, however, merely a means to the larger end; it should be treated as of secondary importance.
All of the children's interests, activities, and contacts find expression through oral and written language as well as through other forms of expression. The same principle underlies the learning of language, which is at the basis of all learning. Let us state it again.
The children's activities, interests and contacts furnish the motive which prompts expression in oral and written language. Tinder the pressure of this vital impulse, language is more fluent, more spontaneous than under any external compulsion ; greater effort is made by the children to convey exactly their meaning and to bring about the desired conduct on the part of others. The need for proper expression is more keenly felt and a greater willingness to cope with and overcome errors results. The gain includes a minimum amount of drill necessary to overcome errors, a maximum amount of improvement in language, an increase in time available for the real live issues at hand. (Read J. Dewey, Interest and Effort in Education.) One of these live issues is the love and appreciation of beautiful literature.
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