--The significance of instinctive action.--Colvin's list
of native tendencies.--Sisson's list.--A knowledge of native
tendencies essential to proper control of human behavior.
We have now discussed the significance and meaning of teaching, together
with the consideration of the characteristics that constitute the
personal equation of the teacher. It is now pertinent that we give some
attention to the nature of the child to be taught, that we may the more
intelligently discuss methods of teaching, or how teacher and pupil get
together in an exchange of knowledge.
Teaching is a unique process. It is both social and individual. The
teacher meets a class--a collection of pupils in a social unit. In one
way he is concerned with them generally--he directs group action. But in
addition to this social aspect, the problem involves his giving
attention to each individual in the group. He may put a general
question, but he gets an individual reply. In short, he must be aware of
the fact that his pupils, for purposes of recitation, are all alike; and
at the same time he must appreciate the fact that they are peculiarly
different. In a later chapter we shall consider these differences; let
us here consider the points of similarity.
The fact that a boy is a boy makes him heir to all of the
characteristics that man has developed.
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