Success at Bible Teaching

SUCCESS
AT BIBLE TEACHING
Sam Binkley
and
Martin M. Broadwell
Publishing Systems, Inc.
Athens and Atlanta, Georgia
Copyright 1 973 by Publ i shi ng Systems, I nc.
Al l rights resered.
Publ i shi ng Systems, I nc.
Athens and Atl anta, Georgia
Pri nted in the United States of America
To al l who teach the word of God, especi al ly to my
mother who taught me in my youth and my wi fe who
taught our chi l dren and who encourages me i n my
efforts to teach.
Sam Bi nkl ey
To al l the Bi bl e teachers-i ncl udi ng my mother
who made me so fond of the Bi bl e as the perfect
gui de to l i fe and l ife after death.
Marti n M. Broadwel l
CONTENTS
PART I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Preface
Prologue
THE BIBLE TEACHER
THE CHRI STI AN AS A TEACHER
He i s expected to teach . . . Shoul d want to teach . .
Should want to i mprove.
THE BI BLE AS A TEACHER-TRAI NI NG MANUAL
ix
xi
1
3
8
The Message was i nspi red . . . Teachers guided by the
Holy Spi rit. . . Wise men teachi ng . . . Christ as a teacher
teacher . . . Examples of techniques.
SOME BASI C PROBLEMS I N BI BLE TEACHI NG 1 5
Lack of desi re to teach . . . Lack of good teacher-trai ni ng
program. . . Under-motivated students. . . Physical
faci l ities. . . Lack of parental concern. . . Lack of Bi bl e
knowledge.
7
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
PART II
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
PART Ill
Chapter 8
SOME ADVANTAGES I N BI BLE TEACHI NG 25
Message doesn't change. . . Message cl ear and
si mpl e . . . Message i s motivating . . . Somethi ng for al l
ages. . . Somethi ng for any condition i n l i fe. . . No great
er personal reward for success.
SOME DANGERS IN BI BLE TEACHI NG 30
Teacher has greater accountabi l i t . . . Our l ives must b
exempl ary . . . Message cannot change . . . Error i nvades
unawares. . . Truth always has oppositi on. . . Error can
be taught i nnocently.
TEACHING TECHNIQUES
BASI C PRI NCI PLES OF LEARNI NG 39
Must be i nvolved. . . Learni ng motivates more
learni ng . . . Teacher responsi bl e for motivation . . . Feed
back essenti al to student and teacher. . . Hel pi ng the
learner remember. . . Not a game.
SOME BASIC TEACHI NG TECHNI QUES 48
Sub-group activity . . . Speci fi c objectives. . Questions
and answers. . . Competiti on. . . Rol e playi ng. . . Case
studi es . . . Play acti ng . . . Testing . . . I ndi vi dual repors
and assignments.
TECHING BY AGES
63
PRESCHOOL CLSSES 65
Can they l earn. . . What can they learn. . . Fi rst
gl i mpses . . . Usi ng the senses . . . Oversi mpl ifyi ng. . .
Shor atention span . . . Team teachi ng . . . Keepi ng it
Chapter 9
si mpl e. . . Lasti ng i mpressi ons. . . Furni ture arrange
ment.
ELEMENTARY AGE 79
Advantages of thi s age: active mi nds. . . Energeti c. .
Leaders . . .
Disadvantages: i mpressi onabl e. . Too easy to teach.
Chapter 10 EARLY TEENAGERS
88
Tend to be sophi sticated. . Will not l isten to lectures
long. . . Competitive. . . Can do reports. . . Separati ng
boys and gi rl s.
Chapter 11 TEENAGERS 96
Chal lengi ng. . . Meeti ng thei r needs. . . Will work
hard . . . Steps to success.
Chapter 12 THE ADULT CLASS 106
What the class is l i ke. . . Advantages: knowledge and
experience. . . Di sadvantages: hesitancy to parici pate,
no accountabi l ity. . . Sol uti ons for lack of
i nvolvement. . . Speci fi c techni ques.
Chapter 13 SPECI AL CLASSES 119
Reasons for speci al cl asses. . . Teacher selection . .
Preparation . . . Seati ng arrangements.
EPI LOGUE 126
PREFACE
While in the absolute sense teaching is to give instruction, it cannot
be said tat the purpose for teaching has been accomplished until
a change has taken place in te person(s) taugt. Imparting the
information to the student(s) is te means necessar to bringng
about the change, but the change effected in the lives of those who
are taugt is te result of the teaching done. It is not difficult to
understand this as it relates to teaching one how to operate a piece
of machinery, conduct a chemical analysis, or a scientific experi
ment. The same principle applies i teaching te word of God.
The purpose of teaching people te Bible is that they may undergo
a change (be converted) and become children of God (new creatures
in Christ Jesus). Jesus gave the great commission to His apostles to
"go teach all nations" (Matt. 28: 19)1 i order that the believers
migt be baptized into Christ and thereby become "new
creatures" (2 Cor. 5: 17). The new birt, the process by which
one becomes a child of God, involves teaching. This birth is "of
water and te Spirit" (John 3:5), and te part the Spirit has in
bringng about te new birt is accomplished by the gospel. The
Bible teaches tat we are bor again of the incorruptible seed, the
word of God, which by te gospel is preached unto you (1
Peter I :23-25). The begetting, a necessary part of the new birth,
is done by the gospel which is the word of truth (see also
I Cor. 4: 1 5; James 1:18).
I. A Scriptures quot i t volume a from te Kg James Version unless
oterise not.
i x
x
In bringing about te change in one's life that God requires, one
cannot overlook the necessity of teaching te right thing, the word
of God. It is the Scripture inspired of God that is able to make te
man of God perfect, or complete (2 Tim. 3: 16, 17). For this reason
we must teach only te word of God (2 Tim. 4:2; 2 John 9-11).
The Bible is also clear in pointing out that the Lord expects us to
develop skill in teaching His word to others so tat tey may kow
how to become new creatures in Christ and also be shown te
advantages of becoming such. As Christians we are to be ready
always to gve an answer to every man who asks us a reason for te
hope that is in us (1 Peter 3: 15), and to let our speech be
with gace, seasoned with salt, that we may know how we ougt
to answer every man (Col. 4:6). These Scriptures indicate that we
must not only know what to say in our teaching, but also how we
say it.
A famar Scriptue showing us the importance of study
(2 Tim. 2: 15) also shows te importance of using or handling te
word of God properly. The New American Standard Version ren
ders te passage "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God
as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurate
ly te word of truth." Tis indicates that some skill is required in
te use we make of te word of trut. Elders in te Lord's chuch
are specifically told to be "apt to teach" (1 Tim. 3:2). To Titus Paul
wote tat elders are to be able to use the faithful word to exhort
and convince the gainsayers (itus 1 :9).
Tese are but a few of te Scriptures which tell us someting of
what teaching is all about. It is te hope of te authors that this
volume w be of some help to all Bible teachers in causing te
geatest possible nuber of people to "receive wit meekness te
engafted word, which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21).
PROLOGUE
We congatulate you on your interest in improving your teaching
xi
s. Hopefully, tis book wenable you to do just tat, when used
along with meaningful practice. But we feel we shoud remind you
that students don't le teoretically, so teaching texts aren't going
to do much good i they contain only theory. We have tried to gve
te Bible teacher someting tat goes beyond teory-some practi-
c examples. Tere are no geat, profound findings in tis
volume. Much of what you read you w eiter already know, or
could have figured out wit a little tougt. So we attempt tese to
tings:
1. To remind you of tings you kow but may have forgotten to
use, and
2. To gve you some reasons .for te tings you are aready doig
but may have wondered i tey were te rigt tings to do.
Wit tis much said, we urge you to devote yourself diligently to
improving yourself as a Bible teacher. Tere is no oter more impor
tat task assigned to us!
Sam Binkley, Jr.
Martin M. Broadwell
PART I
THE BIBLE TEACHER
Chapters 1-5
CHAPTER 1
THE CHRISTIAN
AS A TEACHER
I ntroduction
Acts 8:4
Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every
where preachi ng the word.
Tere are many aspects to the lfe of the Christian. The Christian,
3
in his relaton to God and his fellowman, should consider such
tings as his holiess of character, his worship of God, his
attitude toward his bretren and also to the people of te world.
He should also consider himself as a teacher of te word of
God.
Teaching has always had an important place in God's plan. God
chose Abram because He kew he was a manwho would comnd
his household (Gen. 18: 19). During te Mosaic period He instructed
parents to teach their children diligently (Deut. 6:49). Ezra was a
man who had his heart set to study te law of te Lord, to practice
it, and to teach it to others (Ezra 7: 10). God's requirements for His
people in te New Testament are no different in this respect. Jesus
clearly stated that one must be taugt of God in order to come to
Him (John 6:45), and when He gave the great comssion to the
apostles He said tey were to teach, baptize, and then teach te
baptized (Matt. 28: 19-20). Not only must one be taugt in order to
become a child of God, but teachig is necessary also to
NOTES
THE BI BLE TEACHER
gowing in te gace and knowledge of the Lord (1 Pet. 2: 1-2;
Heb. 5:12-14). With te emphasis tat te Bible places upon
teaching, every Chrstian should want to be a teacher and should
want to be the best teacher possible.
He I s Expected to Teach
When Jesus told his disciples to go teach al nations and to baptie
tose that were taugt He also said for tem to teach te baptied
to observe althings He had commanded tem (Matt. 28: 19-20). It
is quite evident from ts tat disciples of Christ are not only lea
ers of Chrst, but are also teachers of the words of Chist. Paul's
statement to Timothy, "And te things tat tou hast heard of me
among many witnesses, the same comit thou to faitful men, who
shall be able to teach oters also" (2 Tim. 2:2), shows that Christians
4
are expected to be teachers of the wiof Christ. The early disciples
understood they were expected to teach, for when tey were scat
tered by te persecution that arose against the church which was at
Jersalem they went everwhere preaching the word (Acts 8:
1-).
He Shoul d Want to Teach
One cannot become a disciple of te Lord until he has first been
taugt of God (John 6:45; Heb. 8: 11). Ts should cause those
who have already become Christians to want to teach oters what
tey temselves have leared tat tey may share in the blessings
of being in Christ. The Christian should want to be a teacher, even
toug he may reale tat he wil receive heavier judgent (James
3:1), because of te good he may do i savig himself and
oters.
Jesus not only showed His love for man by gving Himself as a
sacrice to God (Eph. 5:2), but also by teachig man how to be
rigteous in te sigt of God. Te Fater was wit Christ while He
NOTES
THE CHRI STIAN AS A TEACHER
lived among men because He always did those tngs that were
pleasing to God (John 8:29), and we are promised tat we w
receive the tings we ask of Him when we keep His commandments
and do te tings that are pleasing in His sight (1 John 3:22). Doing
te things that please God includes teaching others the way of
salvation. Christians should want to become teachers because in
doing so they are instrumental in saving te most valuable tg in
the world, te soul of man (Matt. 16:26), and are at the same tme
becoming more like te Christ whom tey serve.
He Shoul d Want.to Be a Beter Teacher
Te Bible emphasizes the importance of Christians engagng in the
act of teaching. Te Bible likewise shows te necessity of teaching
te rigt doctrine (Gal. 1:8-9; 2 John 9-11; Rev. 22:18-19). As we
remind ourselves of te importance of teaching and of teaching the
5
rigt doctrine let us not lose sigt of te importance of developing
and using skill in our teaching. In 1 Tim. 3:2 and 2 Tim. 2:24 te
expression "apt to teach" is translated from a word in the Geek,
DIDAKTIKOS, which means to be skilled in teaching. Terefore not
ony must an elder be apt to teach, but also the servant of God.
The New Testament scriptures teach that some (newbor babes
in Christ) need te m of te word (1 Pet. 2: 1-2), whereas oters
who have experienced more spiritual growth (Heb. 5: 12-14) need
the stronger meat of te word. Deterg who needs the m and
who needs te meat in their spiritual diet and presenting it in an
appealing manner requires some skill. Te apostle Paul showed ts
when he said, "Let your speech be alway with gace, seasoned wit
salt, tat ye may know how ye ougt to answer every man"
(Col. 4:6). Ad again, "I have fed you wth m, and not wt
meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are
ye able" (1 Cor. 3:2). He went on to point out that the reason they
still were not able to bear te meat was tat tey were yet
NOTES
6
THE BI BLE TEACHER
caral. Seeing the value the Lord places upon exercising skil in
our teaching, we should be as concered about developing and
improving our abilit to teach as we are about any other phase of
our spiritual growth and development. If we ever expect to be per
fect or complete -and this state we can attain by the proper use of
te scriptures (2 Tim. 3: 1617) 'we must develop our skill as teach
ers, for so much of what the Lord expects of us as laborers in His
vineyard involves te teaching of His word.
DI SCUSSI ON ACTI VI TI ES
1. Let each person in te goup t of how he really came to
know of God. (Some will have leared of God throug teir own
study; most will have been taugt by someone.) Let each think of
what it was about the person that taugt him that convinced h
that God was real and that the Bible was te answer to reaching God
. . . to knowing about Him.
2. Compare te warg "Be not many of you teachers"
(ASV, James 3: 1) with te exhortation to Timothy to teach te
things tat he had received to faithful men "who shall be able to
teach oters also" (ASV, 2 Tim. 2: 2). Make this comparison by
having one half of te goup discuss points in favor of te warg
and the oter half discuss the points in favor of the exhortation.
Have each present their arguments, ten come to a conclusion in
ligt of the oter scriptures given in this chapter.
3. If teachig is a skl -and we say it is a number of times in t
book -how can I be a good teacher i I've never taugt?
4. 2 Tim. 2: 24 speaks of one being apt to teach to be a servant
(as we pointed out, literally, "skilled in teaching"). What about
someone who says tat teachers are bor, not made-ten goes on
NOTES
THE CHRI STI AN AS A TEACHER
to say that "I don't have it, so I'll just let those who are bor wt
it do te teaching"?
5. Discuss what migt have happened i Priscilla and Aquilla had
decided that it wasn't teir responsibit to teach Apollos. What
evidence do we have tat Apollos already had done damage with his
incomplete doctrine (Acts 19: 1-5)?
NOTES
Deut. 6: 49
Hear, 0 I srael : The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thi ne hear, and with
all thy soul , and with all thy might. And these words, which
I command thee thi s day, shal l be in thi ne heart: And thou
shalt teach them di l igently unto thy chi l dren, and shalt tal k
of them when thou sittest i n thi ne house, and when thou 7
wal kest by the way, and when thou l i est down, and when
thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon
thi ne hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thi ne
eyes. And thou shal t write them upon the posts of thy
house, and on thy gates.
CHAPTER 2
THE BIBLE AS A
TEACHER-TRAINING MANUAL
Acts 8:35
Then Phi l i p opened hi s mouth, and began at the same
scri pture, and preached unto hi m Jesus.
The Message Is I nspi red
8
Te Bible is te best place to go to lea how to be a successfu
teacher of te word of God. Tere is no better place to lea what
to teach or how best to teach it. God gave us His word tat we mgt
know how to sere Him acceptably while here on eart. Te Bible
claims to be "inspired of God" (2 Tim. 3: 16). Te next verse says
tat te scriptues inspired of God are able to make te man of God
perfect, furshing him completely unto ever good work. It should
be observed tat te word "inspired" is from a word in te Greek
language which literally means "God-breated" ad te word "per
fect" means complete or mature. In te previous chapter we have
shown tat one thing God wats His people to be is teachers. Tere
fore we conclude the Bible is able to mae us te kind of teachers
God wants us to be.
Oter passages which show te Bible did not origate
wit man, but came from God, would include te one which
says tat it was according to His divine power tat He gave "uto
us al things tat pertain unto le and godliness" (2 Pet. 1 :3). Paul
also wrote that we should not "t of men above tat which is
NOTES
written" (1 Cor. 4:6). A passage that should be studied carefuly on
tis point is 1 Cor. 2: 1-13 in which te apostle showed that tings
he taught were revealed unto h by te Holy Spirit tat our faith
might not "stand in the wisdom of men, but in te power
of God" (v. 5) and tat te Holy Spirit chose the words, hence
guiding the witer, "combining spiritural things wit spiritual
words" (v. 13, ASV. Truly te Bible is a teacher-traiing
manual, but more tan that it is God's inspired textbook on te
subject.
The Teachers Were Oten Gui ded by the Hol y Spi rit
Jesus promised the apostles tat He would send te Holy Spirit to
gude them into all tut (John 16: 13). Jesus also promised them tat
te Holy Spirit would teach tem al things, bring to teir remem-
brance what He had taugt tem, testify of Him, and show tem
9
things to come (John 14:26; 15:26; 16: 13). After His resur
rection, when Jesus gave tem te comission to go into al te
world and preach the gospel to ever creature, He also told tem to
tar in Jerusalem until tey were "endued with power fom on
high" before tey began teir work of teaching (Luke 24:49).
Tat Peter and the oter apostles were tus guided by te Holy
Spirit in the begg of teir work of preaching is evident from
Acts 2: 1-. Study the sermon recorded in this chapter and observe
not only the message itself, but te manner of presentation. Of
course we are not tring to minimize the importance of te
message, but are simply calling attention to te fact tat we can
lea something of the how of teaching as well as the what by study
ing te Bible. Surely the Lord approved of te way they taugt as
wel as what tey taugt, and just that surely we can lear sometg
of how we can effectively teach te word of the Lord today. Of
course we realie that Peter, being guided by te Holy Spirit as he
was, could know things about teir needs tat we are not able to
NOTES
10
THE BI BLE TEACHER
know in teaching situations today, but observe tat it was i reply
to a question which tey asked that Peter told tem what to do to
have teir sins forgven (Acts 2:3638).
One of the lessons we can lea from tis approved example is te
value of knowing the needs of tose whom we seek to teach. One
good way to lear tis is to gve them an opportunity to tell you. In
teachig techniques tis is sometimes caled "feedback." The teach
er needs to receive information back from the pupil that he my
know how far advanced te pupil is and how to proceed in order
to brng h along furter i te learg process.
Wise Men Were Teachi ng
Even i we can't prove that te prophets and apostles were inspired
in teir teaching method, at least we kow tat tey were wise men
and had gfts of wisdom and kowledge. It stands to reason tat
God would have been careful in giving His message to people who
were going to have te responsibilit to teach others. It's unlikely
tat He would have wanted someone trusted with His message who
would do a ver poor job of teaching, especially since the populaton
was wthout any oter source of knowledge-te Bible not yet avail
able to tem.
Jesus Was a Teacher Teacher
Jesus spent approximately 31h years wit His disciples during which
time He was preparing them for the work He had for tem to do
in te establishment ad gowt of His kingdom. This work was
primarily tat of teaching His word. Jesus, terefore, taugt them
to teach.
Jesus used various metods i te teachig tat He did. One of
te metods was tat of answering a question with a ques
ton (Matt. 21 :23-27). Tis got te student ivolved imediately
and gave Jesus te opportunit to emphasize te tg he needed te
NOTES
most. By using this metod today we can also lear what te student
is tining and what points he needs. Jesus also used te metod of
contrast. In the sermon on the mount (Matt. 5:21-8), He repeated
ly showed the difference between what they had heard "by tem of
old te" (v. 21) and what He said unto them.
Te fact tat Jesus, after His resurrecton ad before his ascen
sion (Matt. 28: 19), commanded His disciples to "go teach al na
tions" is an indication tat He taugt tem to teach. When some in
the church today begn to mae excuses tat tey do not have te
backgound to become teachers tey shoud look in te New Testa
ment at te backgound of te apostles and note tat tey became
teachers. Teaching oters the tings we have leaed is one way
disciples of Christ help in te saving of souls and also become like
Crist, whose likeness we are in and in whose footsteps we should
seek to follow.
1
Exampl es of Techniques
Jesus used different techniques in His teaching. We have already
mentioned in tis chapter tat He answered a question with a ques
tion (Matt. 21:23-27). He used tis technique on oter occasions
a. Experiences have demonstrated tat tis procedure gets people
involved in te leg process in a way tat enables tem to
discover trut for temselves. It is cery much easier to accept
someting which we dscover for ourselves tan tat which we are
told by someone else.
Not only did Jesus use te metod of contrast i te sermon on
te mount, but tis is aso essentially what Paul did in his dscourse
on Mars' hl(Acts 17). He pointed out that tey had gods of teir
own maing which tey served, and in contrast to tat tere was the
God tey worshipped in igorance whom he declared unto tem
(Acts 17:23).
Te process of going from te known to te uknow, which i
NOTES
12
THE BI BLE TEACHER
a basic principle in te learg process, was used by different men
in te New Testament in teir teaching. One of te clea examples
where tis technique was employed was in Philip teaching te eunuch
(Acts 8). Wen Philip approached te chariot and heard te eunuch
reading he asked h i he understood what he was reading. Te eu
nuch knew tat the language of te prophet which he was reading
described te death of someone, but he did not know wheter it was
the prophet himself or some oter man (v. 34). Philip proceeded from
tis scripture and "preached unto h Jesus" (v. 35). Tere is obvously
some overlappig in the techniques that were used. In the example we
just noticed we can see the use of te technique we now want to look
at in more detail.
Determning the point at which a student has progessed and start
ing there is a ver important thing to remember in teaching, especially
in spiritual matters. The stor is told tat a preacher (I believe it was
T. B. Larimore), while talkg wit a man about his soul, repeatedy
said, "The Bible teaches us to do ts," and would then gve te chapter
and verse for the point. After he had continued tis for some time the
man ten spoke up and said, "But I don't believe the Bible." It is
important, you see, to know something about where to begn in ou
teaching. Paul knew tat Felix was an unust man, lacking in self
control, and unprepared for the judgent. Terefore he reasoned wt
h of tese things (Acts 24: 25). Ananias knew that Saul believed in
Christ, there was much evidence he had repented, and the thing he
needed to do was to be baptied (Acts 22: 16).
At the conclusion of Peter's foral discourse on Pentecost
(Acts 2), he got some response from te audience (v. 37). He then
proceeded to answer teir question by telling them what they must do
to escape the consequences of their sin. There are ties when we need
to get some student response so we wlknow how to proceed wit te
teaching.
Anoter technique we can observe i te New Testament is tat of
NOTES
correcting false concepts. It is obvious tat te scribes and Pharisees
had a false concept about the commandments of the Lord concer
ing their traditions (Matt. 15: 1-14). Jesus corrected this false con
cept and showed them tey were mang the commandments of
God "of none effect" (v. 6) by their tradition. Priscilla and Aquila
used tis technique when they hear. Apollos preachig the baptism
of John after it had been superceded by the baptism of Christ in the
great commission. Te Bible says "they took him unto them and
taugt him the way of the Lord more perfectly" (Acts 18:26).
The Bible truly is a teacher-traing manual, the inspired one.
I. Small-group activity: Let each group look at te example of
l3
Christ teaching the Samaritan woman at te well in John 4. Make
a list of the different technques of teaching Jesus used in just tis
one example of teaching. See which group can find the most; report
the findings back to te total group.
2. Class discussion: Discuss Paul's approach to teaching the peo
ple on Mars' hill in Acts 17. Why didn't he tell about Abraham?
Baptism? Te work of te church?
3. Individual activty: Look at Mattew 5-7 and count how many
words, expressions and concepts are used to make points (such
things as salt, candles, light, etc.). Why did Jesus go to all tis trouble
to mae His points? Weren't te people intelligent enoug to under
stand Him otherwise? What about us today?
4. In 2 Samuel 12, Nathan had a message for David. Discuss as
a class how he went about getting this message across to David. Who
finally drew the conclusion, Nathan or David? How is this used as
a teaching technique today?
NOTES
14
THE BI BLE TEACHER
5. Small-goup activity: Let each goup find examples where
anyone in te Bible answered a question with a question. Discuss
te results they got from this teaching method. Does it still work
today?
NOTES
Col. 4: 6
Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with
salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every
man.
CHAPTER 3
SOME BASIC PROBLEMS
IN BIBLE TEACHING
I Cor. 9:16
For though I preach the gospel , I have nothi ng to
glor of: for necessi t is l ai d upon me; yea, woe is unto
me, if I preach not the gospel!
Lack of Desi re to Teach Can Be a Problem
It is difficult to understand why a person who has been taugt of
15
God and has become a Chrstian would not want to teach oters the
way of salvation, but te fact remains tat many do not want to be
teachers. It occurs to u tat many are lackig in a desire to teach
because tey are convinced tat someone else would make a better
teacher tan tey would. Did you ever stop to analyze that line of
reasoning? Let's look at it for a moment. Would you apply it to ever
phase of your life? Is the reason you do not play golf, bowl, fish, or
engage in some oter recreation, partcularly a competitive sport,
because someone else is better at it tan you are? Husbands, sup-
pose your wife said she was not going to cook any more because she
was not as good a cok as someone else? You wives have not
stopped cooking because you are not as good at it as some-
one else, have you? Now we are well aware tere is much more
at stae in teaching the word of God tan in recreation, or even in
teaching, but we are also aware tat the Lord expects us to do te
best we can in teaching what we know of His word and improving
ourselves as we study ad put into practce what we lea.
NOTES
16
THE BI BLE TEACHER
Some have a lack of a desire to teach because they feel tey
cannot teach at all. Certainly there are some who are better teachers
than oters, and perhaps tere are a few who absolutely cannot
stand before certain groups in a class teaching situation and teach
a Bible lesson. But we are equally persuaded that a geat many of
tose who say tey cannot really could if they decided this is what
tey wanted to do. Te Lord does not expect us to do what we
cannot do, but He does expect us to use and develop the talents He
has given us, and in fact w hold us accountable for such. Read
Matthew 25: 1430.
One of te things which causes some not to desire to be teachers
of te word of God is fear. Some are afraid of the criticism tey may
receive from oters and consequently do not want to teach. Some
wl refuse to accept te responsibility of teaching for tis very
reason. If everyone who ever received criticism for something they
said or did in their teaching suddenly decided not to teach any more
there would not be ver much teaching done. Those who teach are
human and do make mistakes which need to be corrected, and
constructive criticism needs to be offered. Critics do not always
know how, nor do tey always exercise wisdom and good judgment
in offering their criticism, but Christians should not allow ts to
discourage us to the point of not becoming teachers or of quitting
after we have become involved in this all-important work.
A humble Christian of our acquaintance, with a limited formal
education, was teaching a lesson in a Bible class when te local
church was disturbed over a fundamental principle. In his efforts to
show the teaching of te scriptures on the point at hand he mis
spelled a simple word on te board. A influential man in te
congregation publicly criticized and ridiculed him before the class
saying that he was not qualified to teach. While this kind of an
attack hurt the teacher ver deeply it did not hinder him from using
NOTES
SOME BASI C PROBLEMS I N BI BLE TEACHI NG
his abilit to teach and his ifluence to encourage people to accept
te truth of God.
Some Are Afrai d of Questi ons
Some hesitate to teach because they are afraid someone will ask a
question tey will not be able to answer. When we consider te
different motives people have for asking questions -and the
many questins tat can be put to a teacher -we can certainly
recognize tat no one would be expected to come up wit te
corect answer to every question that may be put to him. Tere
are some suggestions which should help overcome tis fear, how
ever. Te teacher should always encourage the students to ask
only the questions tat will enable tem to lear te trut, and
let it be known tat tose questions which engender strife and
confusion will not be considered. One can learn a great deal
17
about answering questions by studying te example of Jesus. It
is certainly true tat we cannot look into the heart of anoter
and know what his motive is for asking a particular question as
Jesus did, but we can lea how to answer his question wt a
question ans tereby place te responsibility of answering his
question on him. Ts oftentimes brings out the motive for ask-
ing the question: whether te querist is sincerely seeking the
Bible answer or is trying to trap the teacher.
Tere are some students who will ask questions for the pur
pose of getting the teacher to spend the entire class period telng
tem the answer. This diverts the attention away from the lesson
assiged for that class period and lets te student shift his mind
into "neutral" while the teacher lectures to the class. Usually
questions of this type are asked to occupy time and not out of
a desire to know the trut on the subject, and keep the student
from becoming involved in class participation and te learg
NOTES
18
THE BI BLE TEACHER
process. It is not always easy to know what motive prompts a
student to ask a question, but it helps to prevent questions being
asked for te purpose of wasting time, as well as helping to lear
better the answers, to place a lot of the responsibility of finding te
answers on the students themselves.
It is not a disgrace to be asked a Bible question to which you do
not know te answer, but i it is a matter of concer and importance
to the person asking it then an effort should be made to find te
answer and report back at the next class meeting. Tis can be a
means of getting participation from the class, i.e., by assigng te
class te responsibilit of finding te answer and then by beg g
te next class period with a discussion of what they leared about
it. So you see there can be worse things for a teacher than not being
able to answer al te questions the students migt ask.
Teachi ng Requi res Too Much Efort
Tere are those who decline to accept te responsbility of becoming
a teacher because they are unwlg to put for the effort and
spend te time necessary to prepare. It is a fact that it takes time
and effort to be a successful teacher of the word of God and those
who are unwlg to face up to this reality wl never become good
teachers. Teaching is a skill and people do not become skillful
simply by wshing or inactivity, but by proper application of met
ods which wl develop the skill. If people put fort no more effort
in leag te skill to enable tem to perform the duties assiged
tem on teir job tan many do to develop the skill of teaching te
word of God to others, how many would be able to keep
teir jobs? Business men require that the people they hire prove
teir qualifications for te job and/ or show wlgness to lea how
to be proficient at it, putting forth te effort necessar to prepare
for it. Yet in the church many who are gven the solemn responsibili
t of guiding the desties of te souls of others put little time in
NOTES
leag what to teach tem and even less in leag how best to
enable teir students to lear life's most important lessons.
Oftentimes when people in te church are approached and asked
to teach or encouraged to prepare themselves to teach tey beg to
offer excuses such as "I can't teach," "some one else can do tat
better than I can," "I don't have time to prepare" or some such when
in reality a lack of desire to teach is back of it. Desiring to be
teachers while understanding neither what we say nor whereof we
affirm (1 Tim. I :7) is not the rigt thing to do, but the Bible does
tell Christians to be apt to teach (2 Tim. 2:24). AChristians should
desire to teach for te good they can do in saving souls.
Lack of Good TeacherTrai ni ng Programs I s a Probl em
Aoter basic problem in Bible teaching is the lack of good teacher-
training progams. In many local churches there seems to be little
1 9
or no program for te purpose of training people t o be better teach-
ers. Perhaps one of the reasons tere are so few good teacher
training programs being conducted is the failure to see te impor-
tance of such. Many seem to t that as long as we have classes
wit a fair number of people in attendance and someone to act as
the teacher, tat is all that is needed. We don't reason tat way
about those who teach our children in the public schools, but for
some unexplained reason we do not seem to place as much impor-
tance upon having qualified teachers in the Bible classes.
Some members of the Lord's church have a letargic attitude to
teacher-training progams in a local church, and when elders plan
a special series of lessons for the purpose of developing more and
better teachers many do not avail themselves of the opportunit to
participate. Obviously good teacher-traiing programs must have
people who want to lea to improve themselves as well as those who
wlplan and conduct tem. Tere need to be more leaders who have
te vision to plan and conduct progams desiged to improve the
NOTES
20
THE BI BLE TEACHER
teaching of the Bible and there need to be more who will show an
interest by attending such.
To have a successful teacher-training program tere must not
only be a desire to have such a program and a willingness to plan
and conduct such, but tere must also be some one who is qualified
to do so to teach such a class. A good teacher-training progam
involves much more than having a meeting of the teachers once a
mont and/or a class i teacher-training periodically. It includes
havig leaders in the congegation who wl have a desire to build
up the church and recognize the necessity of sound teaching in
accomplishing this goal. Teachers, lie heroes, are made, not
bor. Hence the need of having a continuous good teacher-train
ing program. Periodic teacher-training sessions can serve a good
purpose in a local congregation as gospel meetings can and do.
Teachers Must Deal wi th Under-Motivated Students
Often when someone mentions something about motivating stu
dents to study te Bible, about the only thing some can think of is
gving them candy, refreshments and the le. On the other hand
there are those who believe the only motivation one needs for Bible
study is the realization of te fact that it is the Bible. Students of all
ages need proper motivation in learg at each class period discus
sion as well as in reaching the ultimate goal of eteral life. Appealing
to a student's natural competitive spirit, his desire to excel, his
demonstration of his ability to lear, can be as successful in getting
him to lear important Bible principles as promsing him a star if
he attends every class meeting for a quarter, or says his memory
verse ever Sunday. Promising a reward is not the only way to
motivate students to lear, and neither is the fear of punishment.
When students are under-motivated they often lose interest in lear
ing, attend the classes infrequently, become discipline problems,
disturb the class and hinder others from learing. One of the most
NOTES
stimulating and exciting ways to motivate students to lear is
throug the process of discovering something hitherto unknown to
tat person. Discovering a new idea, lie discovering new territory
on land, sea, or in space, increases one's desire to lear, and conse
quently motivates him to more diligent study.
I mproper Physical Faci l ities Can Hi nder the Teacher
Did you ever try to hold te attention and teach a Bible lesson to
a dozen boys (or girls) in a cluttered storage room of a building used
for kindergarten, girl scouts, baby health center, voting place, as well
as for religous services? Perhaps you say this is an exaggerated
situation, but it has happened (to me), and it is much more difficult
to get the lesson across than with proper physical facities. Let me
hasten to say that it is possible to have all the latest and best
equipment available and stil not be successfu as a Bible
21
teacher. However, a skillful teacher will be much more successful
with proper physical facilities than wthout them.
One of the problems in teaching where physical facilities are
concered is in deciding exactly what facilities are needed and pro
curing and using them. In most places people are convinced tat
certain things such as chalkboards, tack boards, flannel boards,
maps, etc., are needed in teaching situations, but many times even
the teachers do not know just what they need nor how to make
proper use of what they do have. A part of the problem is in the
general appearance of the room itself. Teachers should make an
effort to have the room as cheerful as possible, and should have
things arranged so as to cause the students to be glad to
be there, and to want to lear. The teacher is greatly handi
capped who does not have facilities, troug means of which te
students actually become involved in the learng process and
trough te use of which the application of spiritual truth becomes
a personal reality. To derive benefit from a study of the Bible we
NOTES
THE BIBLE TEACHER
must make application to our own lives and this involves knowing
how to make tat application. Careful consideration should be gven
to what physical facilities are available and what are needed, and
how to make te proper use of them in teaching the truth.
Lack of Parental Concern Can Cuse Problems
Tis problem in teaching has to do prarily with children. Wen
teachers have as their students tose whose parents have no more
concer for their attending Bible classes than the opportunity of
getting them out of the house for an hour or so, those teachers have
problems and the chances of the students learg very much is
pretty slim. It is a true statement that Bible class teachers get some
students in teir classes whose parents really have little or no con
cer as to whether their children lear ver much about the Bible
22
or not. There seems to be an attitude among some parents that they
want their children to attend some Bible classes so tey wl be able
to say in later life that they used to attend Bible school.
Obviously this kind of situation presents a problem for
teachers, for the teacher must provide most i not all the motiva
tion for the student to lear. Someties it is possible for the child
to get the parents involved by te enthusiasm he may show in the
things he has leared. Truly there are times when "a little child shall
lead tem" (Isa. 1 1 :6).
Students' Lack of Bible Knowledge May Be a Problem
It would be a rare situation if an entire class of eleven- and twelve
year-old students, for example, had the same general knowledge of
te Bible. That this presents a problem in effective Bible teacing
is quite evident when the teacher, teling such stores as Jona and
te whale, suggests tat te students read the account for them
selves, then sees them thumb through the Bible in search of the book
of Jonah, not knowing whether it is in the New Testament or te
NOTES
Old Testament. This problem not only exists among children, but
among adults as well. When a small percentage of the students in
a Bible class have such a lited knowledge of the Bible that the
teacher must explain every point in detail the rest of the members
of the class have a tendency to lose interest as they want to move
along more rapidly in the leag process.
Since in most local congegations it is not expedient to divide the
classes into slower and more advanced groups, as is sometimes done
in public school systems, te teacher must find ways to stimulate
and involve the whole class. Quizing the class to determine the
point at which each member has progressed in Bible knowledge and
then assigning te students work according to their capabilities is
one way to overcome this problem. Another suggestion that proves
to be helpful is assiging goup activities, putting at least one person
in each goup who is more advanced in Bible knowledge with some
23
who are somewhat limited so he can help bring tem to a greater
degee of knowledge and understanding.
Teachers have the responsibility of recoging problems when
they exist and of seeking solutions to them. Jesus said, "For ye have
the poor with you always . . . " (Mark 14:7), and this seems to be
true of problems also. Tey will not go away by ignoring tem, but
tey can be overcome.
1. Two-group activity: Have one group list all the reasons tey
can remember tat they have heard from people who were trying to
get out of teaching (mostly, these will be excuses). Have the oter
goup list justiable reasons why a person could refuse to teach a
class. When each is troug, list their findings side by side on the
board. Do any of them match?
NOTES
24
THE BI BLE TEACHER
2. Class discussion: What is the best answer to give to someone
who uses te excuses given in the answer to Question 1?
3. Class discussion: How can a person overcome the problem of
not being able to speak in front of a group? Are there other ways
of teaching besides in front of a large audience? What are some of
tem (more than just personal work)?
4. Group project: In whatever way you decide to work on it,
come up with a satisfactory teacher-training program for a congre
gation of average sie. Decide how to build the interest for
the class, how to encourage those who haven't taugt before to
attend, what te course goals are, etc.
5. Now look at the course designed above and decide how to keep
training going so that new teachers continue to be developed, and
experienced ones continue to update their metods. (This is a harder
task than in Question 4!)
NOTES
Acts 2: 40
And with many other words did he testify and exhort,
sayi ng, Save yourselves from thi s untoward generation.
CHAPTER 4
SOME ADVANTAGES
IN BIBLE TEACHING
1 Ti m. 4:16
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctri ne; conti nue i n
them: for i n doi ng th i s thou shalt both save thyself, and them
that hear thee.
Although there are admittedly problems in Bible teaching, tere are
also some advantages. A closer look at them will encourage the begn-
25
ng Bible teacher.
The Message Does Not Change
In every course in secular education textbooks must be revsed
frequently and new ones written from tme to time because the mes
sage changes as newin ormationis leared. But tis is not true wt the
teaching of the Bible. God's final and complete revelation to m in
te New Testament scriptures is as fresh and as applicable today as
when it was given in the first centur. Te apostle Peter said tat te
Lord has given us "althngs tat pertain unto life and godliness" (2
Pet. 1: 3); and the apostle Paul affirmed that the scriptures inspired of
God are "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for i
struction in rigteousness: Tat the man of God may be perfect,
throughly furshed unto algood works" (2 Ti. 3: 1617). Not only
do tese passages indicate the finality of te New Testament scrip
tures, but Jude told us the fait "was once (for al-ASV delivered
unto the saints" (Jude 3) which would also indicate te finalit of it.
NOTES
THE BI BLE TEACHER
Te above scriptures show tat God has gven us the final revela
tion of His will to man and therefore wil not change it. We now
consider some passages which show that man is forbidden to change
God's message. The curse of heaven is promised to all who pervert
the gospel and preach any message oter tan that which te apos
tles preached '(Gal. 1:8-9), and which they have written ( 1
Cor. 14:37). To transgess or go beyond and abide not in the
doctrine of Christ brings God's disapproval (2 John 9-1 1). The
apostle Peter added tat those who wrest the scriptures (twst or
change tem about) do so to their own destruction (2 Pet. 3: 16). Not
only does God forbid the changg of te New Testament, but He
did not permit te people to change the Old Testament when it was
in force (Deut. 4:2).
26
The Message Is Cl ear and Si mpl e
Te Bible teaches "that God is no respecter of persons: But in every
Nation he that fearet h, and worketh righteousness, is accepted
with him" (Acts 10:34-35). The God who gave us the Bible does not
want us to be lost (2 Pet. 3:9), but has said tat all who do not obey
His wl "shall be punished wit everlasting destruction" (2
Tess. 1 :7-9). He requires that we understand and do His wl in
order to be saved. Terefore we know it is possible for us to under
stand it i we have the proper attitude toward it. Consider te clear
and simple way in which Jesus taugt the people in parables, using
things wit which they were familiar to teach them about the deeper
spiritual matters.
The Message Itself Is Motivati ng
Whether we realie it or not the need for motivating students to
lea is as great today as it has ever been. The problem wit many
teachers is in knowing where to look for tis motivation and ten
NOTES
SOME ADVANTAGES I N BI BLE TEACHI NG
how to motivate te students to lear. There is a great deal more
motivation for learg in the message of the Bible than many of us
have found. We assume those in our Bible classes believe te Bible
is te inspired word of God. Who among such students would not
be motivated to lear ahe could about God's wonderful creation
simply by reading the account gven of the creation in the first two
chapters of Genesis? Liewise te message of God's plan of redemp
tion for man (which is te real message of the Bible) is presented in
te Bible so as to cause the sincere person to want to know al he
can about tis plan that he may follow it and receive the blessings
promised therein. The message in the crucifiion of Jesus motivates
people to want to know why He died.
There Is Somethi ng for Al l Ages
Children tl to te stories of Jochebed and Moses, Hannah and
27
Samuel, David and Goliath, and many others. The stories of the
destruction of the world by water in Noa's day, the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and brimstone from heaven can be
made to come alive and young people can thereby be motivated to
lear what a terrible thing sin is in the eyes of God as well as how
they may escape from its punishment.
Adults can be motivated to lea by te statements which show
te value of the spiritual over te material or physical -indicating
the danger of putting our trust in te uncertainty of riches, and the
reward promised to those who lay up for temselves treasures in
heaven. There is also something in the Bible for te aged to lear
how to grow old gacefully as tey view their departure fom this
eart, not as te end of all things for tem, but, i tey have sered
te Lord faithfully and died in Him, as an opportunity to go and
be with Him and to rest from their labors (Phil. 1 : 21-23; 2
T. 4: 68; Rev. 14: 13).
NOTES
THE BI BLE TEACHER
There I s Somethi ng for Any Condition or Station i n Life
One of the truly geat advantages of Bible teaching is the fact tat
wheter you are teaching te rich or poor, leared or unleared,
imprisoned or free, kings or subjects, there is a message tere for
them. The rich man can lear how to use his wealt to benefit
himself and oters and the poor man can lear how to be a worth
while servant of God by being content with such tings as he has
and using tem in the service of God. Te apostles went to the rulers
wit the message of salvation and they also went to te poor.
Jesus could tal to the shepherds about the Great Shepherd of His
sheep, to famers about sowing the seed and reaping te fruit at te
harvest, to fishermen about how to become fishers of men, to the
wealthy about the danger of putting teir trust in uncertain riches
and of laying up for temselves treasures in heaven, to the poor
28
about the rches in the Father's storehouse, to the tirsty about te
water of life which when a person drinks he will never
tirst again, to the masters about the honor and value of true
service, and to a te valu of te spiritual over te material.
There Is No Greater Personal Reward for Success
The apostle John wrote, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my
children walk in trut" (3 John 4). Surely this expresses the feeling
al faithful Bible teachers have toward those whom they have taugt
te word of the Lord. But there is not only te joy that one feels in
tis life in knowing tose he has taugt are walking in the trut of
the gospel, tere is also an eteral reward in heaven. Paul told
Tiothy to "Take heed unto thyself, ad unto the doctrine; contn
ue in tem: for in doing this tou shalt both save thyself, and them
that hear tee" (1 Tim. 4: 16). Regardless of how great the reward
may be for engaging in some successful endeavor in this life none
could compare with the reward of everlasting life in heaven with
God.
NOTES
SOME ADVANTAGES IN BIBLE TEACHING
1. The Bible is often called a history book. As a class discussion
decide what the difference is between teaching ancient histor of the
secular world and Bible histor.
2. The Bible is also called a science book. In the same fashion as
i Question 1, discuss te difference between teaching modem sci
ence and the science of the Bible.
3. The Bible is sometimes called a book of psycholog and philos
ophy. Have half the class come up with a list of "Philosophies"
taugt i the Bible, whie the other half lists examples of the use of
psycholog i te Bible. Report the findings back to the goup as
a whole.
4. Wit te Bible as proof-text prepare a debate between two
goups on te question "Human nature never changes." (The nega
tive goup will have to draw most of its argument from
man's logc.)
5. Group discussion: Wy is it that men today still look for
further revelation from God? What would be the consequence if
even one person received an additional message from God? What
would happen to such passages as Jude 3, 2 Timoty 3:16-17,
2 Peter 1: 3?
NOTES
Acts 1 6:32-34
And they spake unto hi m the word of the Lord, and to all
that were i n his house. And he took them the same hour
of the night, and washed thei r stripes; and was
baptized, he and al l hi s, straightway. And when he had
brought them i nto his house, he set meat before them,
and rejoiced, bel ieving i n God with all his house.
29
30
CHAPTER 5
SOME DANGERS
IN BIBLE TEACHING
James 3:1
My brethren, be not many teachers (ASV), knowi ng that we
shal l receive the greater condemnati on.
Just as surely as there are advantages in Bible teaching there are
some dangers of which we must beware. One does not have to allow
te presence of dangers to discourage h from becoming a
teacher, nor should they be allowed to become pitfalls in our
patway to becoming better Bible teachers.
Teachi ng Has Greater Accountabi l ity
As we have already stated in the previous chapter teachers shall
receive geater condemnation or heavier judgment (James 3:1).
Teachers have geater accountability because of the greatness of
their responsibilit-dealing wit te eteral destiny of te precious
souls of those whom tey teach.
Some students lea very little about te Bible other tan what
they get from teir teachers in Bible classes. Since impressions tat
are made in te classroom are usually lasting ones teachers need to
be careful to make trutful impressions. Jesus emphasied to His
disciples the danger of following blind guides. He said, "And i the
blind lead te blind, both shall fall into te ditch" (Matt. 1 5: 14).
This does not me the responsibility of those who are being led
NOTES
SOME DANGERS IN BIBLE TEACHING
by the blind guides, but it does emphasize the greatness of the
responsibility of those who lead in spiritual matters.
Our Lives Must Be Exempl ary
"Don't do as I do, but do as I say do" does not have its basis in the
lfe and teaching of Jesus Christ, nor any sound principle of teach
ing. People are great imitators. Therefore example is one of the best
ways of teaching others. The New Testament writers, especially the
apostle Paul, frequently mentioned te value of example by remid
ing the people of the way he had behaved in teir presence, and how
they should follow him as he followed Christ (2 Thess. 3: 7;
1 Cor. 11: 1).
Elders, preachers, yea all Christians, are to be examples. Paul
wared the elders of the church of Ephesus to take heed to them-
selves as well as to te flock. According to Hebrews 13: 7 we should
31
follow the faith of those who have the rule over us, and Peter said
that elders are to be examples (1 Pet. 5: 3). In one of Paul's letters
to Timothy he pointed out that he should be an example of those
who believe (1 Tim. 4: 12).
Te one from whom we best lear by example is Jesus Christ.
Luke wrote that He "began both to do and teach" (Acts 1 : 1 ). He
exemplified what He wanted of His followers by doing always the
tigs that pleased te Fater (John 8: 29). The apostle Peter told
us plainly that Jesus left us "an example, that ye should follow his
steps" (1 Pet. 2: 21). Perhaps the statement in the Bible that best
expresses te exemplary life the teacher is to live is the one in which
Paul admonished Tiothy to "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the
doctrine; contiue i tem: for i doing this thou shalt bot save
thyself, and tem tat hear thee" ( I Tim. 4: 16). What rigt does te
teacher, wheter he or she be parent, elder, preacher, Bible class
teacher, have to expect of the student tat which he or she is unwill
ig to do?
NOTES
32
THE BI BLE TEACHER
The Message Must Not Change
We have mentioned some statements from the Bible which indicate
to us the everlasting consequences which await those who change
te message of the scriptures. One of the dangers facing Bible teach
ers is the tendency to change that message on some particular point
to suit ourselves or someone of our acquaintance. The consequence
is not eart-shaking when a teacher changes the message somewhat
in teaching a course in history, language, or some such secular
subject, but the eteral destiny of the souls of both teacher and
students is involved in Bible teaching. For this reason the Bible
teacher must be constantly aware of the danger of changing the
message.
Te gospel of Christ is God's remedy for the disease of sin, and
tere must be no change in the prescription He gave i the cure is
to be affected. When the doctor writes out a prescription for the cure
of a disease he found i our body we do not want the pharmacist
to change even one ingredient. As Bible teachers we should be alert
lest we inadvertently change the message and thereby lose our own
souls and cause others to be lost also.
Error I nvades Unawares
Regardless of how careful teachers are in presenting te truth and
urgng the students to adhere strictly to it, there is always the danger
of error getting in. We can observe in the New Testament scriptures
tat this was true wit Christ and the apostles even as it is
true today. Jesus wared His disciples to "Beware of false
prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly tey
are ravening wolves" (Matt. 7: 1 5), and te wolves did come among
tem with teir false doctrines. Te apostle John tells Christians to
"try the spirits wheter they are of God: because many false proph
ets are gone out into the world" ( I John 4: I). Oter similar wargs
NOTES
SOME DANGERS I N BI BLE TEACHI NG
are gven in the holy scriptures and they are needed as much today
as tey were when they were first given. For this reason Bible teach
ers need to know te teachng of te Bible so tey can recoge
error when it is taugt and be able to help their students to recoge
it also.
Te devil i very subtle in te way he mes error in
with the truth. For tis reason the danger facing the Bible teach
er is not only in being able to detect the error himself, but in helping
te students to recogize an refte it when it appears. Te teacher
wl not always be around when te student is faced wit some
religous error. Therefore te student should be shown how to recog
ne te dfference between what te Bible teaches and what men
teach. Various techniques which will accomplish tis are discussed
elsewhere in this book, but it should be pointed out here that it is
te responsibilit of te teacher to get te students involved in
33
discovering the difference for temselves by actually studying some
doctrines and proving by te Bible wheter tey are true or not.
Truth Al ways has Oppositi on
One cannot study te life and teaching of Jesus Christ witout being
impressed wit te fact that the trut always has opposition. Bot
among the Jews and the Romans tere were tose who did not
believe te trut Jesus taugt ad tey opposed it wit vigor. John
told us that "He (Jesus) came unto His own, and His own received
Him not" (John 1: 1 1). Jesus prepared His disciples for te same
kind of opposition by telling tem, "If tey have persecuted me, tey
wlpersecute you; i tey have kept my saying, tey wlkeep yours
also" (John 1 5:20b).
Te preaching of te apostle Paul in various places also indicates
that te truth has opposition. Frequently he was allowed to preach
in the Jewish synagogues until he taugt tem that te Jewish system
of religon, includng te sabbat commandment, had been ten
NOTES
THE BI BLE TEACHER
out of te way and Christ had gven us a new law. Because of teir
opposition to the truth he was forced to do his teaching
elsewhere. Even when he was forced to leave one city and flee to
another to preserve his life, such as Thessalonica (Acts 17: 10), or
stoned and left for dead, as in Lystra (Acts 14: 19), he did not cease
his preaching.
Tese are but two of te many Bible examples illustrating the fact
tat trut has opposition. The lesson for us to lear from this is tat
we cannot fail to teach the truth even thoug tere is opposition.
When we come to te fl realization that it takes the truth to free
men from sin (John 8: 32), we wl not allow opposition to it to keep
us from teaching it to others.
Error Can Be Taught I nnocently
34 Not everyone who teaches error sets out to do so deliberately. It is
possible for one to teach error without kowing tat it is error.
Apollos was an eloquent man and migty in the scriptures, but he
knew only the baptism of John until Priscilla and Aquila took him
aside and taught him te way of the Lord more accurately
(Acts 18: 24-26). Paul was in ignorance when he was opposing
Christ (1 Ti. 1 : 13). Tere are doubtless a geat number of people
today who believe tey are teaching the truth, but who are in realit
teaching error. For this reason Bible teachers cont y need to
take heed unto ourselves and te doctne that we may be able to
save ourselves and others (1 Ti. 4: 16).
The responsibility of Bible teachers is great. Our own souls are at
stake and so are the souls of tose we teach. Terefore we need to
know the difference beteen te truth which saves (John 8:
32; 1 Pet. 1 : 22) and te errors of men which damn te soul (2
Thess. 2: 1012). We also need to help our students to be able to
make this distinction and follow trut in te face of al op
position. Problems arise in Bible teaching, but wt the help of
NOTES
SOME DANGERS I N BI BLE TEACHI NG
te Lord and the use of His infallible guide, the Bible, they are not
insurmountable.
1. Group discussion: Without naming names or mag it so te
goup can identif te people being discussed, think of teachers you
have known in the past who were good teachers but had personal
habits tat were not exemplar of Christian teachers. Discuss: "Af
ter a, i a person can teach te Bible, that's te important
tg. Regardless of his personal life, the message is still getting
there" (2 Tess. 3:7; 1 Cor. 11: 1).
2. Obviously teachers should get in te habit of using scriptures
to prove tat what tey are teaching is from God's word.
A a group, dicuss what habits a stuent should develop along
tese same lines. Should a teacher encourage a student to question
wheter a ting is taught in the scripture or not? After al, the
teacher wouldn't be teaching the subject if he wasn't sure it was
rigt. (What does the Bible have to say about the relationship be
tween te teacher and the student? 1 John 4: 1.)
3. Group discussion: Why is it tat truth always seems to have
opposition? Why aren't people glad to find the truth? We hear so
much about te "search for truth."
4. What part does te devil play in disguising error? How do we
know? (See scripture references in this chapter.)
5. Group debate: With the class divided into two halves, debate
te followig: "If students don't want to hear te tth, ten we
ought not to waste our time. After all, tey ought to know tat their
souls are at stake."
NOTES
35
36
THE BI BLE TEACHER
. NOTES
Acts 18:26
And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom
when Aqui la and Prisci l l a had heard, they took him unto
them, and expounded unto hi m the way of God more per
fectly.
PART I I
TEACHING TECHNIQUES
Chapters 6-7
37
CHAPTER 6
BASIC PRINCIPLES
OF LEARNING
Acts 8:3031
And Phi l i p ran thither to hi m, and heard hi m read the
prophet I sai ah, and sai d, Understandest thou what thou
readest? And he sai d, How can I, except some man shoul d
gui de me? And he desi red Phi l i p that he would come up
and si t wi th hi m.
There are some "first principles" of learning that are simple to
understand, essential to learng, easy to do, obvious when ex-
39
plained, yet ve frequentl ignored by most teachers. In this chapter
we wl talk about them. Later we wl see te application.
I nvolvement Is Necessar
Allearg is self-activity. I lear for myself; no one can lea for
me. If I listen to a lecture, I decide if I'm going to go to the trouble
of opening my ears, letting my brain t about the subject. The
teacher may be doing very well at "covering" the material, but he
cannot lear for me, nor even force me to remain mentl y in
volved-a long a he just lectures.
Te successful teacher, at any class level, doesn't depend entirely
upon the student to get involved. He prepares activities that force
involvement (or at least make it easier). His teaching techniques are
conscious efforts to encourage involvement. He knows that leag
takes place only when te leaer is involved, so he does tose tgs
tat cause involvement.
NOTES
40
TEACHI NG TECHNI QUES
Learni ng Motivates Learni ng
Teachers often ask, "What can I do to motivate my students to
lear?" One answer is so simple it's often overlooke
d
: Let them
lear! Few things reward us as much as knowing we have actually
leared someting. This is true at any age. But notice, we said
knowing we have leared. It isn't enoug just to suspect tat we have
leared something; we must
k
now it for sure to be m
o
tivated to
continue to seek new learg experiences. Later we'll see how to
accomplish this; that is, we'll see how te teacher can be sure the
student knows he's leared. For now, let's just be sure to understand
that i we expect to use learg as a motivator, we'll have to let te
learer in on the fact.
This gives us anoter reason for involving the student: to let him
find out he has leared something. The tricky part of learg is tat
we aren't always aware of wheter or not we have leared. We hear
a reference or a scripture and t we have committed it to memo
ry. We hear several excelent points and think we won't for
get them. Ten we start to use this information and find that it
is no longer available to us -we simply can't recall it. It's important
to note tat at the time we heard the information we understood
it. We knew what the teacher was saying, it made sense, we ageed
with it and for a short while at least, we were mentally involved. We
had every reason to beleve we had leared the subject. But it had
only gotten into our "short term memory" and had not become a
part of anything long term.
The Teacher Has the Responsi bi l ity
Te teacher, then, has a responsibility to the student -i te process
used in teaching-to see tat involvement is present. Wen students
seem to have no desire to lear, the teacher needs to ask, "A I
gving te student an opportunit to know he has leared?" Does he
know tat he has leared sometng he didn't know, something tat
NOTES
BASI C PRI NCI PLES OF LEARNI NG
is useful, someting that he can repeat wth conidence? Tis is one
of the benefits of drlls; te student is getting feedback on
himself. He kows how well he's doing towards leag. If the
student shows a lack of interest, the teacher has a responsibilit to
see i tis is a symptom of someting te teacher is doing wong. Is
te teacher failing to let te students in on the learg exercise?
Have te students just decided that they aren't really needed in the
classroom because te teacher is going on without them anyway? A
alert teacher wlalways ask, "Could ts class have been run with
out the students?" If the answer is "Yes" then there is a good chance
not much was leaed. Cer the students didn't know tey had
leaed anything.
Tis doesn't mean that onl the teacher has the responsibility for
what happens in the classroom. The students should be interested
i what goes on, they should want to lear, they should be accounta
ble for their own actions -but it is the teacher's responsibility
first, ten te students'. Te teacher sets te clmate for leag. He
lets te students kow whether or not they are going to be a part
of te class activity or are going to be expected to sit quietly while
te teacher demonstrates how much he knows about te subject.
Unfortunately, te relationship between the teacher and learer
sometimes becomes a spa ing contest. Te teacher is more con
cered wit discipline than wit learing, with the group being quiet
tan wit tem participating. When tis happens, there is little hope
for leag. Te teacher says to himself, "As soon as tey get quet,
I'll start teaching." Te students say, "As soon as he starts to do
someting interesting we'll get quiet."
Feedback Is Essenti al
Te key to successful learg is the quantity and quality of feedback
tat gets to bot te teacher and te leaer. Tis is just a fancy way
of saying tat the students need to know where tey are and te
NOTES
41
42
teacher does too. Te more feedback tere is te more each c
adjust to the situation. If te students know where tey're supposed
to be going and they discover tey aen't gettng tere, tey can
change their habits. If te teacher expects certain results and isn't
getting tem, he knows tat adjustments must be made. But it's too
late to find this out at te end of te class period or te end of a
quarter. To accomplish anytg worwhile, both te student and
te leaer must have frequent, reliable information as to what
learg is takng place. Alof tis says tat tere must be pacipa
ton, involvement, activity on te part of te students. Feedback is
obtained when the student is doing something. If he is doing some
ting tat demonstrates what leag has taken place, both he and
te teacher know tis. If this comes early enoug in te
class period, tey bot can do someting about it. If te feed
back comes at the end of te session, it's too late to do much but
worry about te next class period. Tis means tat good teachers
wlt to get as much feedback as early as possible so they can make
whatever adjustments are needed. Te idea is to present some new
iformation, cause involvement, assure ourselves tat te students
are getting te information, then go to the next point. Tis not only
keeps us informed but is much more interesting ad reassuring to
the students. In the next chapter we wlsee some of te siple ways
in which feedback can be gotten.
Hel p the Learner Remember
A interesting thing about te leag process is tat students don't
always know what is good or bad for them. For exaple, we some
times t it would be good for te teacher just to tell us te answer
or give us the conclusion. Most teachers t t is a prett good
idea, too. But al te evidence we have on how we remember shows
tat we remember te tngs we say-especially te conclusions we
reach -much longer tan the conclusions or tngs we hear somon
NOTES
else say. This means tat te effective teacher wl quit just before
te conclusion, rater than just after he has gven it. The difference
seems insigificant, but in te long r, te student wl benefit
considerably fom te tings he says.
The idea of the student comg up wit the conclusion isn't diffi
cult to understand. When te teacher does all the work, all te
student has to do is use his sense of hearing, try to find a place to
store te information nd forget about it. He doesn't have to t
about it, worr with it, solve any problems or draw on any oter part
of his brain; all he has to do is receive it. On the other hand, when
te student has to come up wit a conclusion on his own -based on
inormation given h by te teacher -he has to go to oter parts
of his brain. He has to recall the information already gven h. He
has to do some analyzing. He has i check his tg against the
instructor, perhaps having to ask a question to clear up a point he
43
doesn't understand (sometg he probably wouldn't have had to do
i the instructor were doing all te tg). In the process of going
troug all te mental motions, tere is no wonder tat te student
retais a lot more of what has been going on.
It Is Not a Game
Te process we're tg about here isn't one of the instructor
playing "Hot or Cold" wit te student. Te instructor gves te
students enoug clues to cause tem to come up with te corect
conclusion. If the students don't come up with the conclusion ime
diately, more clues are given. Te teacher may even ask a queston
or two to stimulate the students' tg along the rigt
channels. We might call this process or technique te "Discovery
System," since it allows the student to discover the trut or te
conclusion. In this conection, let's look at some various levels of
teaching and see where this system fits.
First, there is the Direct Teacher Input System. In tis
NOTES
44
TEACHI NG TECHNIQUES
system all the new information and all te conclusions come
from te teacher. The student is passive trougout the entire pro
cess, except that he may be gven some questons at te end of the
study period "to see how well he did." (In realit, many times it
shows how poorly te teacher did! ) In this system, there is no feed
back, either to te teacher or the student. Success depends entirely
on the skill of te teacher in getting each point made, and te skill
of the student in keeping all the information stored properly. Much
is left to chance. The lecture metod of teaching is the best example
of this, but even a movie or a filmstrip with sound falls in the sae
category. Te teaching process is al one-way.
The next level above this is the Teacher Modification System. In
this system, the teacher gets feedback from the student, but only on
that which the teacher has been instructing. The teacher still reaches
all the conclusions and presents all the information, but te student
at least participates enoug for te teacher to see wheter or not his
message has gotten throug. A obvious example of this is any kind
of question and answer exercise, providing the questons are over
material already covered. Remember, in tis system, the student
isn't coming up wit any of the conclusions -te teacher is putting
out all of te new information, comg to all of te conclusions and
only asking the student questions to test te teacher's effectiveness
at teaching and the student's effectiveness at leag. Ts is a
much improved system over te Direct Teacher Input System be
cause it allows for feedback to te teacher, and a chance for te
student to test te knowledge he has gained. Te involvement tat
is obtained helps the student remember, because just repeating the
answers helps a lot. T isn't as much mental involvement as he
would get if he came to the conclusions himself, but it's better than
no involvement at all.
The system we mentioned earlier i this chapter -the Discovery
System -allows the student to use his mind to a geater degee by
NOTES
using some information to reach a conclusion for himself. Studies
show tat we remember tgs a lot longer and a lot better i we do
te mental work to come to te conclusions ourselves. Te way this
works is tat te teacher provides enoug inormation to lead to the
conclusion, but te student still has to do some mental exercising to
see where te information leads. Chrst used tis metod
constantly, asking questions and lettg the listener come to his
own conclusion. Most of te time when we answer a question with
a question, we are using ts method.
By the way, it isn't so important that we re
m
ember a name of a
metod or technique; te important thing is that we recoge tat
some techniques aid te leag process more tan oters, and we
use tose technques most often. The problem arises in tat we can't
always tell tat a particuar method is being used. For example,
when a person is teaching and asks a question, we have to know
what's been going on to tell wheter or not he's asking questions on
someting that aready has been discussed, or wheter he's asking
te students to come to teir own conclusions. The observer can't
tell, but te learer can, and the difference in his recall later is going
to be tremendous. There are various studies on how well we remem
ber tings, and te amount we remember of what we hear doesn't
compare at al favorably with what we remember of what
we say. Most studies show tat we remember about 20 per cent
of what we hear as compared to 70 per cent of what we say
providing we're arriving at a concluion when we say the tng to be
remembered.
Concl usi on
Al of tis says tat tere are some effective ways of teaching and
some ineffective ways. Those methods tat are te most successful
somehow get te learer involved; get him reaching conclusions on
his own and get him to be te center of te instruction. Too many
NOTES
45
46
classes could be taugt without the students, i te teacher could
somehow be fooled into thg that tere were "warm bodies" out
tere. In alof this, there must be some feedback to bot the student
and the teacher, so that each wl not only know tat leag has
ten place, but also tat the right learg has traspired. No
teaching-leag is complete until we know tis!
1. Small-group discussion: Have several small goups discuss the
fllowing statement for several minutes. "Learg is one of the best
motivations to furter leag." Each goup should come up wit
at least two positive examples of how this works. Tese should be
reported back to the entire goup and discussed.
2. Two-goup discussion: Divide te goup into to goups.
Have one of them dscuss and list all te reasons why a teacher
needs to get feedback on his teachig activities (during class). Te
oter goup should discuss and make a list of al te reasons why
a student should get feedback during a teaching-learg process.
3. Two-group activity: Let one half of the group list alte thigs
tey like about teachers. Let te other half of te goup list al the
tgs they like about students. Record tese side by side on te
board. Now have the goup as a whole discuss tese, seeing i any
of the tings the teachers do that are good could cause students to
perform well.
4. Use te same arrangement as above. One group should list te
tings tey don't like about the teachers, te oter shoud list tings
tey don't like about students. As in Question 3, record and see i
ayting te teachers do could cause the actions of te students.
5. Group discussion: T of examples of teachers in te Bible
NOTES
BASI C PRINCI PLES OF LEARNI NG
who got their students involved. How did they do it? Can we use te
same techniques today?
NOTES
John 4: 10
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift
of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me
to dri nk; thou wouldest have asked of hi m, and he
would have gi ven thee l ivi ng water.
47
48
CHAPTER 7
SOME BASIC
TEACHING TECHNIQUES
Acts 17: 22-23
Then Paul stood in the mi dst of Mars' hi l l , and sai d, Ye
men of Athens, I perceive that in al l thi ngs ye are very
rel igious (ASV). For as I passed by, and beheld your devo
ti ons, I found an al tar with thi s i nscri pti on, To THE UNKNOWN
Goo. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worshi p, hi m decl are I
unto you.
We've just studied the need for getting involvement. Not only wl
the students be more motivated to lear when they find they are
learg, but bot te teacher and student can profit from te feed
back that comes from involvement. Now let's see some simple ways
of getting students involved and producing learng at the same
time.
Sub-Group Activity Encourages I nvolvement
No matter how large or small the class is, it's always possible to
break it into sub-groups. Adult classes can be broken into groups
of 5-10 people, small classes can have only two people to a
goup. Several things are important here: first, the why. Te rea
son for sub-group activity is just tat -activity, which in tum pro
duces more learg. Secondly, sub-group work helps increase te
amount of feedback available to the students and the teacher. A
other advantage to sub-group work is that it keeps students from
getting lost in the crowd. They may not participate in large
goups, but when the group is small, they have to contribute
more. Finally, one big advantage is the defining of the lear-
NOTES
SOME BASI C TEACHI NG TECHNI QUES
ing activity. When te sub-groups are formed, tey are gven specific
tasks. Often te tasks for learg aren't so clearly defined in large
classes where the teacher does most or all of te talking.
The sub-group work shouldn't consume all of the classtime. The
small groups need not meet togeter for more than a few mnutes -
just long enoug to reach some conclusions, work up a brief report,
or prepare some material for presentation. The more goups tere
are, the less time that can be allotted, because there should
be time for all te goups to report. Te groups work better with
less time, by the way, because the pressure of time reduces the
amount left for side conversations.
Accountability is an important aspect of class activity, so all
goups should somehow be responsible for each group's re
porting. Tey can be told, "Come wit the single most important
point," or "Make out one question on each group's report," or "I'll
49
ask somebody a question after each presentation." This way, ev
erbody lstens to all te reports, hence tey should lear more.
Students Shoul d Have Speci fi c Goal s
A we've said, one advantage of sub-goup activity is that the goal
or objective of the leag is fairly specific. This isn't always the
case in our lecture efforts. When we make special efforts to get the
students involved, we are more likely to tink about just what it is
we want the learer to be able to do at the end of the
class period. Regardless of what method we use, however, we
should know where we want the students to go. This should be
stated before class, and even told to the students. It migt be a long
range objective over several class periods, but shouldn't be too long
to be realistic. For example, we might tell a group of teenagers tat
they will be able to quote telve verses, give scripture references
when they hear the quotation and be able to apply them to everyday
problems and religous error. Obviously tis is a project for several
NOTES
50
weeks, but by saying tat tis is te goal for tree weeks' study, tey
know exactly what's expected of tem. Tey also kow how wel
tey are doing week by week. Most importat, they wiknow when
they have reached the goal.
Questi ons and Answers I nvolve Students
When we t of ways to cause involvement, one of te first things
we thin of is a question and answer session. When used
properly, tis is a good method. If we're able to put te ques
tions in good form and are able to get solid answers back, ten we
cover the material, cause involvement and both te teacher and te
students get good, useable feedback. But questions sometimes ae
ambiguous and people hesitate to answer, not because tey don't
know the answer, but because they don't know te question! A few
times lie tis and the teacher soon discovers that no one aswers
any questions, even te siple ones. This brings us to one big
problem in te queston and answer technique: it only involves one
person at a time.
How can we get better use out of t technique? Tere are several
ways, each wit advatages and disadvantages. One obvious way is
to call on a specific person, going to a different one wit each
queston. Tis way te entire goup is alert, waitig to see who wl
get te question (provided we ask te queston before we specify who
is to answer it), and can relate teir answer wit te one gven. The
drawback is that i older goups tis can lead to emba assment.
Some may not like to be put on te spot, some may not lie to
answer out in class, some may not be prepared and some may not
uderstand te question. In any of tese situatons te teacher may
do more harm tan good by continuig to use te techque, uness
he ca find a way to overcome the difficult.
One iportant point here: perhaps te worst possible use of te
question and aswer techque is to go dow te row askng one
NOTES
question at a time, especially from a workbook of some kind. Each
person knows well in advance which is going to be his queston and
he tinks about little else until his tu comes. After he has an
swered, he doesn't think about anyting since his tum won't come
for a long time.
Anoter way to buid in accountabilit is to have some member
of te class verify an answer. Te teacher asks the question, someone
answers, and the teacher -witout saying te answer is rigt or
wrong-asks, "How many agee wth that?" By a show of hands
those that tink te answer is rigt verif it. Tose that don't hold
up teir hands are fair game to be asked, "What do you
tk it is, ten?" and point out someone specifically. After
awhile te goup lears to respond wit conviction because account
abilit has been added! Of course, this can go on several
more steps. When te person who disagees gves his answer, the
51
teacher still doesn't have to reveal te correct answer. He simply
does the same thing again, ''How many t this is rigt?" Now the
two groups have an interest in finding out which one is rigt, and
they are waiting with interest. Te good teacher will have each
defend his position until te answer is settled.
Competiti on Shoul d Not Be Mi sused
Ts brings up the question of competition. Tere are tose who say
tey are opposed to competition in Bible teaching, but perhaps
that's because of the bad connotations given to te word. In
realit, every time a question is asked and several excited young
hands go up, each child eager to be te one to get to answer te
question, competition has come into te classroom. Giving stars for
attendance or memory verses is appealing to te element of competi
tion. So it's hard to say that all competition is bad. Te important
ting about competition, just as wt playng games, acting out
stories, cuttig out pictures or pasting and colorig: te end is te
NOTES
52
TEACHI NG TECHNIQUES
important consideration. If competition, games, coloring or any of
tese things become an end in themselves, they are out of place in
any teaching-learg situation.
Building accountabilit by groups or individuals by keeping track
of how well each is doing is an excellent way of keeping interest and
encouraging involvement. The process doesn't have to be complicat
ed. Just giving 10 points for rigt answers will start it off, and it's
a matter of going on from there. The rule is: keep it simple, move fat
and don't get lost in the process itsel One way to keep from getting
lost in te process is to start the scoring over as soon as one side or
individual gets too far ahead of the rest. This can be done even
within a class period or from week to week. Also, i one person or
one goup consistently gets ahead, mixing the groups helps maintain
the interest of everyone.
Role Pl ayi ng I nterests Students
One of the most effective ways of getting realistic involvement in
Bible study is throug the process known as "role playing." Tis is
more than just acting out a stor; it involves having the person play
te role of some person and make up the story as he goes along,
trying to stay in character as he goes. For example, when studying
about various religious beliefs, have one of the students play te role
of someone who holds that belief. This way he will have to study
and try to find ways of playing a convincing role. If prejudice is a
part of it, he must have te same prejudice. If liberality is part of
it, he must play tat, and every argument must reflect tat
belief. Ths allows those observing or participating to see just
what the position would have to be to be consistent. This is quite
different from a debate in that tat there is no set time schedule and
each reacts as he thinks the role requires, whether it strengtens his
argument or not. Oftentimes the teacher will require te students to
switch roles half way throug the discussion so that each will get te
NOTES
feel of the oter side. Carrying the idea furter, some teachers will
have te class divide in half and while one person plays the role in
each goup, te discussion i stopped ever few minutes while te
role players get togeter wit teir respective goups and decide
what to say next. Te technique is very good at building interest and
involvement, especially when it is difficult to get the goup to see
how oter people feel and tk. Being able to see someone applying
what is being taled about makes te subject more easily
acceptable.
What subjects lend themselves to role playing? Almost any "ap
plication" type lesson does. Dealing with relgious eror is very effec
tvely taugt by this metod, from early teenage upward, even in
adult classes. Te teacher has to be bold enoug to tr it, but once
he does, the group takes to it quite readily. Young adults and teenag
ers get especially excited about this technique because it has a way
of maing te subjects come alive for them. Seeing immediate appli
cation of te tings tey are studying always maes te study more
meangful. Anoter good application of te role playing technique
is in studying application of Christian princiles to everday life. One
of te students plays the role of te Christian and the teacher plays
te part of someone wit a arogant attitude, or one who is discour
aged, or someone who has tued away from te fath, or any other
application that needs to be studied. Anoter application is in per
sonal work study. The combinations are endless, depending only on
te imagnation of te teacher. The teacher can play the part of an
indifferent neigbor, or a ver devoted (ut religously wrong) indi
vidual, or an interested person who has . a famiy problem, or a
person who tks everyone is rigt as long as tey are sincere.
Again, te possibilities are endless.
Tere are other applications to the role playing technique, but
tese will suffice to gve te idea. Tere are several things tat
should be noted about the process, however. One thing is tat while
NOTES
53
54
it is a good technique, it can be overdone. Te most effective uses
come when the teacher can drop into te role casually, make te
points quickly, then stop the exercise and go on to the discussion of
what happened. Since role playing gets to be enjoyable and even
humorous sometimes, there is a tendency to let the process go on
too long, even after the points are well understood by everone.
Aong this same line, the teacher should see to it that everyone taes
the exercise seriously and should not let it get out of hand. This is
why it's usually a good idea for the teacher to play one of
te roles. Neither person has to be an actor, by the way. A he
has to do is let himself "feel" the role a little. Sometimes gving a
little information about te situation helps some. Te teacher can
even write out a few points for te person playing te oter role so
tat he wlget the feel of the character sooner. The important ting
is for te people playing the roles not to change characters in te
middle of the exercise. (his is one more reason for only letting the
role playing go on for 2-3 minutes.)
Case Studi es Motivate Students
Closely a to role playing is te technique called "case study." In
this process, te teacher makes up a little situation and lets te goup
come up with a solution to te problem. The case is usually a very
basic one tat presents some kind of dilemma. Te group (pref
erably broken up into sub-goups) comes up with a solution but
must substantiate it with scriptures. Often te solutions may be
different, allowing the students to see that sometimes there are
several solutions to some of te problems we r into. The impor
tant ting is for them t see that the only acceptable solutions are
tose that can be backed up wit scripture. Here are some examples
of cases that migt be used in different circumstances and wit
different age goups:
NOTES
SOME BASIC TEACHING TECHNIQUES
Young Adults
Mary and Charles have only been married for a short time.
They have no children. Charles isn't a member of the
church, althoug he gew up in a fairly strong denomina
tional family. Mary is strong, but has run into a problem. They
have only one car and lately Charles has started to use it on
Sunday moring to go fishing, leaving her without a ride to
services several miles away. Charles's parents live next door to
them and have offered to take her with them to their church
anytime she wants to go. Charles has even said that he will stay
home and go with her i she wlgo to the denomination where
his parents go. "In fact," he says, "i you go with them a few
times, I expect they'll even go with you when the meeting comes
up next month at your church."
1 . What would you do i you were Mary?
2. Give scriptures.
Teenagers
Debbie and Al are in second year of hig school, and have
dated a few times. A is a member of the church, leads singing
on Wednesday night and attends regularly. A couple of times
Debbie has gone wit him. Tonigt they are double-dating with
another couple, Bill and Sue, because Bill has his driver's li
cense and can get the family car. A doesn't know Bill
too well, but Bill seems to be a nice guy. Bill has invited
them to go on a cookout at one of the nearby state parks. When
they get there, Al discovers that Bill has a case of beer in the
trunk and the cookout is really just a beer party with a number
of other couples all drg. Debbie is just as surprised
as A, but thinks tat he knew what it was going to be all
NOTES
55
56
the time. When he denies it, she says, "Well, what are you going
to do now?"
1 . What should A do now?
2. What got him into tis situation?
3. How could he avoid it next time?
4. Give scriptures.
Ten to Twelve Year Olds
Nancy has always tried to do what is rigt and has the reputa
tion of being honest. The teachers all know they can
trust her. There is a new girl in the school named Marie
who sits behind Nancy. Marie and Nancy are becoming close
friends and Nancy has been helping Marie with her math in te
evenings since Marie is having a lot of trouble. Today in class
they had a test, and while the teacher was out of the room,
Marie leaned over and asked Nancy to move her hand so she
could see one of Nancy's answers. Without thinking, Nancy
did. After class, Marie thanked her in front of al the
other girls. "Tat was really great! " she said. "That's really
friendship. I won't forget it. If you ever need any help
on a test, just whisper for help."
1. What is "real frendship"?
2. What is the difference between character and reputation?
3. What scriptures could be used to solve this problem?
As can be seen, te cases are simple, but straigtforward. Tey
aren't complicated or confused. Most important, they deal with
everyday problems that can and do happen. By making scriptural
application, the students wl see that te Bible actually does apply
to today's problems. Often tese cases wl last a whole stu
dy period, because the discussion can profitably include ways of
seeing tat these problems are avoided as well as solved. Aso, the
NOTES
class can usually t up problems from their own lives tat can
be discussed. Te beaut of tis is that the students in te Bible class
are making direct application for themelves of the Bible to the
everyday problems tey are faced with. Any teacher should be more
tan elated to have tis happening in his class. There is no
age limit, eiter. Adults get just as involved as do te young.
Te .main ting is to keep the cases simple, practical, realistic and
aimed at a particular subject. Also, the discussion should always end
wit scritural aners, not jut opinion.
Play Acti ng Teaches Bi bl e Stories
We've purosely made a difference between role playing and play
actg. Tere is quite a difference between makig up a case or
having someone play a role wit teir own imagnation being te
guide, and acting out a story in the Bible. When we have te young
57
people act out the lesson from some event in te Bible, we would
like to have it as near to the Bible account as possible. Te purpose
of tis tpe of technique is quite different from the ones we've been
talking about previously in t chapter. One-acting out the Bible
stor-is desiged to assist the student in remembering te Bible
account, and needs to follow te story exactly. Te oters-making
up cases or roles to play-depend upon the imagnation to guide in
the application of Bible truts. Each is equally effective when used
for te rigt purpose.
One of te largest assets to be found in a class full of young
children is an almost unlimited imagination. There are ver few
tings tat tey canot get excited about, and teir minds are alert
and waitg for a challenge to be used. Nothig fts tis challenge
like acting out te story tey are studying. Te teacher who can
capture t imagation by letting tem act out te tings they are
studying receives a boutfu reward. Here again, te rue is to keep
it simple. Tere i no need for elaborate props or costumes. A chair
NOTES
58
can be a camel, a boat, an army of people on horseback or anytg
else it is called. The trick is to let tem use teir imagnation in
naming these things. Tey enjoy acting out the same stor, too, so
it doesn't hurt to change te roles and let different ones go troug
te same story again. The mai ting is to see tat tey get te poit
of the lesson, and that te words and actions come close to simulat
ing te ones in te Bible story.
Testi ng Gives Feedback
In talking about teaching techniques, it is importnt to see where
testing fits into te picture. Testing generally has a "bad name" as
far as Bible study is concered, but it can be used effectively to
produce learg. The important tng is to get te purpose of te
testing in te rigt perspective. The main purpose of testing is not
to teach. Those who say tat this is "anoter teaching tool" should
be careful not to gve te impression tat teachig is te pr
function of testing. Te pr function of testig is simple
enoug-to gve feedback to te teacher and the leaer a to how
much learing h taken place. It is sometimes used improperly a a
treat to get students to study. It is used improperly to punsh those
who have not studied. It is best used as a means of letting both te
teacher and the student kow where success and faiure le. Testg
needn't be dreaded. It needn't even be written out and gven lke a
schoolroom device. Wen we t of testing as just a feedback
device, we see tat any time we ask a general question i class, we
are, in fact, "testing." Ay tie a student answers a question from
a workbook, he is being tested. If we can get our students to t
along these same les -and we can i our testing has no treateng
elements in it -then tey wlnot cringe when tey are faced wt
a few questions on a piece of paper instead of asked oraly. Wat
is done with te results is more important than what te students
make on the test. If bot the students and teacher see tat much has
NOTES
been leared, then each can be satisfied. If little has been accom
plished, neither can feel very good. But te important tg is to
see that correction is made in the teaching and leag process
used so tat the results will improve next time.
I ndi vi dual Reports and Assignments I nvolve the Students
One age-old technique that has proven its worth many times, but
often gets overlooked, is the process of having individuals in te
class make reports on selected subjects. The assignments can be
made in advance or they can be made rigt in class. Te teacher
can ask a student to look up someting in a reference book at
te building and make a report on it before the period is
over. The teacher can assign someone (or several people) to
look up material and report on it at the next meeting. Tis can
be planned or it can come spontaneously. If someone asks,
59
"Wat's te difference between te Pharisees and te Saddu
cees?" the alert teacher can see tis as an opportunit to get
some involvement. "Who'll look tat up for next week and tell
us what tey find?" He can even ask someone specifically to
take on the assignment. Te good of tis is tat the subject to
be discussed te next week is one tat came from the stu-
dents, so it is of interest to them. It also allows the teacher
to go on wit what he has planned witout cutting off in-
terest.
Tese reports work equally well with the teenagers. They have
alert minds tat can consume a lot of facts in a short time. If
they aren't doing too well at studying, reports often will build
teir interest. Even gving tem an assigment after class has
begun wil work very wel. Gve tem ten mnutes to report on
part of the lesson; divide them into smal teams and let tem
decide how te reporting wl be done. Tey wi move fast and
efficiently and surprise us wit what tey can do when tey
NOTES
60
kow you are depending upon them. Here, again, is an excellent
metod for getting feedback to see how well the students are grasp
ig a subject. Tey are teaching temselves, discovering te points
for temselves, and certainly learg more as a resut of the in
volvement.
There is actually very little difference between these reports and
te "show and tell" te ver young enjoy so much. We should
mention this technique, however. It's a little different from the "act
ing" we discussed earlier. A good example would be where the
teacher has told a story using a flannelboard, then lets each child
have part of te stor to tell, usig the pieces of the paper making
up te story. Each uses his piece of paper to tell his part
of te stor, ten places it on te flannel. Te process can be re
peated as many times as the teacher sees fit. It is important tat te
teacher not be concered wit whether or not te pieces of paper
are straigt or rigt side up. With teir imagination, it doesn't matter
to tem. If tey tink it looks al rgt, it is all rigt!
Concl usi on
Many times people wlask, "What's the best teaching technique to
use?" That's a lot like asking a housewife, "What's te best cooking
utensil to use?" The best technique to use is the one that works the
best with te subject being taugt, te students being taugt and te
abilit of te person doing te teaching. Tere are some
measures, however. Te best techniques are tose tat get te
most involvement, provide te teacher and te leaer with te most
and best feedback possible, and fit the time lits of the
class period. The more the students are involved, the better te
pacing wl be for teir individual leag. The more te teacher
does, the more the pacing is set for te teaching instead of te
leag. When the teacher does althe tg, time is constant and
leag is te variable, since each student lears at a difer-
NOTES
ent pace, but the teacher is putting out the information at only
one rate. A the students get more and more involved, the pace
becomes more suited to teir individual needs, and can even vary
wit each person participatng. Now learg is becoming constant
whie time may vary from one student to te next.
I. Break the class into tree sub-goups. Have group 1 list ways
of getting involvement fom students. Have group 2 list methods of
getting accountability built into te exercises. Have group 3 list ways
of getting feedback. Compare these findings when the sub-goups
have finished. Notice the similarities in the metods. In te final
analysis, it's impossible to separate tese tree requirements -when
we have an activit tat gets feedback, it usually gives the student
61
accountabilty for the learg, and it cery takes involvement
to have tese tings.
2. Agan, break te goup into sub-goups. Have each goup set
a specific leag objective for someone studying the 23rd
Psalm. (hat would you want tem to know-or be able to
do-at the end of te study?) Now compare the results. Are tey
measurable objectives?
3. Repeat the process for someone studying Acts 2. Compare the
results. Is tis te way tat we usually study te Bible? What are te
advantages of tis metod?
4. Now look at the results of te findings of both Questions 1 and
2. Group dscussion -decide two things: how would we teach each
of tese to reach te objectives set and how would we find out if we
had reached te results? Would feedback and involvement help in
each case? Could we know if we had reached the results without
feedback?
NOTES
62
NOTES
Acts 4: 1920
But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Wheth
er it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more
than unto God, j udge ye. For we cannot but speak the
thi ngs which we have seen and heard.
PART Il l
TEACHING BY AGES
Chapters 8-13
63
CHAPTER 8
PRESCHOOL CLASSES
Introduction
Matt. 19:14
But Jesus sai d, Suffer l ittle chi l dren, and forbid
them not, to come unto me; for of such i s the ki ngdom
of heaven.
Here is te beginning-the first chance on a group basis -that we
65
are able to teach the Bible to the ver young. Tey come to us
virtually ignorant of God, Christ, te Holy Spirit, love, sin, forgive-
ness and all the things they will someday have ideas and opinions
on. We are the ones that help form those ideas. Were they go from
here depends a great deal on what they get here.
Can They Learn?
One of the most serious mistakes new teachers mae about the
students of the preschool age is that their job is essentially one of
"baby sitting," not teaching. Tey wrongly assume tat no one at
this young age can really lear ver much, and certainly not any
concepts, just facts. Another mistake is based on this wong assump
tion: letting the inexperienced teacher have tis class, since there is
little harm done i the teacher doesn't do a good job. After all, it's
hard to find someone who is even wlg to ''sit" with this age!
Te answer to those who ask i this group can really lear is tat
only those teachers who have never taugt the pre-schooler would
NOTES
66
TEACH I NG BY AGES
ever make te assumption that they are little more than vegetables
that have to be "baby sat" wit. Te teacher who has had even
limited experience wit this age knows full well that wile the differ
ences may be marked between students, tey all can lea much and
well. And tey aren't limited just to facts, either. They can lear
concepts of great import, as we will see shortly. Yes, tey
ca lear.
What Can They Learn?
They can begin to put together some facts into concepts. They may
tend to oversimplify, and may not get the concept in its fullest
form, but nevertheless tey can, even at two and three years old,
t pretty big tougts. The following true experience of a very
good teenage teacher demonstrates the point:
In an effort to get the two and three year olds conscious of te
presence of God, she had told them several times not to be too
noisy because God was present. She admittedly wasn't sure
how well she was getting te concept across, but continued to
use the scheme. One incident proved to her that they really were
getting the concept and believed it unquestionably. Wen one
of the little girls dropped her paper from the table, she started
to slide her chair back to get down and get it. The small child
next to her tured to her almost in disgust and said, "Don't
mae that noise; just leave it tere, God will get it for you."
Wheter we like or disle te way te concept was created isn't te
point. Te point is tat te young children had gotten the concept
tat God was present and saw tis in a very real sense. It is doubtful
tat many adults can gather up tat much of a true belief in te
actuality of God's presence every time we assemble. Te unques
tioned acceptance of God's presence is quite remarkable at
NOTES
PRESCHOOL CLASSES
any age, but not at al unexpected from preschoolers.
Fi rst Gl i mpses Are I mportant
Perhaps one mistake we make tat leads us to doubt tat tese
young ones can understnd concepts is to fail to make proper dis
tinction between understanding te concepts in al their deeest
meanings and understanding them in a ver smal but accurate way.
For example, few of us would admit to understanding te fulest
meaning of an all-powerful God. If we studied for a lifete
we would still be inadequate in our understandg. But tis
doesn't keep us from studying about God. Neiter does it keep us
from introducing te concept of a powerful force of love and power
tat sees and knows and cares and hears and can do anyting and
wants to help us. Again, this doesn't mean that tey wlunderstand
everyting, nor will they necessarily have a completely accurate
67
understanding of what tey have. But it's a start and it's better tan
just learg te fact tat God is. And tis is what we're sug
gesting: begn very early to teach concepts of te Bible, not just
facts. Left with the facts, they wlform teir own concepts or forget
the facts because they have noting to pin them to.
At this age they are ready to lear te concept of sharing, for
instance. Even thoug they are being taugt tese tings at
home, hopefully, they still need to lear tem in the context of
te Bible. How do tey lea sharing? Obviously tere are a number
of ways rigt in te classroom tat te subject of sharing wt oters
can be taugt. Te important ting is to keep making te point tat
sharing is one of te ways of pleasing God. We extend ts to teir
home activities, also. Constantly we relate their activties, sharing
and pleasing God al together. In te process we discover we are
teachg yet anoter concept: te fct and idea tat pleasing God
is something we need to do at home, at play, anywhere we are.
Furter, we are showing tat God's teachings are applicable to
NOTES
68
TEACHING BY AGES
everyday life, not just sometg tat we tur on occasionally to
seem religous. This is an important concept that wanes ear
ly in life, so teaching it here is none too soon. The stronger we
mae te point te better off the student is. Or perhaps we should
say, te stronger the student maes te point for us, the better off
he is!
Anoter concept tat can be taugt early is the all powerfulness
of God. It is a dynamic poit and one that the young people wl
readily accept, since they already think that most adults fall in tis
category. We might build on the error of tis tg wit
tem. They need to lear early that their parents are not fault
less, but not in a detrimental way. We show that even toug their
parents are very good and strong and smart, they sometimes make
mistaes, even find tings tey can't do. But not so with God. Let
them think of some very hard things to do, tings teir parents
probably couldn't do, and get tem to saying, "God could
do it." Tey don't end up tg less of their parents; just
more of God. We won't go on wit concepts that can be taugt at
tis age, but a good exercise for teachers to go troug is to do some
brainstormg on just what concepts can be taugt at what ages. Be
sure to have someone tere who has taugt the various ages, espe
cially te preschoolers, because we are apt to attribute less to teir
capability tan they actually have available to use.
Put the Senses to Work
At the very early preschool age, te students aren't ver good at
using words, but tere is notg wrong with teir senses. They can
hear, see, touch, smell and taste. Teir absence of words doesn't
mean tey can't understand and lea by oter means. Tis is one
of te best places for good visuals te teacher wlever find. Appeal
ing to the sense of sigt makes for good teaching here because te
student has a limited vocabulary. But there are other senses. Tere
NOTES
PRESCHOOL CLSSES
is the sense of hearing-meaning tis is a geat time to sing songs
about stories in te Bible. They have an interesting ability to sing
even before they can speak. Tey pick up sounds of the songs and
imitate tem, even thoug tey may not always understand te
meanings. By putting the sounds into their minds we are, in
a way, storing them up until te student is able to perceive the
true meanings. (Hopefully, at some date not too far off the teacher
wlfl in te meanings. It's sad when children six and seven years
old can sing "Jesus Loves Me" but can't answer the question, "How
do you know Jesus loves us?" The song has no real meaning to the
youngsters.)
The oter senses can easily come into play, too. Tis age is geat
for "hands on" teaching. Let tem feel dolls tat represent charac
ters from te Bible. Let tem feel te sand as they place sticks or
buildings in a sandbox. "How would you lie to walk for many,
69
many miles in this if it was so hot you could barely stand to touch
it? Christ walked in tis so He could teach people about God." Let
them place the pictures on the flannelboards, draw on the chalk-
board (make marks, i tat's all they can do), set models on
the table, or anyting else they can do to use teir hands and
imagnation. If te teacher has a small statue of Buddha, let te
students feel it, handle it, talk about it, while te teacher tells about
people bowing down in front of idols. Incense can be bougt in
novelty shops and other places. Let the students smell te burg
incense while the teacher tels about how it was used in the Bible
or why we don't use it any more.
They Wi l l Oversi mpl ify
One of the beautiful things about the preschool age is that ev
erg comes out simple for tem. Things often fit into place and
make sense to them tat would leave older children confused and
in doubt. It isn't that tese students are smarter, it's just that tey
NOTES
TEACHI NG BY AGES
tend to oversimplify because of teir lack of backgound. In te
process of making everg fit into place tey have a tendency to
make tings simpler tan tey really are. This means tey are misun
derstanding tings sometimes. What does te teacher do? Probably
te safest ting to do is noting. Trying to unsimplify will only
confuse tem at tis stage and not accomplish much towards ex
plaining te complete meanings to them. Tis doesn't mean tat
tey should be left wit glaring error. It means tat tey may not
understand where Jesus went when He went to heaven, and may
t He went up into the sky somewhere. Te important ting is
to know tat He left the grave, conquered deat and gave us a
chance to do the same ting, not so much tat He is now in some
place which we feel impelled to locate for te student. Let
''Heaven" tae care of te location; in oter words, let hi de-
70
cide for himself where he wants to put heaven for the time
being.
Tere are some dangers in te oversimplification, however, tat
we should worry about. They aren't able to distinguish fact from
fantasy at tis age. Tey may not be able to understand te differ
ence beteen Mother Goose and Baby Moses. It isn't as important
at tis age tat they understand the difference but te time is going
to come soon when tey need to make te distinction very
clearly. The preschool teacher needs to prepare tem for te
time tey separate te two worlds by constantly using expressions
le, "When Jesus was a little boy just like you . . . " and "He had
a mother ad a fater just like you do, and he loved them lie you
do . . . . " Tey may be too young to understand many tings but
tey aren't too young to begn to get te concept tat te people in
te Bible were real people and the events aren't just fair stories. It
isn't so much te teacher's job to destroy te myts of the nuser
rhymes as it is to establish the realities of the Bible. A good founda
tion at tis age w last a long te!
NOTES
PRESCHOOL CLASSES
Attention Span ts Short
Anyone who has ever taugt tis young age knows how short the
attention span is. The unfortunate teacher who has gone in tg
that all that is necessary is to pick an interesting stor and ten
spend te next forty-five miutes tellng tat story leaed a lot
about the attention span of this age in a hurr. Te unskilled teacher
probably makes te mistakes of then spending a geat deal of time
i correcting the students, tg that she has a very un
ruly group. The better arrangement is to keep them so busy tey
can't get rowdy. (ere is an interesting phenomenon here tat
might teach us a lesson. We ougt to be glad that tis age gets rowdy
when they get bored. As te age increases, the rowdiness tends to
decrease. By the time tey are seniors in hig school, tey have
resorted to remaining inactive when te attention runs out. Now we
don't have to deal with it. The same is true in teaching
adult classes. Adults often hide in the class and never do
anyting, many times because tey aren't involved or payig atten
tion. Here again, we tend to igore ts goup, and let tem go on
not learg anyting. At least te young people get some attention
from us when their attention span rus out. Tat's more tan we c
say, usually, about the older people. In oter words, be glad about
te rowdy students -they're telng u something.)
Instead of spending our time correcting te students, we need to
keep tem as busy as possible. Tis means story telling for a short
time, songs for awhile, games for awhile, hand and body activity for
awhile, even moving aroud i possible, then more stories,
songs, etc. Te larger te class, te more important tis becomes,
because the more distractions tere are. Te unprepaed teacher of
tis group is very much out of luck in keeping the group
satisfied. She is doing a disservice to the children, too, i she
isn't ready to deal with them on many levels of activit. Tis is no
NOTES
71
TEACHI NG BY AGES
place to feel embarrassed about getting down on the floor, or being
actively involved in storytelling. The good teacher gets just as excit
ed as the students do.
Team Teachi ng Can Pay Of
Of al the places where team teaching pays off, it pays the most
dividends with this age goup. Team teaching is the process of
having two teachers in the class at once, dividing up the activities
as they choose to. The advantages are obvious: two people using
their imaginations instead of one; two people preparing the assig
ments; two people observing the group and making decisions as to
te needs and problems; one person always observing while te
other is busy teaching; one person available to take one of the
students to the water fountain or restroom while the other teaches
72
on; one person ready to step in with another activity when the oter
finishes or runs out of material; and many more.
At the preschool level all of tese advantages can be used. We've
already seen that the attention span is short and tere needs to be
a number of activities available to the students. Team teaching
provides that opportunity quite well. By properly planning ahead of
time, the two teachers can work ver well together. One takes care
of the storytelling, the other takes over with some songs. One plays
games with them or acts out stories while te other tends to restroom
duties or water fountain activities. One can hold the little ones in her
lap to overcome anxieties on occasions, allowing the other to go on
with the planned activities. A of this paces the class very well and
allows one teacher to rest and get her breath while the other is
carrying on the teaching. It's important that the teachers work well
together and not have any inhibitions about "performing" in front
of another adult.
NOTES
PRESCHOOL CLSSES
Keep I t Simpl e
We have already pointed out the limited vocabular of this group
and te oversimplification efforts on their part. Let's look at this
further. The lessons should be kept simple, obviously. But there is
more to it than that. It isn't enough just to keep the story
simple: the number of points to be remembered should also be
limited. The same story told to older students would tend to have
many more points to be remembered. For this group, the main
points should be held to just one or two. We say to ourselves before
the class begins, "If they could just remember one thing, what would
I want it to be?" If we do this, then we should carry it a
step further: we should see i they can say that one thing. It's not
necessarily a good class just because everybody participated and
sang and listened to the story. It's a successful class only if the
students can remember -or say-the one or two things we wanted
73
them to be able to say when we planned the class. The real measure
of success, then, is whether or not that one main point was gotten
across. Of course, i that point was a concept, then we don't just
want them to tell us that "sharing is good." We want to know if they
can apply this concept. "What are you going to do when there is only
one piece of cake left and your friend from next door comes in while
you're eating?" "When two or three of you are playing and there is
only one tricycle, what are you going to do?" The answers to these
questions will tell us a lot about how well we got the con-
cept across.
We started talking about keeping it simple; let's see another side
of this problem. Remember we said that the vocabulary is
limited. This means that there is a limited meaning to certain
words, too. The best way to point out how this becomes a problem
is to relate another real incident.
NOTES
74
TEACHI NG BY AGES
A very good teacher with considerable experience was tring to
get the goup excited about te stor of the good Samaritan. In
her usual inventive way, she decided to let tem really get into
the story by playing it out. She came to class wit enoug
bandages (strips of an old sheet) for each student in the class
to play the part of te wounded man. She figured tat all of
tem would want to play this part and she planned for each to
lie down on a mat and have te others take care of the "poor
man," even to helping him to the in. Al of this sounded very
good in preparation, but it didn't work out very well, because
of a vocabulary problem. She briefly told them te story, ten
told them they were to act it out. When she asked them, "Who
wants to play te hurt man?" no one volunteered. Not only did
they not volunteer, but even when she almost forced one to take
te role, te oters got into their roles very hesitantly and
witout any excitement. She suspected the problem, but knew
for sure when a parent revealed tat later in te week her child
had said at the breafast table (out of a clear sky), "I don't have
to be the hurt man, do I, Momy?" It became painfully clear
to this very good teacher that her choice of te word "hurt" was
wrong. They could not assig a value to hurt without
the pain. Once tey got te idea that playing the hurt man
would be painful, there was little te teacher could do to dispel
te idea, even if she had known for sure that tis was te
problem.
Make Lasti ng I mpressions
Tere is a wonderful franness about these students. Tey wl say
what tey t, especially the older preschoolers. They often reveal
things about their home and famly life that shouldn't be broadcast
ed, perhaps, and te teacher shouldn't pry, of course. But the teacher
can use this franness to her advantage. We talked several times
NOTES
PRESCHOOL CLASSES
about getting feedback from te students about how tey are t
ing. The frankness helps us to do this. Te questions we mentioned
earlier in tis chapter to see i tey have te concepts wlwork only
for tose students who are open in their speech. A we mentioned
in the chapter on techniques, te more the individual says something
the more likely he is to remember it. Tis is much more true tan
when we say it many times to tem. For this reason, we should take
advantage of their frankness to get tem to discuss the applications
of te lessons back home. We should remember we are making
lasting impressions -first impressions, too -so we want tem to be
wel organied and stated often. So we have tem repeat
and repeat. The next time tey come into class, tey repeat some
more. Not long, complicated activities -just simply statements and
applcations. Go around te room, letting each participate. Let them
say te words togeter. Let tese first impressions be simple
75
ones, important ones and ones tat wl stick in their minds.
Something as simple as "When in doubt, don't" can stick with tem
for te rest of their lives. Te important thing to remember here is
tat the teacher shouldn't get lost in the one lesson period. She
should realie she is framing a future fait. She should want to hear
as much evidence as possible as to how this framng is tak-
ing place.
Furniture Arrangements I s I mportant
When it comes t future, there is no set way tat works te best
under al conditions. Different teachers prepare dfferent kids of
activities, so require different kinds of room setups. Some teachers
prefer not to have any future at al with te ver young so tey
can get down on the floor with them and carry on te activities. Tis
avoids te problem (so comon to most) of movng, sliding,
overg chairs. As they reach te upper limits of te preschool
age, they are leag to sit, and chairs and tables become an impor-
NOTES
76
TEACHI NG BY AGES
tant part of the teaching activities. Te chairs should be those that
are easily, noiselessly and safely moved. A of te materials in the
classroom should be at their eye level, not the teacher's. The chalk
board and flannelboard should be rigt down where they can use
it. Pictures should be hung for the viewing of the students, not te
teacher. If curling up on the floor is the best way to make the lesson
come alive, ten the furture should allow for this kind of
activity. One of the best assets to the room is carpeting on the
floor, preferably te "indoor-outdoor" kind tat is durable and
cleanable. Tis cuts down the noise and lets the students get down
on the floor without harm. Of course, getting down on the floor
shouldn't be a playtime activity. It should be meaningful. As tey
get closer to school age, learg to sit quietly for a few moments
is a valuable learg experience, and should be built into the lesson
planning. But that isn't the primary function of te teacher nor the
class period.
Concl usi on
Te preschool group is the vital one to the church. It is te future
of the church. It is here that faiths, impressions, beliefs, concepts
begin. The teacher is teaching for the future and should remember
that with each concept that is developed. She migt even say to
herself, "If they don't get it now, will they get it at all?" They can
lear concepts and we should try to teach them the proper
concepts. We should also tr to get a look at these concepts in
te minds of te students by having them do a lot of talking and by
making application. We want to see how they are thinking, not just
tell them what we think. It takes a little practice, but wit experience
we can do it. Finally, this age is a good age to break in the teenage
teacher. Not because it doesn't take much knowledge to teach this
age, but because it takes patience and energ and understanding.
Te young teenagers have a lot of this going for them when it comes
NOTES
PRESCHOOL CLSSES
to dealing with the preschooler. The ideal is to have the teenager
working wit an experienced teacher as an assistant, with bot of
tem doing what they can do best. Teaching the ver young isn't a
job for the inexperienced alone. It isn't a babysitting job for the
"wg but uniagnative." It is an important job for an enthusias
tic Bible teacher who reales the sigificance of what she's
doing, and who wants to do it very well!
1. General Discussion: Drawing from the experience of the pre
school teachers, mae a list of "concepts" that preschool children
begin to have a fairly good gasp of, such as "sharing," "caring,"
''God," etc. (Wit careful consideration, tis list can become very
77
long.)
2. In many congregations, the preschool class is taken by tose
who are new to the faith, the idea being that "after all, you don't
have to know too much about the Bible to teach preschool
ages." Discuss this approach, keeping in mind the list of con
cepts in Question 1.
3. Working in sub-groups, let each goup "brainstorm" ways of
teaching the story of the crucifixion of Crist, using as many senses
as possible and getting the students as involved as possible. As each
goup reports, begn to colect a total of ideas. Discuss what would
be the quality of teaching if every subject taugt could be "brain
stormed" le this.
4. Group discussion: List the various songs sung by the young
sters and decide what the message in each is. Now decide how many
of te children really get the message fom the songs. As a test of
judgent on this, have the teachers of this age try it out on their class
NOTES
78
TEACHI NG BY AGES
te next time she is wit them. (Ak tem how they know Jesus loves
tem. Te answer should be, "Because te Bible tells me so," i
tey've been listening to te songs.
D
on't be surprsed if tey can't
explain te meaning of te story about te wise man building te
house on te rock.)
NOTES
Acts 5:42
And dai l y i n the templ e, and in every house, they ceased
not to teach and preach Jesus Chri st.
CHAPTER 9
ELEMENTARY AGE
Phi l. 1:14
And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxi ng confident by
my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without
fear.
As children get into school and lear to read and associate with
learg activities all day long, teir lives change radically. Group
associations replace single, famy-tpe relationships. Wereas te
79
children were learng to work as a group with some dfficulty
before tis, tey are now in teir "natural habitat" when tey are
wit other children. The Bible teacher, fortunately, doesn't have to
train the students how to relate wit te other students, nor to wait
teir tum to speak. While tey may not abide by te rules, they
really know that tey must share time with te oter people in te
class. In oter words, the teacher is free now to teach, not having
the additional dut to help acclmate students to a goup
situation.
Advantages of Teachi ng Thi s Age
Good Active Mind. At this age tey have good, active minds which
are by and large uncomplicated wit msinformation. True, tey do
have misconceptions, but tese haven't been aroud long enoug to
become a permanent part of teir "conceptual" lives. They still
possess tat tremendous abilit to lear facts and memorie. Tey
can lear new facts every week and not become mentally tired. Tey
NOTES
80
TEACHI NG BY AGES
may get bored, but rarely ever get tired with mental fatigue. Tey
are at an "impressionable" age that makes it easy for the teacher to
get lasting messages to them, or rather to form lasting impressions
because of things that they discover throug teacher guidance. At
te early part of their elementary stages they aren't interested in the
opposite sex and can function very well in mixed classes. Up until
about the fifth gade they don't feel the strong urge to
"show off" for the other sex. Another advantage of this age
group is that they are generally anxious to please the teacher and
will do whatever work is required to impress him or her.
Here again, there is that opportunity for the teacher to exert
lasting impressions, not only on the child's lifestyle to come, but aso
on the child's study habits, which means making learing a happy
experience. Unfortunately, children soon decide that Bible learg
is supposed to be dull and boring, and in many ways, lie doing
penance. This group is i the age where that can be dispelled by
good, innovative teaching techniques.
High Energ Lels. Teir energ-of which there is much -can be
challenged and channelled into constructive and productive
efforts. They love to compete at any time during this age and
will devote great time and energy to winning, just for the sake of
winning. By the time they have reached the third grade, they are able
to make simple reports from what they have read in the lessons. By
the time they are in the sixth grade they can take a subject and with
a little guidance, do some research for making reports. The topics
need to be simple, and te resource material uncomplicated, but
tey will do the work i the opportunity is there. A furter develop
ment of this idea allows them to make reports by working togeter
as a team of two, even for competition. Caution should be taken in
assigg reports, especially the first few times. Since it is a new
experience for most of them, the early efforts should be met wit
NOTES
ELEMENTARY AGE
much praise, and should not be criticised at all unless they have
gven erroneous information. For example, they could be given te
assigment to find out where five of their friends attend services,
and at least one thing that each friend believes about religion. Tey
wl have fun collecting and reporting the information. Tey wl
also be developing a habit of talking to others about religion in a
non-threatening way. There's a good chance that they will be sur
prised at what tey find out. If they are surrised to lea how little
their friends know, use this as a opportunity to put te same
question to them. How much would tey (your students) know i
they were asked the same question? A fun way of handling this
and one that is most effective -is to have them roleplay this in class.
Avoid embarrassing them, but let them try it. (This same process can
be used to teach tem how to interview teir friends when
the assignment is first made.)
Anoter assignment for a report is to let them do some research
as to where certain stories and events are found in the Bible. Gve
tem tree stories, say Samson, Noa and the stoning of Steven. Tell
them they must find the book(s) and verses that tell this in
formation. The only restriction is tat they cannot ask anyone -
they must find it on their own. Such activities as this make a lasting
impression on the students because they have to "discover" the
information for themselves. As they get older and more Bi
ble wise, te teacher can make it even more competitive by mak
ing te task more complex, but in te nature of the stories and te
number of various places the events are related. This can be used
in the classroom, by te way, and becomes a excitng leag
event. Definite time limits should be put on te events and te class
alowed to work in small goups to increase the involvement. If one
goup discovers the ease wit which a concordance can be used,
then all te groups should be allowed access to one.
Formative Leadershi Qualties. This group begins to show some
NOTES
81
82
TEACHI NG BY AGES
leadership qualities and these qualities should be allowed to express
temselves. Here is where te small goup assigments work
well. As individuals show teir leadership skills, te teacher takes
advantage of it by rewarding te action wth compliments and rein
frcement. There is a basic rule to follow in giving out as
sigments, by te way, that should always be adered to: as
sume te individual h te abit to take the work and exercise the
necessary leadership, unless te student has repeatedly demon
strated tat he wlnot take te leadership role. It is most important
tat the teacher express complete confidence and also recognie any
leadership that is exercised. The church is constantly looking for and
needing good leaders. Tey do not happen -tey are the result most
often of repeated opportunities to gow and of being recoged for
te efforts tey make when they are young.
Di sadvantages of Teachi ng Thi s Age
Now let's look at some disadvantages of teaching tis age goup.
Tis is not to discourage teachers, because in every age bracket tere
are disadvantages as well as advantages. Te disadvantages are no
more tan tings for te teacher to watch for and use to his own
advantage, i possible.
Most of te disadvantages are the reverse side of the advantages
we listed. For example, we said that tis age goup has good, active
minds, tat tey lea quickly and have little background as far as
depth is concered. The disadvantage comes when te teacher isn't
prepared to cope wit tis type of student and settles down just to
answer a few true and false questions and to discuss the lesson wt
te goup. Wit the capabit of ths goup, things can go dowl
i a hurr. Te class can become unruly, begn to play or not pay
attention (not really limited to this goup, but especially true of tis
age). The more unruly tey get, te more te teacher may fuss and
lecture, driving the activit fuer dowl. The class becomes a
NOTES
ELEMENTARY AGE
contest between the students and te teacher, and the students wl
always w in such a contest. Te teacher wlcontrol te class, but
little or no learg wl take place. Te students w from the
standpoint of twarting the teacher's teaching efforts, but of
course, everyone loses in te process! This disadvantage can
quickly become an advantage when te teacher puts te time and
effort into preparing for ts kd of student. Of all ages to which
lack of preparation by te teacher wldo te most damage, no age
wl suffer more tan tis one. It isn't possible to keep energetic,
active an
c
entusiastic minds meaningfully busy without plenty of
preparation! It is a constant challenge to te teacher to come up with
ways of utg all of this potential.
"Permanent" Damage. Aoter serious consideration wit tis age
is teir impressionable state. Te teacher who doesn't realize tat
each class period is a chance to have te students form lasting
concepts may leave te impression tat leag isn't really much
fun. They may decide that Bible classes are all taugt by dull,
serious, unimaginative and uninteresting individuals. Such an im
pression, formed at this impressionable age, wlbe hard for anoter
teacher to overcome later on. One has only to look around at adult
classes and wonder how many of te students in these classes got
te idea tat Bible classes aren't supposed to be meangful -just
something you're supposed to attend ever time tey are held. Tis
may also account for te lack of studying done at te adult age and
at the critical teenage level.
Te energ that these students have can prove a disadvantage in
te hands of te wrong teacher. A we have said, i the teacher gets
so interested in maintg dscipline (or keeping te class quet)
ten te energ is going to fal into disuse or misuse. Te worst tg
tat can happen to ts age is for te teacher to appear to iterpret
teir youtful energ as intentions of disinterest or dis
!
es
p
ect for te
NOTES
83
TEACHI NG BY AGES
Bible or the teacher. The teacher that clamps down is probably
setting a stage for the teenager tat evolves from this student. The
next teacher will wonder why he has a sullen, disinterested, seeming
ly bored student. He may wonder why the teenager doesn't get
excited about learg in the Bible class or why he doesn't voluntar
ily become involved in discussion. He may never know that te real
cause is te way he leared about using his energ back in the early
classes.
"Easy to Teach" Disadantage. Because this age group can lear so
well and handle material above what is usually given to them, tey
often lull te teacher into tinking a good job is being done. While
it isn't wrong to say that a good job is being done any time someone
lears about the Bible, it is a shame if te students haven't been
84
challenged up to thei abilities. If the class has te ability to do
reports, to do research, to speak on its feet, to work successfully in
small groups, to talk to those friends who are unfamiliar wit te
church, to lear at a rapid rate, to memorize -if all these abilities
abound, and the teacher merely scrapes the surface, then an injus
tice has been committed against the student!
It would be wrong to assume that everything that has been said
is true only for this age group. Good and bad teaching is pretty well
te same for any age. Also, it would be wrong to lump all students
i elementary ages into one category. Since we wldiscuss the early
teenagers in te next chapter, thoug, this chapter deals with those
children who have leared to read up to about the sixt grade. In
the first tree grades they react about the same to many learg
situations. They are more dependent upon the teacher; they have
less of the ability to comprehend deeper concepts, so are still having
to lear the facts that someday will support te concepts tey wl
form. They are more wlg to accept learg for leag's sake
and have less need to know exactly why they are leag
someting. They can memorize, but are unable (or unwil ng) to
NOTES
ELEMENTARY AGE
spend long amounts of time memoriing lengty passages. It can be
done, but there w be a better time for it. Later they can make a
direct application and still have the quickness of this age in teir
mental gmnastics.
The upper end of the spectrum -the fourth throug the sixth
grades -are te ones who can do more on teir own and take on
more complex assignments. The upper ages are able to work togeth
er and are less dependent on the teacher to guide them. At
t age, too, it is even more important that they be kept busy,
for tey are begnning to reach the age when the opposite sex pre
sents te challenge for attention. Te teacher will have to begin to
move te class period faster in order to use all the available
energ. Even ten, things wll have to be watched to see that
some do not devote an overdue amount of their time to impressing
the others. Te task is a fun one, thoug, for the teacher; he can even
use tis to his advantage by having the boys compete with the girls
in the various assignments. A we have said before, however, te
teacher should be careful about using discipline at this age. The
more pressure tat is applied, the more the bubble is blown up, so
that they will eventually explode and frustrate the teacher even
more. This doesn't mean tat discipline shouldn't be used; it means
tat discipline wl become a fulltime job i that's al tat's done to
curb the energ and interest in the opposite sex. Ideally, the teacher
should find ways to let this energ and interest in impressing oters
work for leag, rather than against it. This spells activity and even
a certain degree of chaos. The teacher should remember that he can
get tings quiet any time he wants it. It's just that he shouldn't want
it al the time!
Concl usi on
Te elementary age -from te begn g of reading to about the
sixth grade -is te time when lasting concepts and habits of learg
are being formed. In many ways it's like taking a brand new canvas
NOTES
85
86
TEACHI NG BY AGES
and putting the first lines of a new painting on it. While tis doesn't
say tat many lasting concepts haven't already been fored, it says
tat tey are stil maleable at ts age and can be molded easily by
te teacher. There aren't many Bible facts available from prevous
leag; only tose basic stories tey leaed. Tey haven't used
te Bible as a reference book yet and are begn g te leag
process now. Tey are impressionable. Tey still look to te teacher
wit a little awe and a lot of respect. Tey expect te teacher to help
tem. Because of teir energ and leag ability, a good, inova
tive, resourceful teacher w have te time of his or her life. A
unenergetic, overly serous teacher may find te challenge too much
for hiself, and perhaps too much for the students to take, too. Te
ideal is for the teacher to allow tem to devote all of their time and
energ towards leag. It can be done. It's diffcult, but a wonder
to behold when it happens. In te years to come, te teacher who
has been successfu wit tis goup whave perhaps more to show
tat has helped te church gow spiritually tan ayone else among
te teachers of any age goup.
1. Make a list of the advantages in teaching tis age of children,
as given in this chapter. See i te goup has any additional items
to lst. Now consider each of tese as a goup and see
what tere is about the advantage tat te teacher can use to
promote interest and leag in te classroom.
2. Repeat te process from Question 1, except ts time list te
dsadvantages. As tese are discussed, see how te teacher can take
te disadvantage and tu it to h or her favor. (See how te disad
vantage can work for te teacher instead of against him.)
3. Some teachers t teaching discipline at tis age is the impor-
NOTES
ELEMENTARY AGE
tant role of the teacher, and they think of disciple as "keeping the
children quiet all the time." When one wals by teir classroom, sure
enough, te teacher is tg and the students are being
ver quiet. In sub-goups, discuss this philosophy. Discipline can
be defined differently than tese teachers are defing it -what
other ways can discipline be displayed? What else besides discipline
migt be showing in tese classrooms, where no discussion is tg
place?
4. Sub-goup activit: Have each sub-goup braistorm ways of
using up some of the physical energ of tese children. Te projects
or exercises shoud be tose that produce learg and tat can be
done in the classroom -without making so much noise tat te
oter classes are disturbed. Report and discuss wit te en
tire class.
5. Sub-group activity: Have te small groups research ways of
getting the students mentall involved wit reports and projects in
the clas. Report the finding to te ente class and discuss.
NOTES
Acts 1 1: 1920
Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecu
tion that arose about Stephen travel led as far as
Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preachi ng the word
to none but unto the Jews onl y. And some of them were
men of Cyprus and Cyrene, whi ch, when they were come
to Antioch, spake unto the Greci ans, preachi ng the Lord
Jesus.
87
88
CHAPTER 1 0
EARLY TEENAGERS
I ntroducti on
Acts 11:26
And when he had found hi m, he brought hi m unto
Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they
assembled themselves with the church, and taught much
peopl e. And the di sci ples were cal led Christi ans fi rst i n
Antioch.
It may not be necessary to separate this age goup from the previous
chapter and the one to follow, but there is actually a definite differ
ence between these children and the others. In a way, it's the frustra
tion years before hig school but after element age. It's the
"not-belonging" years -the "sub-freshmen" age -the junior hig
days of not quite belonging. As far as te church is concered, it's
te vital years, the time when decisions are made that will determine
what they will be doing just a few years from now. Tose that t
teenagers are lost as teenagers are wrong; teenagers start to be lost
from the church activities before they get to be teenagers. Often tey
are lost just before it when they are on the treshold, not
quite in, but already removed from the simplicity of childhood.
Bible teachers need to realize this and tae advantage of the
knowledge. A good rule to remember is: whenever you're i doubt
as to how to treat this age, it's always best to treat tem
as older, not younger than they are. Since we watch tem gow,
it's hard for us to see the subtle differences tat take place as tey
gow and change. For example, they are begn g to feel sophis-
NOTES
EARLY TEENAGERS
ticated, althoug their actions are still often tat of unsophisticated
children. They may tend to cut up in class, but resent being treated
as the children tey are acting lke. How can all of this knowledge
help the teacher? The teacher can be just as subtle by letting them
do the things they liked to do as children, but make them think they
are doing things a little more sophisticated. In this chapter we'll
notice some of these things.
Use the Sophi stication
One phase of sophistication that can be used in favor of the teaching
of tis age is the abilit and desire to show some leadership. Askng
one of te young men to serve as a leader of his group will find h
taing te job very seriously, althoug the rest of the group may
show little more than tolerance for h. They wl, however, go
along with him and let h be the leader, if for no other reason than
89
to see that "their side" makes a good showing. The leadership roles
should be spread around from week to week, of course, or the whole
ting will become ineffective. One week the class can be broken
down into sub-groups with a set of leaders who are responsible for
the assignments, and with te responsibility of delegating how the
assigments wlbe carried out. A small amount of classtime should
be allotted for tis organiation. Te assigents should not be too
cumbersome or lengthy, and te expected outcome fairly simple. It
may be no more than a section of te lesson for which each sub-
goup is to bring in one scripture apiece or one example from real
life. It could be a challenge to see which group can bring the most
scriptures or the most examples. Taking advantage of the "child
side" of this age that still loves to compete, scores can be kept. For
furter accountabilit, each goup should be responsible for check-
ing te scriptures or examples of te oter groups. This way tey
aren't left idle while te oters are reporting. (By te way, tis is a
pre rule for any kind of class reporting at any age: the
NOTES
90
TEACHI NG BY AGES
rest of the clas should always be accountable for what goes on during
the reports. )
Lecturi ng Is Out
Tis early age goup has a characteristic of the later teens: tey
won't get much out of a prolonged lecture. The only difference is
tat te later teens wl sit back and be bored while tis age is still
capable of being quite rowdy! Tey are smart enough at this age to
bait the teacher a little, but not as much as tey wl in a
few years. Often te mistake is made of putting a very sincere
man in as te teacher who tks tis is the age to be sure they know
all about teir responsibility in many areas. While any age is the age
to lea about responsibility, tis surely isn't the age to tel them
about it. They have too much life to sit still while someone lectures
to tem, no matter how sincere the teacher is. If the teacher is really
sincere about wanting tem to lear teir responsibilities, he wlsee
tat they get a involved a possible i every class meeting. Te key
to leag at this age (and most oter ages) is to have them tell the
teacher, rater tan the teacher tell tem. Te teacher provides te
settings for tem and they draw teir own conclusions -almost
aways rigt! The teacher needs only to provide a little corection
and encouragement every once i a while to keep tings moving
along ver well. Remember, while tis age has begun to gain some
sophistication they still have a refreshing degee of sincerit and
desire for approval by teir teacher.
Competiti on Sti l l Works
As we have sad before, most any age likes competition, and none
lie it any better tan te age we're talking about here. Tey can get
just as excited about trying to outscore someone else as te age
goup before them and have the capabilit of doing a geat deal of
work to achieve t end. A aways, this goup doesn't need a
NOTES
EARLY TEENAGERS
complicated system of scoring and an elaborate game to play. A
they need is how many points tey wget for a certain achievement
and what the achievement is. Te advantage to the use of competi
tion at tis age is that te asignment can be more complicated ta
just askg simple questions for which a few points are gv
en. In fact, in many ways, this age goup has te ideal character
istics for te perfect class. Tey c read and understand what tey
read. Tey can get excited about competing and still concentrate on
te subject tey are studyg. Tey have enoug backgound to
form many correct conclusions on teir own. Tey still have respect
for te teacher and pride i pleasing him. Tey wstil do a reason
able amount of homework and wbring books and Bibles to class
wt tem as a matter of course (i they are gven te opportunit
to get into te habit by getting points for bringng tem!). Tey have
the energ to put in a fast half hour or forty-five mnutes in class
91
and "run" all te way. They have enoug leadership ad folowship
to take an assigment and work in small goups witout too much
wasted motion (rovided te assigment is clear and cha
lenging). Tey have te abilit to express temselves and gve
teacher feedback as to what tey t and what tey have
leared. While they are a little youg to do much effectve role
playing where they have to do much tg in te roles, tey ca
take a simple case study and mae a lot of good sense out of it. Most
any teacher would and should be happy to have a class wit ts
kind of abilit. If a teacher ha a goup tis age ad is having touble
wit it, he migt ask himself i he's mag the best use of al teir
talents!
Case Studi es Are Efective Now
Tis age is te first one tat can me consistent use of te case
study method of teaching. Te cases should be simple, deal wit
everday life and lead to a specifc Bible prciple. For exaple,
NOTES
92
TECH I NG BY AGES
tae the following situation.
Bobby Faces a Decision
Bobby has te reputation for doing well in school. He gets his
homework and studies for te tests. While he doesn't always get
the hgest marks i school, he is usually up close to
the top. Mike, a new boy in school, has had some trouble
wit his math and Bobby has tried to help h. Even so, Mike
is still about to fail te mat course. Today is test day and just
as they are about to go into class, Mikes says to Bobby:
"Hey, Bob, you tk you're ready for tis test?"
"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Bobby replied.
"Boy, I wish I were. I t I'm about to fail. I wish I were
as smart as you are." Mike said, hangg his head.
"Aw, I'm not all tat smart. Maybe you'll do all rigt. I hope
so, anyway." Bobby sad, tring to encourage Mike.
"I hope so, too, but I doubt it. Hey, I tell you what! " Mike
said suddenly.
"What?"
"Since we sit beside each oter, i I have any trouble, I'll slip
you a note on which problems I need the answer."
Bobby hesitated a moment, ten replied, "I'd like to,
Mike, but I don't believe in cheating."
"Oh, you wouldn't be cheating. You'd already have te an
swer; just giving it to me wouldn't be cheating on your
part."
"Well, I never tougt about it like tat. . . . "
With just tis much of a case, te teacher can get at least two or three
good lessons, including cheating, choosing companions, havng con
victions, and protecting a good reputation. Any of tese lessons has
plenty of Bible settngs and te scriptures are plenteous. An addi
tional advantage to te case is tat i te teacher assigs
NOTES
EARLY TEENAGERS
te task of coming up with scriptures to the students as an out
of class activity, the students have a chance to talk to their parents
about an important subject -one tat migt not come up in ev
eryday conversation. Such cases as ts should be simple, easy to
believe, something tat happens frequently, and someting tat
makes a good, solid point wit the students. It should be written at
their level or sligtly higer, and should use everday language, but
not too much "mod" language. Most important of all, the cases
should lead to the conclusion, not preach to it. The conclusions
reached should be those of the student, not the teacher. If te
students are doing their jobs well -and wit good cases they wl-
tey shouldn't find it too difficult to reach al te correct decisions
and summarize te important points while the teacher sits back and
listens. Again: it's very important tat te students reach the conclu-
sions on their own, and state them in their own words. Tis way tey
93
wl have much more commitment to the ideas discovered. Some-
how, it just doesn't mean nearly as much when the teacher tells them
what it is tey were supposed to get out of te lesson!
Separate the Boys and Gi rl s
Te age we are tg about here is a good time to separate boys
and girls into different classes, with effective men teaching
the boys' classes, and good women teachers taking over te grls'
classes. The purpose here is not so much because of te material
being covered, but because of to oter tgs. First, tis is te age
when the boys and grls find it virtually impossible to resist trying
to impress each other. Togeter tey are a different class than when
tey are separate. Every answer is given to see its effect on te oter
people in te cass. Wrong answers are lauged at and boys who
would otherwise be quiet and mannerly find temselves becomng
"cute" and eager for attention. Te same is true for the grls. Tis
isn't so much a discipline problem as it is a learg problem. Sep-
NOTES
94
TEACHI NG BY AGES
aration is almost sure to increase leag. Secondly, tis is a good
tme for te boys ad grls to begn to tale some leadership
roles. They need to be on teir feet making taks and reports.
Tey wlbe much less self-conscious when te goups are in differ
ent classes. The grls ca tale more active parts, too, and begn to
do some practice leading towards their eventual teaching roles.
When te boys and gls are separated, and cases are used as dis
cussed earlier, te grls shoud have cases tailored to their own
needs, using stores tat talk about things tey are iterested in.
Concl usi on
Tis is an exciting age to teach. Because of teir natural eageress
to lea, we should be careful not to k teir interest by not gving
tem te best teaching available. They are at a critical age. Tey are
going to make some decisions here tat wigo with tem for te rest
of tei lives. It is here tat tey wlmake te decisions tat may
decide te futre of the church where tey attend, for here ae te
active young men and women of the next few years. Wit good
teaching tey wlbe a geat asset. With poor teachg, tey may not
even be aound.
1 . Tis chapter mentioned tat ts is te "not-belonging" age
goup. Brea into sub-goups and have each goup brainstorm ways
of mag tis goup feel wated, bot in the congegation and i
te classes. Be sure to iclude both boys and grls in your
discussion. Lst tese suggestons on te board and discuss.
2. A a goup, look at te items on te board ad see how many
are now being used. For tose tat aren't, see what it would tae to
get tem implemented.
NOTES
EARLY TEENAGERS
3. As a group, make a list of te tings a person at ts age should
know, assuming he or she had been attending Bible classes for most
of his life. Tis should include such things as people he
should know, lists of things he should have memored, scrip
tures he should know, etc. Record tis on the board and try to get
unanimous ageement on te items. Now decide how many of the
young people in this congegation really know tese tings.
4. Pass out pieces of blan paper and have each member start to
tae a test on te things listed on the board from Question 3. Tey
don't have to sign their names, but the papers should be handed in
or discussed. How much better are we tan te young people?
5. Tis chapter has a case study-a story about Bobby facing a
problem. Brea into sub-goups and have each goup make up a
stor tat migt be used for study at tis age. Give each goup a
95
different topic, such as drg, smoking, stealing, respect for civil
autority, drugs, dirt pictures and stories, and oter subjects that
are pertinent to this age goup.
NOTES
Acts 13:5
And when they were at Sal ami s, they preached the word
of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they had also
John to thei r mi ni ster.
CHAPTER 1 1
TEENAGERS
I ntroducti on
2 Ti m. 3:1415
But conti nue thou in the thi ngs whi ch thou hast learned
and hast been assured of, knowi ng of whom thou hast
learned them; And that from a chi l d thou hast known the
holy Scri ptures, which are abl e to make thee wi se unto
salvation through faith whi ch is i n Chri st Jesus.
96
Many words have been used to describe the teenager, all of them
accurate and incorrect at the same time. To try to say that a teenager
is a certain way or tat tere is a stereotype of the present day
teenager, is like saying tat a tree is always a certain way
i looks. Just as a tree has seasons and looks differently from
one month to the next, so does te teenager. Teenagers come i al
sizes and shapes, not just physically, but psychologically as well. To
say that they are albored i class is as wrong as to say they are all
excited about learing. To say tey alrespond to certain activities
is as wrong as to say tey respond to nothing.
The teenager is in te age of suspension -hangng between child
hood and adulthood. To the average adult, the teenager is still small
in his actions -while to the child, the teenager represents the top of
te ladder, big i every way. In class we tend to treat them as
children and expect tem to act like adults. In many ways, we are
at a standoff wit them: "You act le an adult and I'll treat you
like one," while they say to us, "You treat me like an adult and I'll
act like one! " There is an ambivalence here that makes it possible
NOTES
TEENAGERS
for the teenager to be smart enoug to do the work, at the same time
smart enoug to get out of it if that's what he wants to do.
Is I t Hopel ess?
Al of tis begins to sound like there is nothing we can do to be
successful, which is obviously a ver wrong conclusion. Just because
the student is complex doesn't mean that there is no hope
of success. Just because the job is challenging isn't reason for us
to give up on te challenge. Te truth is, for those who have taugt
this age group, te challenge is not equal to the immense satisfaction
to be obtained from doing a good job. The rewards far exceed
anything in the way of a problem that migt exist. What we'll do
here is to look at the tings tat most teenagers do have in common
and see how we can apply tis information. First, however, let's look
at some things about te leag patter of this age group. If we
97
t of learg as an extension of wherever we are already, we
recognie that the teenager is at a point pretty far down the line of
learng, if he or she has been doing any learg at al during the
last several years of Bible study. (hile we often find that this age
is woefully wea in actual knowledge, they aren't too different from
many adults wit even longer histories of studying the Bible.) More
important, this age is beg g to form some fairly rigd codes of
conduct and attitudes toward behavior. Once tese thougt patters
are established, changng them becomes quite different from estab
lishing them in the first place. The near-frigtening thng is tat tey
will form tese attitudes regardless of whether they are in class
or not. They w develop some kind of attitude towards the
church, towards morality, towards their own religious place
in life. They have a void and w fill it one way or the oter.
Teir parents whelp. Their public school teachers whelp. Their
peers will have a great influence on them. The Bible teacher must
not only recoge the importance of te task of finishing out what-
NOTES
98
TEACHI NG BY AGES
ever void is left from early childhood, but also should kow te
competition. We cery make a gave mistake if we assume tey
already accept althe principles we hold fast to, or if we go te oter
extreme and assume tat tey have only that information and only
tose attitudes tat we are stressing.
Perhaps anoter mistake we make is to assume tat te teenager
has a logcal patter already developed and that our job is to add
to it, fitting the pieces into a rational set of attitudes and ideas. Te
problem of te teenager is that he or she has had to operate in a
world that expects reasonable and rational behavior and
thougts, but witout te benefit of all the background and un
derstanding tat makes the behavior and thougts come out al
rigt. There are stil big gaps and unanswered questions. Unortu
nately, te teenager may not even know tat tese gaps exist. For
a little while in teir lives, tings seemed very simple to tem. Tey
had, in fact, oversimplified life and its challenges. But now, things
are stg to fall apart, not beig as siple and straigtforward as
before. Depending on how much of this world has collapsed around
tem w be teir ability to seem rational. For tose areas where
tey t they have te answers, tey w at least react
consistentl, if not completely reasonable. As they begn to discover
tat life itself is ful of inconsistencies, they are less able to react te
same way ever time. It is here tat the Bible teacher can have te
most influence! The teacher provides the answers, the reason, te
consistency that others haven't been able to provide.
Meet Thei r Needs
Te best response from teenagers comes when the teacher is meeting
teir needs, deag with subjects tat they are interested in, han
dling problems tey are confronting every day. Tis isn't always
easy. Different towns ad even different schools within te town
may have entirely different problems for the teenager Cristian. In
NOTES
TEENAGERS
one school or tow, drugs -alcohol, smoking, strong drugs -may be
te everday problem, faced by all te childen at every tu. In
another locaton, drugs may never have been a problem at all. Te
same is true with sexual freedom as a problem. Different patters
develop in different locations and in different crowds witn a
school or goup. It boils down to what te "in" tg is; "What are
tey all doing?" may be the tngs tat the teenagers are te most
concered about. It is on tese tings the teacher can expect to get
te most attention.
Tis doesn't say tat we can no longer t about the Bible. Now
is te time to tl ver much about te Bible and its application to
everday life. One of te gaps tat must be filled for te teenager
is the one that bridges te mysteries of te Bible and Bible subjectS
wit te realities of everyday life. It is now, more tan any oter time
in his life, that the student is searching to see if te Bible really holds
99
te answers to such important subjects as: Whom do I date? What
do I do on te date? How do I meet te temptations of
te crowd? How do I work out te differences with my parents
and family? How do I get to be independent and stil keep a re
spectable relationship wth tose in autority? It is at ts age tey
must decide that studying te Bible w solve te imediate prob-
lems of life. Te sk ul teacher makes te tansiton from just
leag facts from te Bible to application of te Bible a smoot
one for the teenager.
So the teacher's job in te teenagers' class is to provide an oppor
tunit to presere te securit of te Bible teachngs as it is molded
into the real world. Tis is done by tag te simple position tat
everday problems of today aren't any different in concept or com
plext tan tey were tousands of years ago. Te simple truth of
the matter is tat if people and/or problems have changed tat
much then te Bible is a prett useless piece of literature! What good
are te laws of God or the cmdments tat tell u what to do
NOTES
1 00
TEACHI NG BY AGES
from day to day, if the temptations, relationships and anxeties are
all changed from the time God gave the information to us? We have
to face this ourselves and come up wit the strong conviction tat te
lust of the flesh, te lust of the eye and the vainglory of life was te
same for Adam and Eve, David, Timothy and Paul, and is the same
for John and Mary Doe. If we find ourselves saying tat "today's
youth face problems never before faced by young people," then we'd
better get out of the clasroom. At least te grls don't have to face
te decision of whether or not to join their peers in gving temselves
one day a year to the temple of Aphrodite as prostitute priestess, and
te boys don't have to show teir wealt and success by begg
to collect their concubines or explainng to teir friends why tey
aren't going up to the temple to participate in the religous rites wth
te priestesses. Not ony must we come to tese conclusions our
selves before we go into the class, we must determine tat our basic
philosophy is goig to be to convince the teenagers to find te
answers to teir problems in the pages of God's
B
ook, not in te
opinions of teir fellow teenagers, thei school teachers nor even
from their teachers of the Bible. The answers must be tose tat are
found in te Bible so that when tey no longer have their friends
or teacher around, tey are comfortable finding te answers in te
Bible.
They Wi l l Work Hard
The one complaint most often heard about teaching teenagers is te
inability to get tem to work at learg. The answer to tis problem
is nearly always te same: they really haven't been given te respon
sibilty for the leag! From hour to hour in teir public school lfe
tey are expected to be alert, study, gve account for teir
activities, and generally handle difficult subjects wit compe
tence. There's no reason why tey can't build to tat same compe
tence in the Bible class. This says that we must gve tem sometng
NOTES
TEENAGERS
specific to lear, and tey must know that they are expected to le
it -then we must let them lear it and know they have leared it. We
simply find a way to let them take over te learg responsibility
wit our guidance. It isn't so hard to do, once we put our mnds to
it. (We should understand, of course, tat tey are usualy smart
enoug to avoid taking the responsibility from us, if we aren't care
ful.)
Tere is something else to be remembered about this age
goup. Even in all of teir sophistication, tey still have a good
deal of "child" left in them. This means they enjoy a competitive
situation, they enjoy winning, tey can still get excited and show
it -providing the circumstances are rigt for it. It's up to the teacher
to provide this circumstance. It has been said -correctly-that the
only difference between playing games wit elementary ages and
teenagers is tat you have to gve points in te thousands instead of
101
i n the hundreds. The competition can be a lot more complicated,
and the goal a little further dow te road tan wit te younger
fols. The teenagers can go a whole class period for one win or lose
situation, whereas the younger ages needed more reinforcement
tan tat. Tis works well for the teacher, because he can now gve
tem a research project at the beginning of the period to be reported
on halfway troug te period, with the other groups being respon-
sible for the content of all the reports. A brief test can be gven at
te end of the period, and it is on tis the final score is made. This
wl keep their interest for te whole period, and provide for a
healthy learg experience. There doesn't have to be any competi-
tion, of course, and many goups work well without this added
motivation. The real incentive is the gving of concrete responsibility
for te learng and ten holding tem accountable for what tey
have done. This means they work in small goups, alone if
necessary, and approach the assigment any way they wish. If
they are working up a debate, they work on it with whatever re-
NOTES
TEACHI NG BY AGES
seach material we ca provide, but organe te material as best
suits tem.
Steps to Success
Te obvious question now, is, Wat do I do as a teacher of te
teenagers? One of te first tings is to determine that no matter what
happens, I will resist treating tem le children ut the very last
effort has been expended to treat tem as adults! But I won't have
to kee telng myself tis; I wl accept it as a conviction and le
to react naturally, not by forcing myself. I will tk like
an adult, too, not like a parent, nor a preacher, nor an elder in
te sense of tg that the slightest deviaton must be met wit
an immediate "straigtening out" on te subject. I wll explore with
tem. I will admit tat some aswers aren't cut and dried, at least
102
as far as a code of behavior is concered. I will admit tat it some
tmes makes a weak argent to say tat te best reason for not
doing someting is tat it jut doesn't look right. I will get tem to
tr to come up with tat concluion, however, not force it
on tem.
Next, I will try to find subjects tey are interested in studying. I
won't force tem to go troug a long, detailed study of te histor
of te Bible, when tey are most concered wit how tey can fit
te Bible into teir everday lives. I won't force tem to go troug
meaningless blanks and true-false questons, when tey are really
interested in how they can influence teir friend and dates in te
church. I wl devote a great deal of energ to preparing exercises
tat are interestng ad tat involve te students to a very hig
degee. I won't expect to hold teir interest for ver long wit my
lecturing-I wlkeep teir interest by keeping tem busy.
Te work we do in class will be team work as far as possible. Tey
will work in pairs; tey will work on reports in small goups, organ
izng in ay way tey want to. Te time limts will be held
NOTES
TEENAGERS
down. Tey wl be forced to accomplish teir work in short stu
dy periods, so tat al energ will be devoted to te task. A teir
maturit grows, tey wl be gven more mature assignments. Tey
wl work towards leag things tat can be used in substitutng
in teaching roles for the younger classes. Tey will even work up
special lessons to be presented to te younger goups on such sub
jects as simple approaches to proving te Bible is the word
of God, and how to make decisions in school tat wl make us
better respected as individuals. Tey wlbe allowed certain periods
to discuss anyting tey want to, providing they can get te goup
to agee on the subject and can show tat it is a Bible subject.
Finally, we wl t to move tese young people into responsible
jobs in te work of te congegation. Tey wl substitute teach, or
take on assignments fulltime. The young men wl lear to make
tals, and as soon as they can, tey will go before the congregation
103
and present the talks. If possible, tey wlmake tese talks in times
when there is an actual need: te adult Bible teacher is away or te
preacher is absent. (hey wl be filling a need, not just
"showing off.") Te same is true of song leading. Te youg
girls will not be forgotten, eiter. They, too, wl have responsible
jobs to do in te teaching work and in te caring for te communion
trays and for mang suggestions on ways of interesting te younger
grls in learg to be elders' wives and preachers' wives and Chris-
tian moters.
Concl usi on
Alof tis says tat tese young men and women wlbe treated like
te responsible people tey must be in a very short time i te church
is to survive in the manner we want it to survive. Tey are our
leaders in the near future. We must start to let them take on some
of te leadership under careful supervision!
NOTES
104
TEACHI NG BY AGES
1. As a total group, brainstorm a list of subjects tat teenagers
should be studying at teir age. Be specific, and get goup
consensus. Ti of ages from 15 to 1 8, rather than from 1 3 to
19. Get a group agreement as to te reason for studying each of these
subjects.
2. Looking at the list from Question l , decide what te young
people tis age would say to studying these subjects. Decide what
they would have listed i tey had made up the list themselves.
(Hint: experience has shown that their list would look very much
like this one if it includes such things as how to face the everyday
problems of te world around tem.)
3. Now look one more time at the list from Question 1 and
compare this to what the people in this congregation are now study
ing. See how many in the group actually know what the young
people are studying, excluding their teachers.
4. Just as in te last chapter, break into sub-goups and find ways
tat the young people tis age can be made to feel a part of te
congregation. This must include more than just making a tl on
Wednesday nigt or leading a song or prayer now and then -it must
be a meaningful, needed activity.
5. Looking at the list from Question 4, which has been recorded
on the board, decide which of these are now being used and which
ones could be used wit little or no effort. Make plans to see that
they are implemented!
NOTES
TEENAGERS
NOTES
Acts 14: 1
And it came to pass i n l coni um, that they went both to
gether i nto the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that
a great mul titude both of the Jews and al so of the Greeks
bel ieved.
1 05
CHAPTER 1 2
THE ADULT CLASS
I ntroduction
Heb. 5: 1 2a
For when for the ti me ye ought to be teachers, ye have
need that one teach you agai n whi ch be the fi rst pri nci ples
of the oracles of God; . . .
106
Tis is sometimes tought of a the most difficult class of all to
teach, and often te one tat's the hardest to get people to
teach. But with a little observation, we can see that in many
ways tis should be one of te easiest classes to teach. We'll look
at some of te advantages of teaching this group. We wl also see
tat tere are some disadvantages as well, and many justifiable
reasons why we often see people avoiding teaching tis goup. Tere
are some tings we can do that wl make the job easier,
however, and we'll examine tose in tis chapter.
What Does the Cl ass Look Li ke?
Many who try to avoid tis goup say that tey don't have the
experience to teach it, since there is already a large amount of Bible
knowledge in te goup. The implication is that tose who teach
should always know more about every subject tan any person in
te class. Tis is nearly impossible and fails as an excuse when put
to te test. (A of us recoge, of course, tat it is desirable for te
teacher, especially in te adult class, to have sufficient knowledge
NOTES
THE ADULT CLSS
to lead an intelligent discussion on te subject at hand, and even be
able to handle questons tat ae somewhat off the subject. But one
of te real attributes of a good teacher is te abit to use the
knowledge of those in te class. Wit ts as a tool, te teacher can
allow more digession from te subject knowing he will have help
from te knowledgeable people i te goup.) But not only i tere
usually a geat deal of knowledge in te class, tere is an unequal
amount of participation. In fact, many adult classes can be charac
terized as not having any parcipaton at all. So te teacher sees a
goup in front of him tat may have the answers to te questions
he is asking, but who probably won't answer him if he asks. He sees
tose who would participate but are eiter too embarassed to an
swer, or are afrad tey wil gve te wrong aswer and emba ass
te teacher and themselves. Furter te teacher sees a rigd forat
of students lined up in rows, seeing only te backs of oter people's
107
heads. He also sees a goup tat migt get upset if some confict or
disageement should arise. So he wonders why he should tae te
class to teach it, or if it wouldn't be best at least to elimnate te
discussion and go on with a wel prepared lecture.
Tis isn't necessarily the way it always is, of course. Some adult
classes are exciting and fruitul. Te class is interested, they have
studied, te teacher is acting as a catalyst only, and te goup seems
to be doing all te work. Wat makes te difference? Is it te
teacher? Is he just that much better tan all those others who don't
have classes le this one? Has he got some kind of magc forula
tat only a few can ever expect to have? Or maybe it's the particular
goup. Maybe tey are just unusual. Is it realy te goup tat makes
te difference? Can one group be tat much different from anoter
one? Is it that they have just decided to study, where oters just don't
really care? What about the material? Is it the material. tat has got
the group interested and working and partcipating? Does te mate
rial make tat much difference? Is it not possible to get tat kind
NOTES
1 08
TEACH I NG BY AGES
of class going on any subject? If it is the subject matter, what
subjects lend themselves to this kind of excitement? Maybe it's te
environment -maybe te arrangement of the auditorium has made
the difference? We need the answers to tese questions and hopeful
ly we will find them in this chapter.
There Are Advantages of the Adul t Cl ass
We've already pointed out that one of the main advantages of the
adult class is that there is already much knowledge present. Aong
with this is the reasoning power of the group. Tey can handle most
any subject we're likely to get into. While some wlbe able to handle
it better than others, either because of their background or teir
intellect, tere wl be others who wl have a hard time, of
course. But with all the knowledge present, there wl be plenty
of help for tem. Tere is the added advantage tat most of te
students would rater lear than not lear. They don't want to waste
teir time, so would like to know that they are taking something
home wit tem. The teacher usually has bot the respect and the
sympathy of the group, even toug he may not realize it all the
time. If he maes any effort at all not to lord it over the class, they
will be very empathetic of him and the job he has.
A further advantage is that te group generally wants to avoid
conflict and so wl be on te teacher's side in most discussions,
uness the teacher purposely or accidentally alienates them. (e
teacher's attitude towards te goup, the material and the assig
ment he's working on makes a great deal of difference on the out
come of the session being taugt. If he persists in ridicule or sarcasm
or in talking down to the participants, sooner or later they will "tum
on him." When they do, he may be surprised and wonder why. Wit
a little thining he should be able to figure it out.) There is te
advantage tat many of the students have been over the material in
the other congregations or classes they've been in before. Even if
NOTES
THE ADULT CLSS
they haven't studied, they can still be of some help and contribute
to te subject being discussed. Of course, one advantage is tat so
m
e
will have studied their lessons ad will be prepared to help as te
opportunity presents itself.
There Are Di sadvantages
Some of the disadvantages we have already discussed. We have to
admit tat there are those in the class who would prefer to "hde
out" and never be called on for anyting. These would be offended
i they were called on directly, and would not be very prepared to
gve te rigt answer anyway. And this is anoter disadvantage to
teaching the adult class; the teacher is confronted with responsible
adults who have made no effort to prepare temselves for the assig
ment. They come and sit, perhaps expecting to lear someting, but
witout putting out any effort to study, to dig into backgound
1 09
material or even to come up with any questions for clarification.
Tey aren't much help to the interested teacher. Tey are,
of course, discouraging.
Another disadvantage is tat there are those who have studied but
don't know how they can get into the conversation. They are eiter
too embarrassed to comment out loud or are afraid they migt not
be saying the right thing. So they just do the easiest thing
nothing. This is particularly true when only a few are participating.
Finally te one or two who are saying everything begn to suspect
that tey are "hoggng" the show, so they withdraw from
paricipation for awhile. Wit tem gone, tere is usually no one
left except te one person who talks and becomes a disadvantage
himself. He's the person who always has a comment, but quite often
it is irrelevant or incorrect. Te teacher has to decide whether to
igore it, correct it, figure it out or deal with it directly. In either of
tese last two cases, he probably is just reinforcing te speaer and
can expect more of the same.
NOTES
1 10
TEACH I NG BY AGES
Tere is one more dsadvantage we should mention. Te environ
ment of te adult class usually lends itself to poor teaching. Te
seats are inexible. Te group is lookng straigt ahead at the back
of someone's head. Tere is te haunting dread tat someting wl
be said tat wl lead to controversy and te teacher wl be on the
spot. The teacher lacks many of te tools tat mae for good teach
ing. Tere is a different group every time the class assembles. Tere
are tose who were not tere last week, or may be visiting for te
first time. Tere is not te inormality of te smaller classroom (if
te class is conducted in te auditorium), and even te acoustics and
visibilit is often reduced. Someting about te auditorium tends to
reduce discussion rater tan encouage it. The students rarely talk
out loud to each oter. Any conversaton is in whisper form. Most
of te students don't have pencils and paper, ad certainly don't
expect to be tested on te material, even for self-evaluation. So
altogeter, te whole ting maes for a bad teaching-learg envi
ronment. But it doesn't have to be one! A of tese handicaps and
disadvantages ca be overcome. The successful classes around te
world attest to te fact tat learning can and does take place in adult
clases.
Who's at Fault?
Probably te best answer to why te adult classes are like tey are
is tat we've spent a lifetme of traiing te aduts to behave te way
tey do! Whe tey're small children, tey are involved and excited
and participating because we go to geat pains to see tat te classes
are prepaed tat way. We worry about not keeping tem busy,
about keeping teir attention, about getting tem to sing and move
and be a vital part of the learg experience. A the students gow
older, tey ae allowed to listen more and more and participate less
and less, until finaly they are adults and don't have to do
anytg. Tose who disagee wit tis may say it's te oter
NOTES
THE ADULT CLSS
way around; the students wanted less and less to participate and te
teachers let them have their way. Actually, tere isn't much differ
ence between the to. If the latter is true, then te teachers have
erred in not insisting tat the students be a part of te teaching
learng experience. This isn't to say that the students should have
been forced to become involved against teir wl. What it says is tat
the class activities should have been such that participation was a
natural part of the class. The preparaton should have icluded
plans for the students to lea by doing, by saying, by par
ticipation. It should have been natural involvement, not strained
or unreal. Had te students enjoyed the leag activities in this
manner up until the time tey became adults, they would not only
have expected it of the teacher, but maybe insisted upon it.
Aother reason te adult classes seem to be a trouble spot as far
as getting participation, study and excitement is tat troug te
1 1 1
years we have had many teacher training classes, but seldom or
never have we had learner traing classes. A close look at may of
our teacher training classes show that even tere we are discourag-
ing participation, perhaps witout knowing it. We either spend long
periods studying te Bible in tese classes, or have what amounts
to speech training classes. Certainly it is important for the teachers
to know te Bible, and Bible training classes are always urgently
needed. But we should call them just what tey are: Bible
classes, not teacher training classes. The same is true of speech
training. Everyone needs to have some kind of training in how to
speak before a group, but leag to speak in front of a class isn't
te secret to success in teaching that same class. In fact, speech
training may even be self-defeating for a teacher i he or she isn't
careful. One of the big problems i te adult class is tat te teacher
talks too much. If we gve h speech training, he may gain coni-
dence to do even more tg ad provide for less class partcipa-
tion. Te whole point is tat a good teacher training class instructs
NOTES
1 1 2
TEACHI NG BY AGES
on how to get the students involved, how to get the feedback neces
sary to knowing how well the group is doing, and how to teach a
class that consists of very much participation from as many people
as possible. If we could have good teacher training classes and then
extend this to the entire congregation so they would understand what
it takes to lear, we would have a much better set of adult learners.
Often the preacher is the one who teaches the adult class. Now he's
caught in a dilemma. He's got te background, has probably studied
his lesson well and is anxious to put fort as much effort as possible to
see that learg takes place. Put all this together and then put a group
of adults in front of him who aren't used to getting involved and his
recourse usually is to tum the class into a lecture period. On Sundays
the adults get two sermons, one from the pulpit, the other from down
in front. At midweek te class consists of a few people sitting up close
to te front with the preacher, and the rest of the congregation scat
tered out towards the rear. Wen those in the front comment, the ones
in the rear can't hear what they say. When the ones in te
rear speak, the teacher has to ask them to repeat it, which discour
ages them from further comment. The fault, as we have said, may well
lie in the training of the students to become apathetic about getting
involved.
So What Are the Sol uti ons?
First of all, let's take care of te next generation of adults coming
along. Let's see that the young people who will make up te adult pop
ulation in the next two or three years experience ony the best in teach
ing and leag. Get tem to expecting the enthusiastic, well
prepared teacher. Let them know the advantages of learning
by participating. But don't just stop here. Let's go on down to the
lower ages and see that we don't break the chain of involvement in
'1learing tat starts in preschool.
In the adult classes, select teachers who are inventive enoug to get
NOTES
THE ADULT CLASS
the group interested and involved in the learing that's taking place.
Pick teachers who know their subject, but also know good teaching
techniques. ("Good teaching techniques" does not necessarily
mean someone who has taugt for twenty years and really
knows the Bible. Experience is valuable in improving any sk,
providing the practice is on the right thing, not just doing te wrong
thing over and over again for twenty years.) The teacher of te adult
classes should be the one who watches his audience, who knows
when the goup isn't "wit" h. He should be one who is sensitive
enough to realie when the class is getting away from him and who
knows it quickly enoug to do someting about it before tey are
too far away to bring back. He's one who always has some kind of
activity in the back of his mind that will successfully bring the
audience to life. Not someting complicated; just a simple metod
that gets some participation and interest, and allows the teacher to
1 1 3
continue without too much break in his lesson plan. Again, the
important thing is to have teachers who know their audience, and are
not like many who see themselves as great teachers -not because
they know that much learing is taking place, but because they
know what great tings they are saying.
But there is more that we can do to improve the adult class. We
can be careful what we choose to study-not the topic, but the depth
or length of the study. We should pick topics that can be covered
in a short time (short as compared to three years in the study of one
book from the Bible), remembering that in many places there is
turover in the audience from week to week, and especially from
month to month. The selection of topics and how much to go into
tat topic should be done with a definite time frame in mind. The
teacher should be able to say to te class, "We wl spend three
monts on this and by the end of that time you wll be
able to . . . . " As simple a it sounds, it facilitates leag con
siderably for the students to know what is expected of them and how
NOTES
1 14
TEACHI NG BY AGES
long they have to reaeh that expectation. Perhaps the place this is
offended the most is in "teacher training classes" where te men
meet once a week to study the Bible. Te class is scheduled to meet
every Tuesday nigt and except for the sum er break, there is no
oter time frame limitation. A better arrangement would be to spec
ify tat certain topics are going to be covered for te next
six weeks, ten tat study wl be finished. If the goup wants to
pick up anoter short-term study, then it is announced and tose
who are interested may come i tey please, knowing tat tey aren't
committed to continue until summer, even i te topics are of inter
est or help to them. Te same is true for ladies' Bible classes. They
should have te same kd of direction and goal. Te ladies should
know tat i tey come for a specified lengt of time, tey wlhave
acquired certain knowledge about certain specific things. The whole
idea here is to make sure tat the topics are finished, ad don't just
fially die a slow and sometimes painful deat!
Speci fi c Teachi ng Techni ques
Let's look at some techniques for solving some of the "no involve
ment" and "no study" problems. If the class comes in and hasn't
studied its lesson, the teacher isn't liely to get much meaningful
discussion and participation. One alterative is for the teacher to
pick up te lesson and lecture. Tis solves the class's problem as far
as not studying is concered, but doesn't do much for the learg
situation. Anoter alterative is to let the group study rigt there in
class. This doesn't mean tat we insult them and accuse tem of not
studyig. We simply assig one side of te room to "look at the first
ten verses and see what one ting sticks in your mnd as te key to
what is being said. Te other side take the last telve verses and do
te same tng. You'l have about six or seven minutes. You migt
t it over with the person sitting in front of you or be
hind you." Such a simple operation as this does all kinds of
NOTES
THE ADULT CLSS
things toward getting leag tg place. They have a pur
pose; tey have a goal tey c reach on teir ow; tey
can t to someone else i tey want to check teir tougts
out; tey know what is expected of tem; tey have a chance to
check teir results wit oters in te class when te reporting is
done; tey have a comitment to tei opinion; tey have some
tng to t about when class resues; te teacher doesn't even
have to be a part of the discussion i he doesn't want to
be. At bes he can sere as moderator, lettg the class do te
tg. Best of al, te material is being ver well discussed and
only those points tat te goup finds pertinent ae being brougt
out for discussion. If te teacher feels tey missed someting, he c
volunteer it. Otherwse, he lets te discussion go on ut it's time
to go to someting else. Te someting else may be an exercise
where te goups are now looking for a passage or word or phrase
tat would be confusing to someone studying t lesson for te first
time. Te same feedback procedures are used ad te class again is
much involved, with a proe.
T idea of having te goup look for certan tings can go on
endessly i we use a little iagnation. We c have the goup look
for possible references to te Old Testent. Tey c look for
possible points of disageement. Tey can pick out tree separate
ideas or te one verse tat comes te closest t gving te teme of
te whole chapter. Te teacher can trow out a point of dispute and
have the goup t to find a verse tat refutes te point md. One
side of te class can come up wit questions, te oter side is
challenged to answer tem, ten te process is reversed. Note tat
tese are al meaningul actvites, activities tat wlteach te spe
cific material in the chapter or other study materia being u.
Aoter good technque for gettg te class ivolved is to have
cert ones or groups go to te librar (i te building has one) and
look up sometg on a topic being dcussed. If necessa, tey c
NOTES
1 15
1 1 6
TEACHI NG BY AGES
look it up between now and next class period. ''See what you can
find of interest to the class on te Sadducees, and tell us about it
next week." Such a simple exercise as tis says to te goup tat te
teacher thinks oters have someting wortwhile to contribute. He
is also saying tey have an opportunit to be a part of the class, and
it's up to tem to back out. They rarely do. Te important tg is
to reinforce them as they contribute. In fact, few tings will motivate
a group much more than good reinforcement from te teacher. Ts
isn't a grand and glorious bit of excitement announcing to te word
tat the person has contributed something wortwhile. It may be no
more than a soft word of thanks, or a reference later on to somethg
the person contributed, letting the class know that you regard te
contribution as a specific part of te input to leag. "Just like
Harvey said, we need to remember . . . . " We shouldn't have to
dwell on the importance of not ridiculing or embarassing those who
contribute. Not only wlthis not get any more from that person, but
it will pretty much close te door to contribution from ot
ers as well.
Concl usi on
Teaching the adults is a challenge. Sometimes it's a frustrating and
seemingly hopeless task, made tis way by years of training them
to be just what they are as students today! Generally, we are dealing
wit people who already have their minds made up, so if we expect
to get tem to change, we'll have to do it by getting tem to talk
about teir position, teir opinion, their problems. A tey talk
about these things, they hear not only their own ideas for te first
time (maybe) but tey also see how these things affect te
oters. They get a chance to check teir ideas out, in oter
words. If te teacher does all te talking, tere won't be much of a
test. The job of getting involvement is difficult, but not im
possible. Tere are techniques tat gve us meaningu and pro-
NOTES
THE ADULT CLSS
ductive feedback and participation. Te skillful teacher will practice
these techniques until tey are a natural part of his teaching
tools. He uses them for the rigt purpose -to increase learg.
The successfl teacher is always looking for ways to do just tat.
1 . Group discussion: Why is it tat adult classes are often te
ones most dreaded by teachers, especially good teachers? Is it te
fault of the traditional class setup, is it the auditorium, or is it just
tat people want to hide in an adult class? List te findings on the
board and discuss furter.
2. Now look at te list and decide as a group how many of the
tings listed could be overcome if everone worked at it. How many
1 1 7
of te problems are caused by typical students -of which we are a
part? Can something be done in tis congegation to improve the
situation, no matter how good it is already? What would it take to
make these improvements?
3. Group discussion: Why is it that a goup of adults can get
together in a small classroom and have a fine discussion, but can't
accomplish te same thing in te auditorium? Further, decide why
it is that even controversial subjects can be discussed in a
small class, but aren't usually acceptable in a larger goup.
Should someting be done to break the entire goup from the audi
torium class into smaller goups?
4. Divide the class into to groups. One goup is to be in favor
of keeping classes broken into goups by ages, i.e., "young
adults," ''young married couples," "seniors," etc. The other
goup is against such an arrangement. Let tem discuss tis, even
go into separate rooms to work on teir position, ten retu after
NOTES
1 18
TEACHI NG BY AGES
20-30 mutes of dscussion. Now have a debate, wit each side
getting to five-mnute presentations. (Pro-Con-Pro-Con). After te
debate, have a general discussion on te subject.
NOTES
Acts 1 7:2
And Paul , as his manner was, went i n unto them, and
three sabbath days reasoned wi th them out of the Scri p
tures.
CHAPTER 13
SPECIAL CLASSES
I ntroduction
Acts 24: 2425
And after certai n days, when Fel i x came with hi s wife
Drusi l l a, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul , and heard
hi m concerni ng the faith in Chri st. And as he reasoned of
righteousness, temperance, and j udgment to come, Fel i x
trembled, and answered, Go thy way for thi s ti me; when
I have a convenient season, I will cal l for thee.
Most congregations, at one time or another, have special classes for
specific groups such as the women, young married couples, new
converts, would-be speakers, etc. Often tese classes are te most
rewarding and productive of all the ones held by the con
gegations. Even these, however, can be improved and can have
some things about tem that cause them to be less effective tan
tey could be. We'll look at some important elements tat mae up
the special classes, and see ways tat we migt be able to improve
them.
Why Have the Cl ass at Al l ?
As ridiculous as it may seem, tere are many times when we conduct
classes witout ever really deciding exactly what it is we're trying to
accomplish. It may be tat someone says, "We ougt to have a class
for the young married couples. After al, we've got so may
of them, it would mae a good class." Tis isn't to say tat it
wouldn't be a good idea to have a class for te youg couples, but
it is to say tat tere ougt to be a better reason for having it ta
NOTES
1 1 9
1 20
TEACHI NG BY AGES
just that "we've got a lot of them." Other classes fall into the same
category. We have ladies' Bible classes sometimes for no better
reason than that "We've always had them."
Ideally, there should be a need before we have the class. If there
is, then there should also be some idea of what is going to be
covered, what the group can expect to lear, how long it will take
to get there, and when they "can expect to finish the course. For
example, if we're going to have a young married couples' class, we
should decide ahead of time what it is they need, either from a look
at what they've studied before, from their background, or from
talg to them. We should be tg about making up a weakness
in their Bible backgound or solving problems they might have in
their newly married status. It isn't likely that we should start te
class then decide that tis would be a good time to study the book
of Acts, 2 Samuel or Hebrews. To get the excitement needed to
launch the class to keep the enthusiasm going to a successful
conclusion, they should know that they are going to study a specific
subject like "Te Christian Home" or ''Bible Couples" or "Young
Men and Women in te Bible." If material isn't available, this is an
excellent time to let the goup do some good Bible searching. Assig
different ones to come up with a family each week or report on
different aspects of the Christian home. With just a little
guidance, tey can have a "funtime" and lear a tremendous
amount at te same time. As we have said, thoug, tere needs to
be a projected purpose and stated ending time for the study
whether six weeks or six months. Tat way, they can keep teir
entusiasm up and know that they are learing a speciic tg in
a specific time frame.
Trai ni ng Cl asses?
One of the dreariest things that can happen to a good Bible teaching
program is te death of a "men's training class." Many times a class
NOTES
SPECI AL CLASSES
wlget started without any purpose and the death begins at the first
meeting. Instead of being a training class, it often becomes an
other Bible class, where the people who come study a book of
the Bible, Bible history or geography, or some study guide on the
work of te church or the organtion of te church. While such
study is certainly good, it isn't meeting the needs of a training
class. A training class should train someone to do something. Usu
ally what is meant by a training class is that the men are training
to be teachers. Hopefully the women aren't excluded from this
training, because as talented as they are, they still need to have
some guidance in how to teach. The reason these type classes
often die is that tere is no beg g or ending. When it
starts, everyone comes out, but after awhile, the Monday
nigt-after-Monday-nigt gets to be too much. What is studied
is interesting, but there is no ending place, and people begin to
drop out for various reasons. Finally it just dies, or drags on
with the "faithful few" hanging on, trying to build up the inter
est. Those who have been successful in special classes have usu
ally set specific objectives and specific time limits. Ayone who
starts the class knows how long it will last and specifically what
is to be leared. If it is a teacher-training class, ten they wl
lear about how to teach, how to make a lesson plan, how to
handle problem students and all te oter things necessary to
being successful as teachers. If it's a preacher training class, the
men will lear how to make up outlines, how to speak well and
how to use visuals. Te students know why they are tere and
what they can lear how to do. If it's a personal work class,
those attending know that tey will not only know the impor
tance of doing personal work -someting we always seem to have
to teach to students who apparently already know it, since they are
in te classbut tey will also be able to put themselves in the shoes
of the person on the receiving end of personal work. Ideally, ts is
NOTES
1 21
1 22
TEACHI NG BY AGES
accomplished by role-playing, either wit te class pairing off, or
wit the instructor being the "receiver" and anyone in the class
tg h on.
The point of all this is that special classes -whether tey are held
on special days or Sunday or at te mid-week period-should have
defnite goals and time limits, and tose attending the class should
know what is expected of tem and what tey can expect of te
class.
Teachers Shoul d Be Chosen Careful ly
Te selection of teachers for a special class is a little diferent tan
te selection for te regular Bible class. They should have te same
qualifications plu some oters, usualy. For example, just being a
good communicator and Bible scholar isn't enoug of a qualfica
tion to teach a course on evolution. A experienced person may
teach a class successfully in some Bible subject, while a lack of
experience is a definite handicap for someone teaching a speech
taining class. Bible knowledge is essential in personal work, but not
enoug for one teaching a personal work class. It takes some prac
tce at role playing, and it taes experience to understand how
people react when tey are te recipients of personal work.
The Teacher Must Prepare Careful l y and Cri ti cal l y
Preparation for special classes often isn't any different from any
oter course, but let's note a few things about the selection of
material and te preparaton for te course. First of al , i literatue
is used, be sure it really does te job. Determine the goal for the
course, then select the material. Just because a book has te title
"Evolution" doesn't mean it wlhelp you reach te goal you desire
i your evolution course. Examine the literature carefully,
critically. Be sure that it is at te rigt level and directed in te
rigt way to meet te goals you have set. Make sure it isn't
NOTES
SPECI AL CLASSES
too long, doesn't cover too much material, or that it isn't too
short or shallow for your group of students. It isn't a bad idea to take
a portion of te material in a book of study, i te book covers too
much. Te students can study te rest at anoter time or on teir
own, i tey have developed an interest.
Often, in special classes, the best ting to do is prepare the mate
rial yourself. Tis way tere isn't any queston that it fts. Tere is
a drawback, of course: it tes time and effort ,to do a good job of
preparing a lesson. It may require access to some kind of duplicatng
equipment. Poorly prepared material is just as bad as unsutable
material that's already available. It's not impossible tat te stu
dents can do much of te work themselves, however. If so, let tem
do it. If tere is a special class to study te life of David, tey all
have access to the best material of all: te Bible. Let tem prepare
a biogaphical sketch of his life, making up chronologcal cards -
1 23
wt scripture references -on each event of importance in his life.
Tis can be done during class or before each session, taing a certain
period of his life for each class period.
Seati ng Arrangements Shoul d Be Fl exi bl e
Generally speaing, most classrooms in buildngs built for worship
and teaching purposes are inadequate. Often te chas or benches
all face te front and can't be moved into any oter arangement
because of te shape of te room. Everg we know about te
futue arrangements tels us tat te worst possible situation is
when the students are all facing te front, seeing only te backs of
the oter students' heads. Tere is litte interchange between stu
dents because tey can't see te oter students and know i tere is
ageement or disagreement. People naturally lke to see te person
tey're tg to, so tey end up tg to te teacher when tat's
who tey see. Ideally, te classroom should be set up in some kind
of circular or semi-circular arangement. Ts way all te students
NOTES
TEACHI NG BY AGES
can see te other students, and the teacher becomes less of a dom
nant figure. Being at the "head" of the circle, he still can get the class
to listen to him whenever he wants tem to, but can also remain
quiet and let them talk as long as they are in a constructive discus
sion.
The ideal classroom is one that allows the students to sit in the
configuration that best suits the needs of that particular teaching
situation. The students should be able to face each other across the
room, sit in a circular arrangement or to break into small work
groups witout disturbing each other. We sometimes forget that
most any classroom that will allow it can be arranged within a
matter of seconds, if all the students pitch in to help.
Concl usi on
1 24
Special classes should have a purpose. Both te teacher and the
student should know what tat purpose is. Tere should also be a
time limit set on reaching these objectives. If the class decides tat
tey want more instruction along certain lines not specified in the
original goals, then another goal should be set and anoter time
limt. The teachers should be selected wit awareness to whatever
special knowledge and talent is required to teach this particular
subject at this particular time to this particular goup of stu
dents. Te classroom should be conducive to learing, with te
students seeing each other as well as the teacher. Such an arrange
ment will allow the students to participate more fully in the leag
process.
1 . Group brainstorming exercise: List all of te special classes a
congegation migt have over a five year period. Don't stop to
NOTES
SPECI AL CLASSES
discuss any of them until the list has been exhausted. Now t to
arrive at a consensus of an order of importance of each of the
subjects. Ra them by groups, at least, that is, the top tird, middle
and bottom thirds.
2. Using the list above, check off those that this congegation has
had in the last five years. The list tat remains is the list of special
classes tat might be scheduled for the next few years. Now decide
who should attend tese classes : men, women, both, young
people, new converts, etc. Here you have a list of classes and the
people who should attend. Where do you go from here?
3. From the list of special classes you've made in Question 2, that
is, te list of courses tat still need to be run, determine how long
tey should be, and whether or not they would lend themselves to
weekends, concentrated sessions, Sunday afteroon sessions, week- 1 25
night sessions or after Sunday or Wednesday nigt regular
sessions. Te rule here is to put the concentrated ones as tose
that lend themselves to leag facts or concepts, rather than prac-
tice. Song leading would obviously be done over a longer period
than an overview of one book of the Bible.
4. Group brainstorming: Pck teachers from within te congega
tion who could teach part or all of these special classes. Draw from
men or women who have professional jobs or backgrounds, such as
school teachers, managers in industry; speech training, etc. Now
discuss the possibility of actually scheduling some of these
classes, with these people doing te teaching.
NOTES
Titus 2:3-
The aged women l i kewise, that they be in behaviour as
becometh hol i ness, not false accusers, not given to much
wi ne, teachers of good thi ngs; that they may teach
the young women to be sober, to love thei r husbands,
to love thei r chi l dren.
1 26
EPILOGUE
If you have made it tis far, ten you are to be congatulated. Ts
is at least a stong indication tat you have diligence, i
noting else. Digence is an important ingedient in becoming a
successful teacher. We hope you have leared a few tings. We feel
we should remind you tat no one becomes an expert at teaching
by te reading of a "how-to-do-it" book. Just as in leag
any skil, only practice ad perhaps a few mistaes wl lead to
te successful performance of tat skill. We t teaching is a skill
tat can be leaed, so we hope tat a few failures won't discourage
you in your quest for success. Not everyting we have suggested in
tis book wlwork for everyone, but all of it has worked for some
one. Hopefully much of it wlwork for you. Finally, tese admoni
tons:
1. Study te Bible well and often; tere is no place for a Bible
teacher -no matter how good -who doesn't know te subject.
2. Look to te Bible for gidance in teaching metods; inspired
men taugt inspired messages in inspired ways.
3. Don't ever stop trying to lea better ways of teaching; ask
yourself often, "Why a I teaching ts subject ths way at tis time
to t goup?"
May te Lord bless you in your efforts!
Te Authors
INDEX
Accountabilit, important to learg, 49
teachers have greater, 30
wt questions and answers, 5 1
Adult classes, advantage of teaching, 1 07-108
can be exciting, 107
disadvatages, 107, 10
improving, 1 13
solution to difficulty in teaching, 1 12
specic techniques for teaching, 1 141 1 5
Ambivalence, teenage, 9697
Apostles, guided by Holy Spirit, 9
Bible, clear and siple, 26
guide for how to teach, 9
inspired, 8
message of doesn't change, 25, 32
motivating. 26
teenagers' questions answered, 99
Bible stories, exciting, 27
Boys and grls, separation of, 93
Cse studies, effective wt early teenagers, 91
examples of:
teenagers, 55, 92
ten to twelves, 56
young adults, 55-56
motivates students, 54
1 27
Christian dut, is to teach, 45
Competition, not msused, 5 1
preteenagers le, 80
with teenagers, 90
Concepts, taugt to preschoolers, 66-68
Desire to teach, lack of, 1 5
reason for lack of, 1 5-16
Dorect Teacher Input System, 43
Disciple, at elementary age, 85
by unsked preschool teacher, 7 1
Discover System, 4
Early teenagers, competition still works with, 90
128
lecturing is out, 90
.. not belonging" years, 88
using sophistication with, 89
Elementar age, advantage of teaching, 79-80
disadvantage of teaching, 82-84
hig energ levels of, 80
Error, invading unawares, 32
taugt innocently, 34
Facilities, for preschool, 75
improper, 21
False teaching, corrected by Jesus, 1 3
corrected by Priscilla and Aquila, 1 3
Feedback, essential, 41
Furture, arrangement for preschool, 75
arrangements flexible, 123
Involvement, helps memor, 42
motivates, 40
necessary for learg, 39
sub-group activity gets, 48
teacher's responsibilit, 4
Involving students, in teenage class, 102
wit reports, 59
with questions and answers, 50
Jesus, teaching metods of, 1 0-1 1
teacher of teachers, I 0
Kowledge, lack of, 22
Leaing, motivates learg, 40
Lecturing, out with early teenagers, 90
Men's training class, death of, 1 20
Motivation, case studies, 54
Parents, lack of concer of, 21
Paul, teaching Felix, 1 2
Peter, getting audience response, 1 2
Play acting, in teaching Bible stories, 57
made simple, 57-58
Preschool students, attention span short in, 65
can lear, 65-66
get lasting impressions, 74
not just babies, 65
will oversimplify, 69
Preschool teaching, can teach concepts in, 66
frture arrangements in, 75
importance of first glimpses in, 67
should be kept simple, 73
students can lear, 66
with team-teaching, 72
Questions, involve students, 50
Jesus asked, 17
some afaid of, 17
teenagers ask, 99
used to teach, 5 1
Reports, goup, 59
idividual, 59
Role playing, interests students, 52
on what subjects? 53
Seating, arrangement flexible, 1 23
arangements in preschool classes, 75
ideal, 1 24
Senses, putting to work wit preschoolers, 68
1 29
130
Teacher, Input System, 43
Modification System, 4
setting examples, 3 1
sould be chosen carefully, 122
should prepare, 1 22
Teacher training, lack of good, 19
should teach someting, 1 21
Teaching, by the Teacher Modification System, 4
Ct dut to, 45
requres effort, 1 8
ssms, 45
techniques in adult classes, 1 14
Tea teaching, wit preschoolers, 72
Techniques, used by Jesus, 1 1
used i adult classes, 1 14
Teenagers, age of suspension, 96
challenge of teaching, 97
have some "child" in tem, 1 01
meeting needs of, 98-99
will work hard, 1 0
Testng, gves feedback, 58
Traig classes, men's, deat of, 1 20
should train, 1 21
Trut, has opposition, 33
mxed wit error, 33
Under-motvated students, dealing wt, 20

Success at Bible Teaching

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

Success at Bible Teaching

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

SUCCESS

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen