by Aleta Samford
Synopsis: The teaching process is reflected in everything we do, and every law we implement, which are designed to help our children exercise their senses.
How different are the results when this great law of teaching is properly followed! The stimulated self-activities operate in the correct manner, into a busy laboratory. The pupils become thinkers and discoverers. They master great truths and apply them to the great questions of life. They invade new fields of knowledge. The teacher merely leads the march. Their reconnaissance becomes a conquest. Skill and power grow with exercise. Through this, the students find out what their minds are for and become students for life (Gregory, 102-103).
In connecting this law of teaching to the incident with my daughter as a baby in the situation with the house plant (that I described in the May 2017 issue of Truth Magazine), I would ask, How did my actions in that situation help Katie "invade new fields of knowledge?" My goal was that she learns to fear and obey me when I gave her instructions, so I set out to "lead the march" from a simple command to a problem. When I spanked Katie's plump little leg, it shook up her world, causing her to become a "thinker and discoverer."
To be clear—regarding the fear I desired from Katie—I am not talking about terror, the kind of fear that does not motivate. I'm describing reverence—the fear of a dutiful child towards a good Father, a fear of opposing Him, and dishonoring Him. It's a fear that says, "I have something important at stake here, and I don't want to lose it!" It's a fear that exercises the senses and results in the discernment of both good and evil.
If I had roughly handled Katie, or yelled "Stop it!", I would have placed confusion and terror in her heart, and I would not have been acting in a way worthy of her respect. I would not have been a good parent. Speaking with the firm, yet loving, expectation that she heed my instructions created in her a fear that resembled honor, respect, and obedience, even after I had to inflict the incentive of pain.
Whether you're a parent at home or a teacher in the classroom, have confidence that consistently firm and loving expectations will do two things: (1) it will build your children's love and trust in you, making you worthy of their respect, and (2) it will cause them to look for ways to meet those expectations with discernment in dealing with further information. This is how the Lord builds our fear and trust in Him, motivating us to love and obedience. "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments" (Ps. 112:1).
If we want our children to be stirred by the word of God, we must study it with fervor and prepare to help them think and solve problems. "It's the unskilled teacher who prefers to hear his own voice in endless talk rather than watch and direct the course of the thoughts of his pupils" (Gregory, 87). This teacher wonders why the children don't listen or why they don't remember anything.
"The true teacher stirs the ground and sows the seed" (Gregory, 90). This teacher is not tempted to blame the children for poor listening. This teacher helps her students practice thinking from the ground up because she knows this will help them grow in their love of learning, making it their own.
In a class situation, we can stir the ground and plant seeds by starting with a problem, such as a hypothetical situation, or with the question of "Who said it?" Seeds begin to germinate as, naturally, the motivation arises to find the solution or make a change. Expecting our students to learn to problem-solve is preparing them to face the problems and temptations of life.
The teaching process is found in everything we do, in every law we implement, to exercise the senses. May we diligently prepare, believe good listening can and will occur, speak their language, and speak at their level of knowledge. Such focused efforts will lead to the mastery of further knowledge. In May, we will look at learning as the student's responsibility.
Author Bio: Aleta is the wife of Gene Samford who preaches for the church that meets in Kemp, TX. She has taught Bible classes for forty-four years and, to help other women join the ranks, presents a series of lessons based on God's word, The Seven Laws of Teaching, and her own experiences. She may be reached at aletas10@sbcglobal.net.
