Methods of Teaching
177
us reason together” (
Isaiah 1:18
), He invites us. In reliance upon Him
we may have wisdom to “refuse the evil, and choose the good.”
Isaiah
7:15
;
James 1:5
.
In all true teaching the personal element is essential. Christ in
His teaching dealt with men individually. It was by personal contact
and association that He trained the Twelve. It was in private, often to
but one listener, that He gave His most precious instruction. To the
honored rabbi at the night conference on the Mount of Olives, to the
despised woman at the well of Sychar, He opened His richest treasures;
for in these hearers He discerned the impressible heart, the open mind,
the receptive spirit. Even the crowd that so often thronged His steps
was not to Christ an indiscriminate mass of human beings. He spoke
directly to every mind and appealed to every heart. He watched the
faces of His hearers, marked the lighting up of the countenance, the
quick, responsive glance, which told that truth had reached the soul;
and there vibrated in His heart the answering chord of sympathetic joy.
[232]
Christ discerned the possibilities in every human being. He was
not turned aside by an unpromising exterior or by unfavorable sur-
roundings. He called Matthew from the tollbooth, and Peter and his
brethren from the fishing boat, to learn of Him.
The same personal interest, the same attention to individual de-
velopment, are needed in educational work today. Many apparently
unpromising youth are richly endowed with talents that are put to no
use. Their faculties lie hidden because of a lack of discernment on the
part of their educators. In many a boy or girl outwardly as unattractive
as a rough-hewn stone, may be found precious material that will stand
the test of heat and storm and pressure. The true educator, keeping
in view what his pupils may become, will recognize the value of the
material upon which he is working. He will take a personal interest in
each pupil and will seek to develop all his powers. However imperfect,
every effort to conform to right principles will be encouraged.
Every youth should be taught the necessity and the power of appli-
cation. Upon this, far more than upon genius or talent, does success
depend. Without application the most brilliant talents avail little, while
with rightly directed effort persons of very ordinary natural abilities
have accomplished wonders. And genius, at whose achievements we
marvel, is almost invariably united with untiring, concentrated effort.