PRINCIPLE 22 |
In your teaching show integrity, seriousness, and soundness of speech (Titus 2:7-8)
Teaching includes many things: demonstrating, sharing, motivating, helping learners discover, listening, correcting, being an example, lecturing, discussing, and much more. An extremely narrow view of teaching might equate it with giving a well planned lecture to a classroom full of students sitting in straight rows. But a healthy view of teaching is rich and broad.
Perhaps the best synonym for the word "teaching" is the word "guiding," because guiding can be done in any setting and in almost any way. When we talk of teaching as guiding we are also reminded of two things that are crucial in good teaching. We are reminded that learners are being guided toward something and that the learners themselves must be personally involved and moving toward the goal. These two things, better known as aims and meaningful student involvement, are absolutely essential if the teaching is going to be effective.
Aims are discussed in this chapter. Meaningful learner involvement is discussed in chapter 25.
Some people feel that when they are teaching the Bible they should lecture because of the authority of the Bible. They think that, since the Bible is the inspired, reliable, authoritative Word of God, the only method which reflects properly on the nature of the Bible is an authoritative method -- lecturing. Since the teacher already has the truth, he does not need to ask questions, listen to student opinions, or hold discussions.
But if we notice how Jesus taught, we will quickly set this bogus viewpoint aside. Throughout his teaching ministry Jesus involved his followers in the learning process. Although he lectured at times, he often asked questions and encouraged discussion.
There are several reasons why a Bible teacher should encourage his students to raise questions, express various viewpoints, and thoroughly discuss the lesson. First, a learner who is sitting quietly might be thinking about the lesson, or he might not be. But a learner who is asking questions or expressing his ideas certainly has his mind on the lesson. Second, when the teacher is responsive to the learners' questions and comments, the lesson will automatically be more relevant to the learner. Third, encouraging the learner to speak up indicates to him that the teacher values his thoughts and ideas (and by implication, values him), which helps build acceptance and rapport between teacher and learner. Fourth, hearing from the learner allows the teacher to discover more of the learner's background and how much knowledge he brings to each subject. And fifth, encouraging the learner to respond with comments and questions supplies the teacher with feedback about the lesson at hand, which helps the teacher know whether or not he is communicating his ideas effectively.
Several ingredients go into being an effective guide. First, we must desire to minister to others. Our learners should get the idea that we like teaching, and that one of the best things about teaching is that we get to be with them and talk with them. In other words, we are enthusiastic about being a Christian and about helping others enjoy the Christian life too. However, this desire to teach should be more than just a desire to do something that we enjoy. It also should reflect a spiritual motivation which grows out of the seriousness and urgency of teaching.
Second, we must be dedicated and faithful to our learners. Dedication to learners is probably a more healthy concept than dedication to teaching. This dedication will show up in the amount of out-of-class contact we have with each individual and the quality of preparation that goes into each lesson.
Third, we must practice what we teach. Our consistent example is a live demonstration that our verbal lessons will work. Our learners will gain confidence both in us as persons and in what we say because of what they observe in our lives.
Fourth, we must know what we are talking about. Our Bible knowledge should constantly be increasing. So should our grasp of systematic theology. So should our ability to integrate theology with other fields such as psychology, literature, history, and science.
Fifth, we must pray and rely on the work of the Holy Spirit. Remember that we are teaching lessons that go against the sinful nature and are thus supernatural. Such lessons cannot be learned without the aid of the Holy Spirit. He will always be "on the job," but our responsibility is to remember our dependence on him. In prayer we can talk to the Lord about each individual learner and about the supernatural lessons we hope he will learn under our guidance.
Sixth, we must be sensitive to our learner's needs, interests, and fears. We must constantly build mutual respect, rapport, and friendship between us and our learners. Only as we are sensitive to their needs will our lessons be relevant to them.
Seventh, we must develop our teaching skills. We should feel comfortable leading a group in discussion and using a variety of other teaching methods.
Eighth, we must be patient both with ourselves and with our learners.
A teacher is a guide, and a guide always has a destination in mind. This is where aims come into the picture. An aim can be defined simply as a statement of intended result. Of course, the long-range goal is complete Christian maturity. But the teacher should also have subgoals or short-range aims in mind which will bring about a steady movement toward the long-range goal. These might be aims for the year, or the quarter, or the individual lesson. In the remainder of this chapter we will focus on the aims that are written for a single lesson.
All lessons are based on aims and all aims are based on needs, as indicated in the diagram below.
Ultimately teaching and learning all go back to God and his nature. Because God is holy, he has revealed a life standard for human beings that reflects his own holy nature. But the learner's present pattern of life is far from God's standard. By comparing the learner's life pattern with the revealed life standard we come up with the learner's needs. These needs are often common needs, that is, typical needs we would expect a person of a given age to have.
The writers of curriculum materials are well aware of these common needs and they gear their lessons to meet them. But the learner's needs may be urgent needs, that is, needs which are unique to our group of learners at any given moment. Other groups the same age as our group of learners may not have these needs, and our group may not have the same needs in two more months. Aims are then written based on one of the common needs or on an urgent need.
Finally, the lesson is planned and taught according to the aim that has been written. If lessons are not based on aims and if aims are not based on needs, it is all to easy for the teacher to teach irrelevant lessons – lessons he likes but which are of little value to his learners.
Some say we should teach what the class is interested in learning. Others say we should stick with the lessons printed in the curriculum materials. We can maintain a healthy balance if we keep two words in mind: motivation and framework.
First, motivation is crucial. Without motivation our "learners" will learn little or nothing. When they express an urgent need, ask an important question, or show that they are troubled by some current issue, we can be sure that they are at the edge of learning and are motivated. We should never throw motivation away. When we find it, we must use it, by going with the interest of the hour so that our lessons will be relevant and students will learn.
Second, a framework is crucial. If we are always gearing our lessons to the hot topics of the day, our learners may never establish a biblical or theological framework. They need to become familiar with the content of each book of the Bible and with the general flow of both Old and New Testament history. They need to work toward the goal of being able to picture in their minds a timeline with key persons and key events in their proper places. They should become more and more familiar with the various areas of theology so that they can relate any current topic to the general outline of biblical doctrine. Working toward the development of such a framework eventually will help them answer their own urgent questions because they will know where to go in the Bible and what theological issues to bring into the discussion.
We should combine the advantages of motivation with the advantages of the framework. On the one hand, when an urgent problem arises, we should deal with it explicitly, but not stop there. We should go on to show how that problem relates to more basic theological issues and how the key Scripture passages used in discussing the problem relate to their larger context and to the general flow of the book of the Bible in which they are found. In this way we can help the learners develop their framework while we are discussing an urgent problem. On the other hand, when we are surveying a Bible book or discussing a basic doctrine, we need to establish connections with current issues and questions that will interest our learners. In this way we can help them gain an interest in the "framework" and begin to see its relevance to their lives.
Needs, especially urgent needs, are only discovered as we become familiar with our learners' current life patterns. This requires a lot of time spent with them, preferably on their turf. We cannot get to know people very well during class time. The more we can observe each individual in informal settings, and talk with him about his interests in a non threatening atmosphere, the more we will get to know what he is really like. Only then can we teach "what is helpful for building others up according to their needs" (Ephesians 4:29).
A notebook is helpful to keep our information on each learner organized and handy. For each person in our class we might have one page for information that is fairly stable (such as name, birth date, address, date of conversion, talents, hobbies, position in the church, etc.) and another page for a list of strengths and weaknesses. As we prepare each lesson we can review the strengths and weaknesses of each person in the class and in this way be sure that our aims are based on their needs. If we are truly teaching lessons that are geared to our learners' needs, we should occasionally be able to scratch out some of the things we have recorded as weaknesses and add more strengths.
As we write aims for our learners, some of them should be knowledge aims and some should be action aims. On the one hand, there is a type of biblical or doctrinal information that our learners should store for future recall and application. This calls for a knowledge aim. On the other hand, there is a type of information that our learners should apply in their daily lives without delay. This calls for an action aim.
Everything we teach should be usable. It may be used mentally to support certain beliefs or to add perspective to our outlook. Or, it may be used to share with a friend. Or, it may be used to help make practical decisions, that is, applied in our daily life. But not everything should be used immediately. Some of this practical information should be stored for future use when the time is appropriate. Thus, the way we determine whether a lesson should have a knowledge aim or an action aim is not to ask whether the information is useable. Rather, we should ask when this information should be used. If it should be used immediately to make a change in one's daily life pattern, then the lesson should have an action aim. If it should be stored and recalled later when the situation calls for this information, then the lesson should have a knowledge aim. Here are some sample aims.
We divide aims into these two types because of our analysis of the functions of the inner person, as explained in chapter 5. Obviously, the knowledge aim relates to the intellect and the action aim relates to the volition and the resultant actions. Some have suggested that we also ought to have affective (or feeling, or inspirational) aims, which would relate to the emotions.
Naturally, if you are dealing with a particular action aim, then it is legitimate also to have a related knowledge aim and a related affective aim that are prerequisites to the action. In such a case the threefold aim would spell out what the person should know, how he should feel, and what he should do. Affective aims that are part of such a unified package are legitimate, but affective aims should not be used by themselves. The reason will be obvious if we recall how the emotions differ from the intellect. Knowledge can be stored without frustrating the person, so it is often appropriate to stop there. But emotions are not stored. If we give a person information that stirs him up emotionally so that he has strong feelings or desires, we should also give him a means of expressing those feelings or desires. In other words, those strong emotions should be followed by a decision and an action. To stir up emotions as an end in itself is to frustrate the normal pattern of internal functions. There is only one legitimate stopping place along the sequence of inner functions – the intellect. And thus there are only two legitimate types of aims, knowledge aims and action aims.
If an aim is going to be of any practical help to a teacher, he needs to have his aim carefully worded and at the front of his conscious thinking while he is preparing the lesson. For this reason it is wise to write out the aim for each lesson and keep it visible.
We have already emphasized that the aim must be based on learner needs, and that some of the aims should be knowledge aims while others should be action aims. A good aim has certain characteristics. First, it should be worded in terms of the learner. It should state the intended result for the learner rather than the activity of the teacher. For example, the aim, "to present the New Testament qualifications of a pastor" tells what the teacher will do, not what the result will be for the learner. Watch out for aims that begin with the words "to show," "to explain," or "to give."
Second, the aim should be brief, perhaps twelve words or less. Shorter aims are easier to work with and easier to remember.
Third, the aim should be singular, aimed at one thing. If we try to achieve several goals in one lesson we are less likely to get anything accomplished than if we had aimed at only one thing.
Fourth, the aim should be specific. General aims like the following will not do much to help the students apply the lesson in daily life: "to love everybody," "to pray about everything," "always to make the right decisions." If we aim at something general, we will probably end up with learners who are merely able to state generalizations. But if we aim at something specific, we are more likely to end up with learners who act.
Fifth, the aim should be achievable. Take things one step at a time. Remember, we want our learners to have a string of success experiences, so we must put the goal within reach.
But beautiful aims are no good unless we use them in our teaching. Before the lesson, we should think of the aim as we pray about each student by name. We should think of it as we gather materials and illustrations for the lesson, and when we sit down to plan the steps of the lesson. During the lesson, we should use it to help us decide whether to pursue a tangent question or to stay on track. We might think of it as we lead the class in a discussion of their application of the lesson. After class, we could use the aim (if it is an action aim) to remind ourselves to contact our learners and encourage practical carry-over and application. And, of course, we could use the aim to evaluate the lesson. The main question we should use to evaluate our lesson is whether or not the aim was accomplished. (This, by the way, is one of the reasons for wording the aim in terms of the learner. If we word the aim in terms of our own activity as the teacher, then we may be able to claim that the aim was accomplished, but that would not say anything about the results for the learner. If it is worded in terms of the learner, it becomes a much more valid basis for evaluation.)