Successful Ministry to the Retarded[ETowns] - Elmer Towns

7What Teaching Methods ShouldBe Used?"A teaching procedure is a course of action followed for the purpose of helping a personachieve certain learning." 1 Since the purpose of teaching is to effect some change in futuresituations, 2 a teaching method is a good procedure only if it helps the person achieve the desiredgrowth and learning. In order to achieve this growth, a variety of methods must be employedwhen teaching the mentally retarded because no one method will be successful with all cases. Oneindividual learns by one method; another will succeed better with a different method. 3How does the teacher teach the trainable child? Marie Egg says, "As far as humanly possible,treat the retarded child like a normal child, but do not expect him to react like one." 4 One visitorstood aghast as the Sunday school teacher asked her retarded pupils, "Did you ever think whyJesus healed the blind man?" Of course the teacher realized that the students have probably notthought about it, but she treated them as healthy children, not expecting them to respond in thesame manner as normal children.The retarded child, unlike the healthy student, cannot recognize relationships or makeconnections; neither can he draw analogies. The teacher, therefore, cannot be content to useSunday school curriculum prepared for the normal child with his trainable students, for thematerial needs to be adapted to their needs and lesson plans must be made which will allow themto respond to the stimuli provided in the Sunday school. To teach them Christian concepts, onemust begin, as it were, at the beginning. Because the teacher needs to make sure that eachconcept is carefully preserved, practice is absolutely necessary. Repetition is essential and cantake various forms, such as games and role-play. Such play activity, properly used, helps the childpractice the knowledge he has gained and prepares him for new learning experiences.Coupled with the necessary longer learning period for mentally retarded pupils is theimperative need to individualize instruction and technique for them. Good planning must includemotivation for the learner and also repetition or drill. Experiences should be provided that arerelevant to the pupils' experience.Various techniques have proved successful in primary research with trainable students. Theteacher wishing to utilize these techniques for maximum pupil benefit should keep two factors inmind: (1) Stress the practical and tangible. 5 For example, a Bible study which includes a cultureand customs not understood by the retarded, or abstract symbols that are completely beyondthem, must be reduced to terms with which the pupils can identify. (2) Capitalize on individualmental and manual ability. 6 In other words, be sure to increase the motivations for a more ablestudent.STORYTELLING"Tell it again! Tell it again!" Trainable mentally retarded pupils love stories because they kindletheir meager imagination. They also influence their conduct, so much so that the teacher is able to