Whether or not seminary professors think it is a good idea, pastors and their spouses often teach Sabbath school classes. As in the case of their lay counterparts, they are not usually trained teachers but must develop the art of effective teaching as they go along. Besides becoming better teachers themselves, pastors and their spouses need to develop this skill so that they can help the bank tellers, accountants, mechanics, and secretaries in their churches who are struggling to find the most effective means of presenting the weekly lesson.
Whether your students are cradle rollers or senior citizens, new members or third-generation Adventists, they learn in the same ways: they take in new information by way of the five senses (hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching) and process that information; they find new applications for previously learned information; they develop insight; and they increase awareness.
General principles
How can you as a Sabbath school teacher facilitate learning? By applying the following general principles, you can improve your teaching and encourage your students to learn more.
1. Create in the students a need to know. Begin the class with an interesting example, a rhetorical question, a quotation, a direct question, a visual aid—anything to capture attention and arouse curiosity.
2. Make your information relevant. Show how biblical principles apply to our lives today.
3. Organize your material ahead of time. You may want to follow the lesson plan outlined in the teacher's guide or you may -make a new plan of your own. The important thing is to have a plan and follow it!
4. Repeat important points and give them emotional impact by using examples and illustrations. This will help to fix the ideas in the students' memories.
5. Don't overload your students. Remember that most of us can comfortably handle only five to nine "bits" of information at a time.
6. Use visual aids. For both adults and children, visual aids can create interest, direct attention, bring understanding, and imprint lessons on the memory. Visual aids include posters, pictures, maps and charts, flannel board figures, chalkboard, overhead projector, slides, and actual objects.
When using visual aids, keep these five points in mind:
• Make sure everyone in the class can see the aid. Be sure it is large enough to show up in the back of the class, and don't stand in front of it.
• Talk about the visual aid while you are showing it.
• Talk to the class—not to the aid.
• Don't overuse visual aids. They are a form of emphasis, but if you try to emphasize too many things, you will end up emphasizing nothing at all.
• Be careful about passing objects around. People will not be listening to you while they are handling an object. And the attention of the others in the class may be directed to wondering why the object is taking so long to get to them. Any time you put something in your students' hands, you are risking the loss of their attention.
7. Look at the room! Several studies have been conducted recently on the effects of environment on education. These studies have shown that the physical environment has little effect on student achievement but may have considerable effect on behavior and attitude.
Each time my husband has assumed a new pastorate, I have spent the first few Sabbaths visiting the various children's departments, getting acquainted with the children and leaders. In one church I found a children's department where attendance was irregular and the kids were rowdy. I felt there were several reasons for this, and one of them was the room itself. It was ugly and cluttered. The walls were a dull green. The felt board was slouching against the wall, the figures carelessly thrown upon it from week to week. The pictures and other visual aids used in that department were scattered haphazardly about the room.
I was asked to lead out in that department the next year. The first thing I did was to paint the room. Then I attached a felt board to one wall with blue felt (sky) on the top and green (grass) on the bottom, so that scenes could be changed from quarter to quarter. I placed another felt board on an easel in the front of the room, to be used for teaching the lesson, telling a story, or illustrating the theme. I put up some other decorations according to the season and organized all visual aids and other materials in order of use.
The first Sabbath the children came into the revived room, they seemed to sense a difference in atmosphere that went beyond just the obvious visual changes. The room was just more inviting and interesting. The kids' behavior improved 100 percent, and attendance became more regular.
An unattractive classroom may well diminish the effectiveness of your teaching.
8. Use other sources to enrich your knowledge of the subject you are teaching. "The Lord's servant must... be ...able to teach" (2 Tim. 2:24, NIV). Sourcebooks, such as Bible dictionaries, concordances, various translations, Bible handbooks describing life and customs in Bible lands and times, maps, and commentaries, will help you to expand the lesson by providing information, encouraging discussion, and stimulating thinking.
Two basic formats
There are two basic formats for Sabbath school classes: the lecture and the discussion. Neither is right or wrong. Either one can be effective and successful, or ineffective and boring. What makes the difference? The teacher! If your personal style lends itself more comfortably to the lecture method, you will probably have trouble trying to lead a discussion. By the same token, if you yourself get bored stiff listening to a lecture but enjoy a good discussion, then the discussion is the method for you.
The lecture
Lecturing is, essentially, informative speaking. The major advantage of the lecture method is that you can give a large amount of information to a large number of people in a short amount of time. As compared with the discussion approach, when lecturing, the teacher retains a greater amount of control of the class.
The major disadvantage of the lecture method is that the class members may not feel involved and so may lose interest. But if you are enthusiastic about the lesson, your enthusiasm will show in your delivery—and an animated, enthusiastic delivery will capture and hold the attention of your students. Here are some important principles of good delivery:
1. Know your material. The teacher who stands before his class on Sabbath morning and says "I didn't have time to study the lesson this week" is sunk before he begins. Emergencies do happen. Maybe you were sick with the flu all week and couldn't study. In that case, try to find someone to teach for you. It really is vital, especially with the lecture method, that the teacher know the lesson material thoroughly. Do a general study early in the week, then begin to dig deeper into specific areas. Learn more about the topic from Bible commentaries and the Spirit of Prophecy books. Check a Bible dictionary and maps for background material. Jot down important points and quotations.
2. Communicate! Talk with your students, not at them. Be direct and conversational. Look at the class members while you are talking. Be enthusiastic!
3. Practice. When you are first beginning to teach, you should practice your delivery out loud. If possible, go to the church during the week, taking a friend with you. Practice presenting the lesson to your friend in the room where you will teach on Sabbath morning. Your friend can give you valuable feedback on your delivery. Are you speaking loudly enough? Are your gestures appropriate, or do they appear forced? Are your ideas clear? Are you trying to present too much?
4. Conclude. Too many teachers end their lessons with the lines "Oh, there's the last bell. We're out of time and we didn't get through the lesson again this week!" This kind of conclusion leaves the class members with a feeling of unfinished business. If you are going to use the lecture method, be sure that you practice during the week with an eye on the clock. You know how much time you have for the lesson study. One of the advantages of the lecture method of teaching is that it can be timed. A discussion may get off the topic and as a result not cover all the material, but there is no reason for a lecture to do so.
It is a good idea to briefly summarize the lesson in your conclusion. Repeating the main points will help to fix them in the memory. Referring back to your introduction will help tie the lesson together. Including a quotation or example in your conclusion will give it greater impact.
The discussion
The major advantage of the discussion method is the interaction between teacher and class members that it provides. As students bring up points that they have found in individual lesson study, they generate more ideas. Class members are able to help each other by providing examples of the way biblical principles have been applied in their own lives.
The class provides a safe, supportive, encouraging atmosphere for individual members to raise questions, express doubts, or relate personal problems regarding which other members may be able to stimulate new insight, hope, and courage. In a discussion students gain skill in expressing their own ideas and feelings clearly, and in evaluating the ideas of others.
The disadvantages of the discussion method are that it is time-consuming, the discussion may easily become sidetracked, and the teacher does not retain as much control as in the lecture method.
The discussion leader is more a learning facilitator than a teacher. His or her task is not so much to dispense information as it is to participate in the learning process, generating growth for teacher and students alike. However, a good discussion doesn't just happen! Effective discussion skills must be learned and practiced—simply asking the questions found in the lesson quarterly will not suffice. The successful discussion leader studies the lesson thoroughly during the week and plans the discussion with the lesson's major points in mind. The type of questions he or she asks will, in a large measure, determine the students' responses.
There are two basic types of questions. Convergent questions call for facts and memorized answers. These are questions for which the teacher has preconceived answers. Primary-and junior-aged children love convergent questions in the form of quizzes. If you use the lecture method of presentation, you may want to ask some convergent questions on the previous week's topic to reinforce the principles already presented.
Divergent questions are those in which the answers depend on the student's information and imagination. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. They go beyond the simple recall of facts to relating, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, or evaluating information and to creating new information. Divergent questions challenge students to think beyond the level of the cognitive memory.
To improve your questioning skills:
1. Be willing to spend the time and effort necessary to develop this important skill.
2. Plan your major questions. This will help keep the class progressing systematically and will guard against too much sidetracking.
3. Have a clear purpose in mind for each question. Why are you asking the question? What response do you expect?
4. Allow time for your students to answer! And don't answer your own questions. Some teachers are so uncomfortable with silence that they jump into the pause and answer their questions without giving their students time to think. Remember, your class members are as uncomfortable with silence as you are. If you don't get in a hurry to talk, someone else will break the silence. And isn't your goal to get your students talking?
5. Know your subject matter so well that you can direct your energies to keeping the discussion flowing smoothly and adapting to student comments and questions.
6. Build on contributions. Use the answers and comments of class members to form more questions and draw out more ideas.
7. Encourage students to comment on each other's answers and ask one another questions.
8. Reflect questions directed to you back to the class. You might say, "That's an interesting question. Does anyone else have an idea on that?"
9. Don't stifle discussion by criticizing or ignoring a member's response or by interrupting a student's comment.
10. If at all possible, have members sit in a circle or semicircle. These arrangements encourage participation.
Handling conflict in the class
How do you handle the unruly child or the cantankerous adult?
A child's misbehavior may stem from several sources. Perhaps he has a short attention span; he may be tired or hungry; he may be hungry for adult attention, even negative attention; or he may feel he has to show off to be accepted by his peers.
Be sure that your presentation is interesting and your delivery enthusiastic. Try to involve your problem child. Speak to him directly and by name. It is a principle of human nature that each of us loves the sound of our own name! Ask an adult helper to hold a small child on her lap or to sit next to an older child. Ask the child to "help" you teach the lesson by putting up a felt figure or handing you materials. Try to become the child's friend outside of class. Be firm in insisting that the child not interrupt and disturb others, but do not attempt to embarrass or shame the child into cooperating.
If all else fails, speak privately to the child's parents or to the adult who is bringing the child to Sabbath school. It may be that mom or dad will need to visit your class for a few Sabbaths. Be cautious about involving parents, though—sometimes the parent is more of a problem than the child and will be too strict or too lenient or may even interrupt your class more than the child does. More important, pray for your problem child! Ask the Lord to give you an accepting rather than a rejecting attitude, even for the child that you may not like. Remember that the children in your class will learn much more from the kind of person you are than from anything that you say.
The teacher of an adult class is likely to encounter some problem people too. First of all, ask yourself what it is about this person that bothers you. Does he always bring up controversial subjects? If this is the case, remember that controversy is not necessarily bad. The founders of our church were often engaged in controversy with each other. Out of their conflict came greater understanding and a unity of purpose. Some people experience the most spiritual growth when they participate in a stimulating discussion, batting around controversial ideas. I wish that every church could have one Sabbath school class led by a teacher who did not feel threatened by disagreement for people who are oriented to a lively discussion.
Sometimes, though, such a class can become so argumentative that nothing is gained and the ultimate result is division. It takes a strong leader to pull a class together when it begins to fragment. The teacher needs to plan questions and responses that cool the fire and to remind the members that they are part of one family with one aim—to know Jesus better. It may be necessary to break the class up, assigning the members to different classes—though, if adults refuse to change classes, you certainly can't force them. You can, however, appeal to some members to support a new teacher by joining the new class.
Your problem may not be a whole class but just one person who is negative and divisive. In this case, as with the unruly child, remember that your attitude toward your problem person will have a great impact on your class members. They are looking to you to see how you will handle the situation. If you are uncomfortable, they will also be uncomfortable. You cannot let the dissenter take over your class, but neither can you be unkind. As a teacher, you are a role model for your class. Christians never have the right to publicly criticize, shame, or embarrass anyone! A tough situation? Absolutely. But the Lord has promised, "I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say" (Ex. 4:12).
You may want to say something like "We cannot take classtime to discuss these things now, but if you will meet me after class, we can set up a time when we can get together and talk some more." Try inviting your talkative friend to your house some evening. You have the advantage and can control the conversation better when you are on your own home territory. Serve some refreshments to keep the visit friendly. It may be that what your problem person needs most is simply a friend, someone to whom he can express his feelings and ideas.
Learning by observation
One of the best ways to improve your own teaching is to observe other good teachers. Every once in a while, ask your substitute to fill in for you while you visit another class in your own church or another church.
Dave is one of the best teachers I know. His profession is repairing computers. Dave has an analytical mind, and, I must confess, I really wondered what kind of teacher he would make when he accepted the position—but in six months his class became the largest in the church. Dave's class attracts the person who wants to participate in a lively discussion rather than the member who wants to listen to a lecture.
In analyzing Dave's teaching, I have looked at both his verbal and nonverbal characteristics. His class members differ widely demographically—age, occupation, education—and, to a degree, differ in theological viewpoint from conservative to liberal. Whether the feelings they express are positive or negative, Dave accepts them without putting anyone down. He encourages class members to talk and uses humor to release tension when the discussion is in danger of becoming too heated.
Dave uses paraphrasing (repeats the idea in his own words) to clarify ideas expressed by members and doesn't tell anyone that he is "wrong," though he may not agree with what the person says. He expresses his own ideas and uses questions to draw out quieter members. He gives directions—"John, would you please read ___?" In his class, student response is high—with members often initiating discussion—but no one member monopolizes.
I was interested to see how Dave would handle the class one Sabbath when a visitor tried to take over the discussion. Whenever this man wanted to speak, Dave acknowledged him politely, and listened, but cut him off before he could monopolize. By both verbal and nonverbal means (turning his body, movement of eyes, gestures) he controlled the flow of conversation. Everyone who wanted to speak had the opportunity and, while discussion got a little heated at one point, the class ended on a positive note.
Find a teacher whom you really admire, a teacher who inspires you, a teacher whose style is similar to your own. Analyze what he or she is doing, verbally and nonverbally, as I did in describing Dave. Then see which of that teacher's techniques you can use in your own teaching.
So, teacher, study, dig, prepare, practice, pray, and "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach" (Col. 3:16, NIV).
