Ontario Normal School Manuals: Science of Education by Ontario Ministry of Education
page 68 of 377 (18%)
page 68 of 377 (18%)
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in general, to increase the pupil's capacities of constructive
imagination and artistic appreciation. The pupil's motive might be to find out how the poet had described a familiar game. In a nature study lesson on "The Rabbit," the teacher's motive would be to lead the pupil to make certain observations and draw certain inferences and thus add something to his facility in observation and inference. The pupil's motive in the same lesson would be to discover something new about a very interesting animal. In general, the teacher's motive will be (1) to give the pupil a certain kind of useful knowledge; (2) to develop and strengthen certain organs; or (3) to add something to his mechanical skill by the forming of habitual reactions. In general, the pupil's motive will be to learn some fact, to satisfy some instinct, or perform some activity that is interesting either in itself or because of its relation to some desired end. That is, the pupil's motive is the satisfaction of an interest or the promotion of a purpose. =Pupil's Motive May Be Indirect.=--It is evident from the foregoing that the pupil's motive for applying himself to any lesson may differ from the real lesson problem, or motive. For instance, in mastering the reading of a certain selection, the pupil's chief motive in applying himself to this particular task may be to please and win the approbation of the teacher. The true lesson problem, however, is to enable the learner to give expression to the thoughts and feelings of the author. When the aim, or motive, is thus somewhat disconnected from the lesson problem itself, it becomes an _indirect_ motive. While such indirect motives are undoubtedly valuable and must often be used with young children, it is evident that when the pupil's motive is more or less directly associated with the real problem of the lesson, it will form a better centre for the selecting and organizing of the ideas entering into the new experience. |
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