Fairport High School - Hourglass Yearbook (Fairport, NY)

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0 THE HOUR GLASS l ll lO blurred. Education develops the mind, but psychology is the science which shows us how the mind functions, and how best to accomplish its correct development. -Dorothy L. Mason English, the Medium of Expression It ismore important that people should be able to speak well than to write well. This is because they are continually talking but less frequently writing. A person is success in life depends upon his ability to speak well. Your friends do not have as much opportunity to judge you from your writing, as from your con- versation. In order to be an intelligent conversationalist, you must have a good idea of what you wish to say. This is gained by clear thinking. After you have an idea of what you wish to say it is then necessary to express yourself well. What is expression? Expression is the outward manifes- tation of an inward activity. It is physical and material in its result but mental and spiritual in its origin. An inward feeling inust exist before you can express yourself. It is impossible to express some idea that you do not have. If you are thinking about one thing and trying to explain another, you will have great difficulty in giving your explanation. It is necessary to con- centrate on the idea you are trying to put forth before you at- tempt to express it. If this is done, your impression will be so clear, that you can easily express your thought. However, often people who can not converse intelligently are able to write ex- ceedingly well. This is partly due to the fact that they are self- conscious and their powers of concentration are fixed on their appearance. This habit is a great hindrance to many public speakers, and is difficult to overcome. Again, expression is hard to attain because of the existing abnormal conditions of voice, thickness, or shrill tones. How can you gain expression? First, a good vocabulary is necessary. t'Thoughts and words are intimately related, states a certain writer. How true this is! If we were able to speak fluently and always pronounce correctly, we should be able to have one point in our favor toward good expression. Another necessary feature in expression is clear articulation. 'l' S. S. Colvin The Learning Process -Page 27 Page Fifteen

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0I lI ! THE HOUR GLASS l lI l0 A knowledge of psychology is indispensable in teaching, and, teaching is nearly indispensable as a means of training the un- developed mind. There are, however, limits to the application of psychology to education. Psychology is a generic science, while teaching deals with individuals. lt is also more or less theoretic, while teaching is unmistakeably practical. The forma- tion of character includes the cultivation of all the powers of the mind. The child begins to fix attention towards the effect of others' intellect upon him. Reflection of what he sees coupled with his innate tendencies forms his character. Let us consider the practical uses of psychology in education. Psychology is a systematic knowledge and investigation of the gensis, powers, and functions of the mind. Its use in education, or rather education's use of it, is to start to work those minds which otherwise fail to function without arduous conscious effort. There are different divisions of education. There is a physi- cal education, a moral education, and an intellectual education. Each one is important as a part of developing the well-balanced mind. But for our purpose, the intellectual mind is the one to be considered. There are several purposes of intellectual education. The principal aim is to form and develop the mind to the art of de- tecting truth froin falsehood. The foundational method used in intellectual education is instruction. The faculties must be ex- ercised by study, and teaching causes a pupil to study. It is not enough for a teacher to know his subject. lt is also necessary for him to know how best to impart this knowledge- to make it an article of use to his pupil. To make this possible he must know the mind, the pupil, and the method most adapt- able, to the pupil's use. Education should be pursued only after carefully consider- ing the end for which it is being sought. No one should be so careless as to rush into a college with the sentiment I want to come out of here educated for somethingf' It is the future environment that education, whether it be practical or theoretical, material or spiritual, must consider. The individual should be 'educated' to do many things well, interpreted in terms of a future environment. Educational values must have as their final justification an ideal. T Psychology is education, and education consists of psy- chology. Their relationship is so close that distinction is Page Fourteen

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0 THE HOUR GLASS l Il l0 Modulation of raising and lowering of the voice is another big item. If we were to use the same tone throughout a conversation, we would cease to be of any interest. Most of us would never hear what the other person was saying. Iast, and yet exceedingly important, are your positions and your gestures. You should try to stand where everyone can see you without difficulty. Certain motions are present in a good speech. Why not make use of your seemingly awkward dangling hands by using a few clever gestures to illustrate your ideas? Still another phase of good oratory is emphasis. By em- phasis is meant a forceful expression used to add stress to an important point. This is mainly accomplished through the mod- ulations and inflections of the voice. ln order to hold the at- tention of his audience, a speaker must have a certain forceful- ness, gained through these inflections and modulations. If he talks on without putting any force behind his words, the audience will very shortly lose interest in what he has to say. But the speaker who can stand before an audience without fear of self- consciousness or inferiority, who has good expression and em- phasis, and who assumes the correct posture and gestures, are few. Speaking to a group of people who aren't interested in listening to you unless you can command their attention is not an easy thing to do. ln fact, it is most difficult. Yet, all through life it is necessary to do these things. Wliy' not prepare yourself? The old saying, Practice makes perfect is indeed trite but it can be aptly applied to spoken English. Only by conscientious practice can worthwhile oral delivery be reached. Rule after rule can be given, but in order to achieve results they must be put into '11SQ. It is really surprising to note how many mistakes an ordinary person makes in conversation. Perhaps if he were writing his speech, the mistakes would be eliminated, but as long as it is true that people speak more than they write, is it not more necessary to learn to converse well? This is why oral English should be taken up more in the schools of today. A most important factor of expression is debating. Debating is discussing a subject by presenting arguments for and against it. Its purpose is to convince. There are many places where debating is used. Sometimes we are unaware that we are using it, and sometimes we make a definite purpose of it. First, to my mind, as a place for the most debating in high school is the English class. This is a very good way to teach the pupils to overcome their self-conscious- Page -.Sixteen