The Problems of Activating and Motivating Social Instruction in the Educational Process

The author analyses some questions of social instruction of a group of pupils in class or at a school club. The analysis is made from the point of view of pedagogical psychology. Special attention is paid to questions of activating and motivating with regard to moulding the pupil’s personality, and to questions of a new psychological conception of instruction — especially social instruction — in relation to the educational process (mainly educational work other than classroom instruction). The result of instruction is not only the formation of skills and knowledge, but the formation of the whole personality. Some conditions of interiorisation and stabilisation of motives and interests in group activities of pupils are studied in connection with imitation, tree play, various forms of instructional and hobby activities. Active participation in the organisation and work of the group has a substantial influence on the strengthening of motives; this is connected with developing the pupils’ consciousness of collective relationships and of themselves. Age differences of the pupils are also taken into account here. The necessary starting point for individual approach must be the fact that the general Intelligence of the pupils becomes differentiated in the course of their mental development, and the fact individually varied specific abilities and interests are becoming more and more prominent. The education aims of the school and those of after school and out of class work with children are to be identical. The latter kind of educational work proceeds from the idea that here, too, the children are being taught; but it is teaching by free play, entertainment and hobby activities. Therefore the content, forms and methods of children’s activities are also different from classroom activities and have ai specific character of their own.