Theocratic Aid
to
Kingdom Publishers

CHAPTER II

CLASSROOM PROCEDURE

EACH company and unit of Jehovah's Kingdom publishers will find it to their profit to pursue this course of study as one of their group activities. The majority of those attending the meetings at the Kingdom Hall are active in field service. They have made a consecration to do God's will, and hence come under the terms of the Christian's commission. It being mandatory upon them to fulfill this commission, meek publishers who trust fully in the Lord and lean upon him for guidance and direction and strengthening help will desire to avail themselves of this provision of Theocratic aid. They will not wish to be found rejecting any provision of Jehovah and thus come within the class of persons who say by their course of action, "The table of the LORD is contemptible." (Mal. 1:7) In eagerness and with appetites whetted for Kingdom instruction, all will assemble at the classroom and partake of the course as it is spread before them.

ENROLLMENT

Any brother, young or old, in the company or unit who will show appreciation for the course by attending regularly and studying diligently the outlined material and who will participate in the speaking assignments may enroll. Roll will be called at the beginning of each study meeting, that a record of attendance may be kept. Any who voluntarily and continually fail to attend will be dropped from the enrollment. Each one enrolled will be held responsible for presenting before the class the student talks that may be assigned. Small companies composed entirely of sisters who desire to avail themselves of the Theo-

cratic aid offered in this book may assemble each week and read and discuss the lesson for that week. Before the reading they may conduct the review on the lesson read the week previous. In this way they will have a profitable group study of the provisions of the course. There will not, however, be any enrollment or roll call, nor will any give student talks.

REVIEW

After roll call a ten-minute review will be held on the instruction talk of the preceding week. In this book the review is placed immediately following the instruction talk upon which it is based. One week after this instruction talk has been presented the review will be held. All students enrolled should come prepared to participate. Examples, when requested by the review, should be looked up ahead of time and be ready for quick presentation. These examples should be different from those used in the instruction talk. If they are original it shows that the student has made the material his own and is able to make practical application of knowledge gained.

Not only those enrolled, but those sitting in on the course are invited and urged to participate in the reviews. Though sisters, due to Scriptural limitations, may not enroll in the course, they should be very much interested in it, in attending its sessions, in gaining knowledge from the instruction talks and student talks, and then in coming to the reviews prepared to share therein. It is as much a provision for them as it is for the brothers; for they, too, are Kingdom publishers, and under the same commission. They must fulfill it. And they, too, need Theocratic aid in the Kingdom publishing work. All those, in fact, who are anxious to do God's will and preach the gospel will not be absent as the local company assembles for its course of "Theocratic Aid to Kingdom Publishers". Let each one, male or female, participate to the full extent of the Lord's provision for him; and, in the case of the reviews, everyone

may share therein. The review will be conducted by the one who gave the instruction talk on that material the week previous.

INSTRUCTION TALK

This feature will follow the review and occupy fifteen minutes. The speaker will cover the material of his assigned lesson as contained in this book. It is essential that the outlined points of the lesson be covered, so that the review the following week will be applicable. The one giving the instruction talk, however, is not to merely read the material presented in the book. He should study it carefully, make it his own, and then present it to the group by the method of delivery known as extemporaneous speaking. If time permits the working in of additional examples or illustrations, then the speaker should do this. The school servant will present some of the instruction talks and assign others to qualified enrolled brethren.

STUDENT TALKS

Following the instruction talk will come the student talks. Each one enrolled in the course will from time to time present before the class these six-minute talks. Speaking subjects will be designated by the Society, and the local school servant will make a specific assignment to those locally enrolled. This assignment will be made at least two weeks in advance. It will be the responsibility of the student to make diligent preparation by carefully gathering his material, outlining it, practicing its delivery in advance, and then to be on hand at the assigned time to present it by the extemporaneous speaking method. The school servant should see to it that a speaking schedule is so made up that all those enrolled are given an equal opportunity to speak.

The student should look upon the opportunity to give his six-minute talk as an occasion to put into practice all that he has learned in the course. He should realize that

only through application that theory and expounded principle becomes of practical value. In addition to making of all the suggestions as to gathering material and outlining and presenting it, the student should give attention to the timing of his talk. The subject upon which he is to speak is important. There is much to be said upon it. He should use his six minutes to the fullest advantage, weighing his gathered material and eliminating that which is less important. There is enough important material on these speaking topics to talk much longer than six minutes, but the shortness of time allotted will dictate the amount to be used and will train the student in selecting the strongest and most relevant points. It will train him to spare words and speak to the point.

Also, timing the delivery of a speech is a part of the student's training. For this reason it is advised that no warning signal be given before the time is up. If the speaker has his delivery well timed, such a signal is only disconcerting and annoying. If it is not well timed, it causes the speaker to make a last-minute dash for the finish line, and an effective conclusion is lost. The school servant should have someone time the student speakers, and when a full six minutes has elapsed a signal indicating "Time's up" should be given, and the speaker, after he finishes that sentence, should be seated. If he fails to make his conclusion, he has missed a very important part of his talk, and in his next assignment he will be more careful of his timing, so that this important finale may not be chopped off by the six-minute signal.

COUNSEL

Counsel by the school servant will follow each student talk, and is not to exceed three minutes. In presenting the counsel the counselor should always be kind and considerate. His points should be well taken and not picking at minor matters. The counsel should be constructive. If a student's oral emphasis in a certain place was poor, the

counselor should not merely state that the speaker failed to use proper oral emphasis. He should repeat the phrase or sentence himself, giving the correct emphasis and explaining why it is preferable. He might even have the student repeat it after him. If principles of outlining have not been followed the school servant should not tear down the student's presentation by saying he had no outline or his coherence was faulty or the introduction or conclusion was inadequate, but the instructor should point out the specific fault in the student's talk and show how the proper application of outlining principles already learned would correct the difficulty. If coherence was lacking, let the instructor show what transitional words or phrases might have been used to bridge the gap. In this way the instructor renders real constructive aid, and not only the student speaker but also the other students and those sitting in on the course are edified by such counsel.

Another point the school servant should watch in counseling: Do not pick out all the faults, all the mistakes of a speaker, small or large, and discuss them all. If the student's errors have been many, such a thorough going over of them will tend to discourage. Rather than be exhaustive in this respect, the wise counselor will pick out one or perhaps two of the outstanding faults of the speaker and draw these to the student's attention and instruct him to work on these points in his next talk. Let both student and instructor jot down this point or two. Then, when the student comes up again for a six-minute talk, both can watch these previous shortcomings. In other words, let the student work on one or two things at a time, and, as these shortcomings are erased, then the counselor should bring other points of less offense to the student speaker's attention.

It is also well for the school servant to give an encouraging word along with his constructive criticism. If a speaker has used good modulation or perhaps followed a very logical outline, let the school servant comment on these points.

But. here again the counselor should be specific, showing the whys and wherefores for his commendation.

The counselor should not exceed his time allotment. If he picks out only one or, at the most, two points on which to counsel he will never exceed his three minutes. It is not his duty to give a rehash of the student's talk. It is not necessary for him to go over the points of the student's introduction or body or conclusion. If the counselor does this not only will he exceed his own time limit and thus set a poor example, but he will bury in a multitude of pointless words what good counsel he does give. The counselor should also remember that the purpose is not to make over any individual to conform to one person's ideas or to what may appeal to one person. If a student wishes to present and develop a subject in a certain way, then let the student do it according to his personality. If he has chosen to develop the body of his talk by reasoning from cause to effect, then the counselor should view it from the student's approach and should counsel from that standpoint, rather than to say the talk should have been constructed from effect to cause or by topical arrangement or some other method. If the student has followed a definite order in his presentation and followed it well, then the counselor should not criticize because another method that appeals more to him personally was not used. If, however, the student speaker did not properly adhere to the method or combination of methods of outlining which he used, then it is the counselor's responsibility to show him wherein he fell short and to suggest the remedy.

Minor errors in pronunciation or grammatical construction are not the big things for the counselor to watch. Rather the general effect of the presentation should be noticed. Is the delivery sincere and earnest and convincing? Does the speaker maintain audience contact by proper use of the extemporaneous speaking method? Do his facial gestures show that he believes what he is saying and that his mind is absorbed in the presentation of Kingdom truth

rather than filled with concern over the impression that he may be making? Is the material of worth and informative and well organized, easy to follow? and does the speaker give it the emphasis and force required for the thought content? These are big things that make an impression upon the audience; and if these big, important matters as to speech material and its organization and delivery are effectively accomplished, then a mispronunciation or two or a grammatical error will, if noticed, be readily overlooked by the audience. The counselor has a key duty in the course. Let him look well to it.

TIME OF STUDY

The time of meeting and the duration of each meeting will be flexible, to meet local conditions. The time for the meeting is suggested as following the weekly service meeting, a fifteen-minute intermission being allowed for publishers to get literature and make other necessary field-service arrangements. The length of study will likewise vary with the local groups, depending upon the size of enrollment. Each student enrolled should speak once every three months, and oftener if possible. In small companies the student speakers will be able to have a turn at least this often and still have only one student talk an evening. In such circumstances the meeting would be 35 minutes in length, as follows: roll call and closing prayer, 1 minute; review, 10 minutes; instruction talk, 15 minutes; student talk, 6 minutes; counsel, 3 minutes: total, 35 minutes. Even in large enrollments no more than three student talks should be scheduled for one meeting. Where three student talks are given, the course could easily be conducted in 50-minute sessions, as follows: roll call and closing prayer, 1 minute; review and instruction talk, 25 minutes; three student talks with 2 minutes' counsel on each, 24 minutes: total, 50 minutes. If the course is conducted after the service meeting, then it is not necessary that it be opened

with prayer. Both the service meeting and the school session, however, should be closed with prayer.

SCHOOL SERVANT

This servant, in due Theocratic order, is appointed by the Society. Those recommended for this position of service by the local company committee of three brethren should be those who speak good English and who seem to be best qualified to administer this course of study. It will be the duty of the school servant to act as chairman of the session, call the roll, and give the counsel at the conclusion of each student talk. He will arrange for the assignment of student talks to those enrolled. It will not be necessary for him to handle all the instruction talks himself, but it is recommended that he assign the majority of them to competent enrolled brethren. It shall be his duty to see that all matters pertaining to the course are carried out.

Let all Jehovah's servants perform their part in the above-outlined classroom procedure. And as they partake fully of the Theocratic aid offered let none lose sight of I he divine purpose, namely, to make His consecrated and commissioned ones more proficient Kingdom publishers.