LITMIR.BIZ

      3. Instinct of Curiosity as Motive.—The value of the instinct of curiosity in setting a problem for the young child has been already referred to. From what was there seen, it is evident that to the extent to which the teacher awakens wonder and curiosity in his presentation of a lesson problem, the child will be ready to enter upon the further steps of the learning process. For example, by inserting two forks and a large needle into a cork, as illustrated in the accompanying Figure, and then apparently balancing the whole on a small hard surface, we may awaken a deep interest in the problem of gravity. In the same manner, by calling the pupils' attention to the drops on the outside of a glass pitcher filled with water, we may have their curiosity aroused for the study of condensation. So also the presentation of a picture may arouse curiosity in places or people.

      4. Ownership as Motive.—The natural pleasure which children take in collection and ownership may often be associated with presented problems in a way to cause them to take a deeper interest in the knowledge to be acquired. For example, in presenting a lesson on the countries of Europe, the collection of coins or stamps representative of the different countries will add greatly to the interest, compared with a mere outline study of the political divisions from a map. A more detailed examination of the instincts and tendencies of the child and their relation to the educative process will, however, be found in Chapter XXI.

      5. Acquired Interest as Motive.—Finally, in the case of individual pupils, a knowledge of their particular, or special, interests is often a means of awakening in them a feeling of value for various types of school work. As an example, there might be cited the experience of a teacher who had in his school a pupil whom it seemed impossible to interest in reading. Thereupon the teacher made it his object to learn what were this pupil's chief interests outside the school. Using these as a basis for the selecting of simple reading matter for the boy, he was soon able to create in him an interest in reading for its own sake. The result was that in a short time this pupil was rendered reasonably efficient in what had previously seemed to him an uninteresting and impossible task.

      6. Use of Knowledge as Motive.—In the preceding cases, interest in the problem is made to rest primarily upon some native instinct, or tendency. It is to be noted, however, that as the child advances in the acquisition of knowledge, or experience, there develops in him also a desire for mental activity. In other words, the normal child takes a delight in the use of any knowledge over which he possesses adequate control. It is to be noted further, that the child masters the new problem by bringing to bear upon it suitable ideas selected out of his previously acquired experiences. It is evident, therefore, that, when a lesson problem is presented to the child in such a way that he sees a connection between it and his present knowledge and feels, further, that the problem may be mastered by a use of knowledge over which he has complete mastery, he will take a deeper interest in the learning process. When, on the other hand, he has imperfect control over the old knowledge from which the interpreting ideas are selected, his interest in the problem itself will be greatly reduced. Owing to this fact, the teacher may adapt his lesson problems, or motives, to the stage of development of the pupils. In the case of young children, since they have little knowledge, but possess a number of instinctive tendencies, the lesson problem should be such as may be associated with their instinctive tendencies. Since, however, the expressing of these tendencies necessarily brings to the child ideas, or increases his knowledge, the pupil will in time desire to use his growing knowledge for its own sake. Here the child becomes able to grasp a problem consciously, or in idea, and, so far as it appeals to his past experience, will desire to work for its solution. Thus any problem which is recognized as having a vital connection with his own experience constitutes for the child a strong motive. For older pupils, therefore, the lesson problem which constitutes the strongest motive is the one that is consciously recognized and felt to have some direct connection with their present knowledge.

KNOWLEDGE OF PROBLEM

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      Relation to Pupil's Knowledge.—Since the conscious apprehension of the problem by the pupil in its relation to his present knowledge constitutes the best motive for the learning process, a question arises how this problem is to be grasped by the pupil. First, it is evident that the problem is not a state of knowledge, or a complete experience. If such were the case, there would be nothing for him to learn. It is this partial ignorance that causes a problem to exist for the learner as a felt need, or motive. On the other hand it is not a state of complete ignorance, otherwise the learner could not call up any related ideas for its solution. When, for example, the child, after learning the various physical features, the climate, and people of Ontario, is presented with the problem of learning the chief industries, he is able by his former knowledge to realize the existence of these industries sufficiently to feel the need of a fuller realization. In the same way the student who has traced the events of Canadian History up to the year 1791, is able to know the Constitutional Act as a problem for study, that is, he is able to experience the existence of such a problem and to that extent is able to know it. His mental state is equally a state of ignorance, in that he has not realized in his own consciousness all the facts relative to the Act. In the orderly study of any school subject, therefore, the mastery of the previous lesson or lessons will in turn suggest problems for further lessons. It is this further development of new problems out of present knowledge that demands an orderly sequence of topics in the different school subjects, a fact that should be fully realized by the teacher.

      Recognition of Problem: A. Prevents Digressions.—An adequate recognition of the lesson problem by the pupil in the light of his own experience is useful in preventing the introduction of irrelevant material into the lesson. Young children are particularly prone (and, under certain circumstances, older students also) to drag into the lessons interesting side issues that have been suggested by some phase of the work. As a rule, it is advisable to follow closely the straight and narrow road that leads to the goal of the lesson and not to permit digressions into attractive by-paths. If a pupil attempts to introduce irrelevant matter, he should be asked what the problem of the lesson is and whether what he is speaking of will be of any value in attaining that end. The necessity of this will, however, be seen more fully in our consideration of the next division of the learning process.

      B. Organizes the Lesson Facts.—The adequate recognition of the lesson problem is valuable in helping the pupil to organize his knowledge. If you take a friend for a walk along the streets of a strange city engaging him in interesting conversation by the way, and if, when you have reached a distant point, you tell him that he must find his way back alone, he will probably be unable to do so without assistance. But if you tell him at the outset what you are going to do, he will note carefully the streets traversed, the corners turned, the directions taken, and will likely find his way back easily. This is because he had a clearly defined problem before him. The conditions are much the same in a lesson. When the pupil starts out with no definite problem and is led along blindly to some unknown goal, he will be unable to retrace his route; that is, he will be unable to reproduce the matter over which he has been taken. But with a clearly defined problem he will be able to note the order of the steps of the lesson, their relation to one another and to the problem, and when the lesson is over he will be able to go over the same course again. The facts of the lesson will have become organized in his mind.

HOW TO SET LESSON PROBLEM

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      Precautions.—If the teacher expects his pupils to become interested in a problem by immediately recognizing a connection between it and their previous knowledge, he must avoid placing the problem

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