Lessons from my 2010 Teaching Adventures

While we’ve made some major transitions and experienced some personal crises this past year, we have had some significant teaching adventures in various regions of Africa. As we approach midnight of the last night of this year, I paused to consider a few lessons I learned from this year’s teaching adventures.

1) Doing interactive teaching in three languages: We were privileged to do several workshops with leaders speaking English, French, and Portuguese. There was an amazing buzz as individuals did simultaneous translation with small groups of listeners while we taught in English. For discussions we broke learners into groups by language so they could process and scribe discoveries in their heart language. It was difficult to have all the charts and task assignments translated and written out in three languages before teaching. Facilitating group feedback through interpretation was also complicated. Interactive teaching in three languages – challenging! The impact? Awesome!

2) Facilitating workshops with my husband: I found how difficult it is to “lead” in the classroom when your assistant is your own husband. No matter how gracious you are in taking the reins back, it can look like you are running over your husband’s authority(a cultural taboo in Africa)! I also discovered how challenging it was to follow my husband’s lead when he was in charge mostly because I misread his intentions. I tried to take an assistant’s position and simply scribe group responses for him, while he was waiting for me to participate in some of the discussions from the front! Alertness to body language, clearly defined roles and agreed upon cues are vital in working together successfully.

3) Teaching member care skills in the African context. We shifted the focus of our member care training to the developing of specific skills that we wanted students to be able use when returning to their fields of service. That focus required that we incorporate lots of practice time into our daily schedule and eliminate some of the up-front teaching!

I found the most successful sessions were those in which we broke skills down into small stages of teaching and practice, teaching and practice. By the end of those sessions, students were quite comfortable in completing all of the steps. And the most important factor for most of our African students was the role plays in which facilitators demonstrated various skills such as confronting, debriefing, re-entry briefing, and grief briefing. The visual presentation enabled them to “see” how to do the skill and recall the mini-drama.

Most of the lessons I learned this year were out of teaching adventures that stretched us way beyond comfort level and into unchartered territory. To keep learning, I’m looking out for more teaching adventures and gearing up for more risk-taking. Meanwhile, I keep learning at the feet of the Master Teacher.

The Price of Teaching Like Jesus

I am fascinated in my studies of the teaching methods Jesus used in his ministry. When I’m making notes for myself from my study I am also writing out the requirements for teaching like Jesus. It’s sinking in that I can’t easily imitate Jesus’ style or methods using what I learn in books. The real secret to much of his success was in his consistent practices and disciplines. For example, he always seemed to be one step ahead of his listeners. He seemed to know what issue a person was going to shout out to him, what tricky questions a scribe would be asking or even what the disciples would be arguing about! And he was ready with a perfect story, parable or wise answer. He apparently was prepared in his time alone with the Father. I cannot possibly replicate that without an intimate prayer life like Jesus.

It’s relatively easy to gather resources and scan websites to prepare a teaching outline. It can be tough to create compelling learning activities for students. It is much more difficult to prepare my heart for teaching and down right challenging to prepare my life. I can’t do that in two days or even two weeks! And yet that prepared life is exactly what set Jesus apart from the prominent teachers of the law. When Jesus taught he was already living out his message publicly before crowds of enthusiasts and criticizers. When he taught about meekness, his audience just had to watch him to know what it looked like. When he taught to bless those who curse the disciples just had to listen to Jesus as they walked along the road to see how to bless opponents.

I’ve spent years practicing teaching preparation and implementation of creative learning activities, but if I really long to be a teacher like Jesus, I have some serious homework to do. I need to take an honest look at how consistently I am applying what I long to teach. Could my students learn from my life what they need to know for application? Does my prayer life prepare me for the surprises of teaching? And do my attitudes model godly responses I long for in my students. A prepared life can only be honed by moment by moment submitting to the Holy Spirit. And that “homework” can’t be completed in one night. It requires a lifetime of yielding. So, for me it’s not about whether or not I want to teach like Jesus. It’s more about whether I’m willing to pay the same price to teach like him, and to pay it daily.

The Rest of Teaching

As I’ve been preparing for our upcoming course I’ve been occasionally niggled by fears. What if this is not the right format? Maybe I’m trying to teach too many skills? Will my students really apply what they are learning? And then I began thinking about Jesus who taught day after day. Was he worried about whether or not people would get what he was teaching? I don’t think so. I believe he obediently communicated what the Father gave him to teach and in the way he was directed to give it. And he rested.

Jesus rested on several things. He rested on the Father’s ongoing work in people’s hearts. He clearly told his disciples “No man can come unto the Father unless the Father draw him. (Jn 6:65)” After all, Jesus was working together as a team with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He also rested on his hearers’ responsibility for responding to what they heard and saw. Jesus repeatedly emphasized to the disciples that they be good stewards of what they heard (Mtt7:24-27; 5:6, Lk 11:28, Jn 13:17). Jesus knew clearly where his responsibility ended. He was comfortable in leaving the rest up to God and to his learners.

In the parable of the sower I am reminded that Jesus was fully aware of the potential obstacles to his listeners’ application of the teaching – the daily concerns of life, the enemy’s snatching strategies, and superficial acceptance of truth. While he fulfilled his responsibility to teach God’s Word, he was aware that active believing response to his teaching was not guaranteed. I am reminded that there are so many more factors contributing to successful teaching than just the “what and how” of what I teach. I can only be responsible for my part in the content and delivery methods of teaching and can leave the rest to my learners and to God’s faithful commitment to their growth. Ah… peace!

Pouring Water on Saturated Sponges

I have recently heard some teachers who involved their listeners with dialogue. Dialogue is great in the learning setting because it informs us as teacher as to whether or not we are on target. In the situations I observed, it became obvious that the listeners knew just about everything before the teacher spoke. I wondered what the teacher up front had to add to their students’ knowledge, and I also wondered if the listeners ought to be teaching someone somewhere rather than sitting like saturated sponges!

Jesus came to a generation that “knew everything,” or at least everything that the teachers of the Law could give them. But Jesus astonished the listeners by moving them deeper than their saturated knowledge level to the dry bed of their hearts. He began to challenge their attitudes and life motivations. He began to challenge their current view of God and their understanding of God’s expectations. Jesus recognized their gap and stepped in. What is the gap that today’s teachers face in their learners? Is it a knowledge gap or is it really an application gap? Maybe there is an ocean-width gap between what believers know and their daily attitudes or choices. Or maybe there is an understanding gap that leaves listeners helpless to respond biblically to ethical dilemmas. Teachers are sent by God to address issues He sees, not just dispense knowledge or insight they have received.

As a teacher I am challenged to prayerfully consider what gaps God sees in my learners’ lives and what gaps he wants me to address, challenge, confront, or nudge. I seriously need his perspective or I will be inclined to pour water on saturated sponges. But, I also need to pause on a personal note. There are times I am prone to fill my head with knowledge while my heart remains as dry as a desert. I need to invite God’s Spirit to take his Word deeply into the recesses of my life motivations and to challenge my underlying belief system and attitudes. May I never be a saturated sponge. I want his Word to soak into every crevice of my soul and produce life-fruit that pleases Him.

Weight of Teaching – Transformational Teaching

I love learning and I love teaching. One of my teaching maxims is “learning should be fun.” However, I was caught short today as I finished off my examination of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’ summary was all about the long term results if his audience listened to and applied his teaching. In his characteristic style he used a vivid word picture to illustrate. While I had a fresh appreciation for his stunning word picture, what caught me short was the weight he attributed to his words and their application! Those applying his words would be wise and stand firm in the wildest of storms. Those ignoring his words would be foolish and in danger of great collapse.

Do I hear the impending raging winds and battering rain while I am teaching? Am I aware of the weight of responsibility that rests on me as a teacher of God’s Word as I deliver his life-saving instructions? And do I communicate so faithfully that the listeners know and understand that they have now received teaching that has the potential of bulwarking their lives and families against the storms that are surely coming?

As a teacher, its not just about preparing teaching that is fun or unique, but about preparing responsibly so that listeners hear the teaching, go away talking about it, are challenged to respond in some way to the teaching, and begin to make some changes in the way they are building their life-house for the future. Now that is transformational teaching!