Some people have the spiritual gift of teaching. Others are not spiritually gifted as teachers. They can learn to be good teachers, however, for there are certain principles of teaching that are quite coachable.
The first principle of good teaching is commitment to the task. No teacher gifted or not, will be effective if he is not committed. Commitment means no turning back. It means that menial things will not get in the way of preparing the lesson.
The second principle of good teaching is preparation. There is an old saying that goes, “Proper prior planning prevents poor, pitiful performance.” At the very least, preparation should begin a week prior to the event, longer, if possible. It should be thorough and should include the physical preparation of the classroom as well as preparation for the teaching itself. The teacher should be prepared enough as to be confident of the material and how he plans to present it.
The third principle (and it might well be considered the first in Sunday School) is to know the textbook. The textbook in Sunday School is the Bible, not denominational literature and not the writings of other authors. The Bible is God’s revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption. All other works are subordinate to it as tools for teaching Sunday School.
The next principle is to know the audience. People in different stages of life require different teaching techniques. Those techniques can and should be learned.
Another principle is variety. Even variety has to be geared to life stages. For children physical activities can be changed to fit the subject being taught, while older adults might need totally different needs such as puzzles and multiple choice guides, etc. Musical chairs would be inappropriate for adults using walkers and/or wheelchairs. Multiple choice guides would probably be inappropriate for preschoolers.
Good listening is an important principle of teaching. A good teacher will learn a lot from his students. Feedback from them can point to improved teaching methods. Good listening helps the teacher tweak his teaching to better meet the learners’ needs.
It is important that a teacher learn the principle of being personally involved with the students. He should know their backgrounds, their immediate needs and the level of their spiritual development.
Knowing and practicing these principles will go a long way toward enabling a Sunday School teacher to do the job God has called him to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment