Teachers as Learners
Wise people are learners. That is especially true for teachers.
Read Proverbs 1:5 and explain that in his prologue to the Parables, Solomon tells us that they are important for gaining wisdom. Lead the group in prayer, asking God to guide them and give them the wisdom to listen and learn.
Begin with a group activity. Divide the staff into groups of three. Ask them to review the past year and identify three significant things they personally have learned during that time. These should be things they did not know before and those that have made an impact in their lives. The information they have learned may come from any area of life.
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Using a transparency entitled “Things We Have Learned in the Last Year,” record their responses. When you have completed listing, ask: “What does this list teach us?” (It should teach us how much we are learning continually and how much learning goes on around us.)
An alternate activity would be to divide the class into groups of three and pass out the front section of the local newspaper. Give them time to read through it and list those things they did not previously know. Allow each group to share its list as you record on the transparency.
Learning and teaching are inseparably united. No one can teach properly unless he has learned something and is continuing to learn. Through learning we prepare ourselves to serve others by teaching them, in turn, to prepare themselves to serve others. That is a biblical pattern of discipleship.
The Bible describes teachers as gifts God has given to the church. They serve by discipling learners toward Christian maturity.
Teaching is a wonderful gift of servanthood. But what is the reservoir out of which the teacher draws the refreshing water of knowledge? What qualifies an individual to become a teacher? It is his or her own growth and maturity in Christ. That resource out of which a teacher draws is what he or she has learned and is learning.
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Use the groups you previously assigned and ask them to consider the following question and list several responses to it. “Why must a teacher constantly be learning?” Give them a few minutes to answer and ask for some responses.
Using the transparency previously prepared, suggest that teachers must be learners for three reasons (listed on the transparency):
1. Information changes. Few of us would have imagined 20 years ago a day when home computers would be in millions of houses, bringing to individual families some of the most sophisticated knowledge in the world. Doctors are learning things today that will make genetic surgery possible in just a few years. This will revolutionize the treatment of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and a myriad of other medical problems.
New and changing information creates learning that creates change and growth for the good.
Certainly we recognize that the truth of God's Word never changes. It, like He, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But our finite understanding is limited. We continually learn more about God’s changeless truth through archaeological and linguistic discoveries that enable us to understand and apply His eternal truths better . That thought brings us to the second reason why teachers must be constantly learning.
2. People change. From infancy to childhood to adolescence to adulthood, people are constantly changing. With each passage in life, people’s understanding and abilities change. As children we thought very concretely. By the time we reached adulthood, most of our thinking was abstract. Adults are more attuned to concepts than facts.
Adults go through passages from young adults to middle age to senior citizens, and they change with each transition. And, at each juncture, people must learn new things. For example, new parents have to learn what it means to rear a child. A man at midlife might have to relearn some things about the value of work and the meaning of his life. The older adult may need to find there is life beyond a career.
God has made us to be learners. It is innate within us. We learn for a reason. Ask: “What is the purpose of learning?” Give an opportunity for several people to respond to the question. Use the question and their responses to introduce the third reason teachers must be learners.
3. Relevance demands it. The great necessity of learning is so we can function successfully in life. We are born totally dependent. As we grow, we learn to do things for ourselves, so that we are not so dependent upon others. We learn and become productive.
Spiritually, we grow to become strong in Christ and to be useful in His service. We learn that we might apply what we gained for the purpose of improving our lives. Ask the staff to turn to 2 Timothy 2:15. Paul tells Timothy to study, but for what reason? In study we learn those things that cause God’s approval to fall upon us. We learn how to handle the Word of God properly so that we may teach it and apply it correctly. In a general way we learn so our lives will continually please God. Simply, we are fulfilling God’s will as we are continually learning.
To summarize these three reasons, we see that information changes, and people change. To teach people in the midst of their changing, the instructor must also learn and adjust in order to be relevant. The truth of God never changes, but the method of teaching that truth may change to meet the demands of the changes taking place in people and information. We learn to make adjustments that facilitate the gospel and guarantee relevance.
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Use the next transparency to present this question to the staff:
“What are the primary areas in which a Sunday school teacher must continually be learning?”
There are four areas in which constant learning is a necessity.
They are:
Biblical knowledge. No one ever learns all there is to know in the Bible. Our doctrine of illumination affirms that the Holy Spirit can make a passage understandable to us at a certain time even though we may have read it many times before. Our lives should be a lifelong journey of discovery in God's Word. A sure way to dry up and become useless to Christ is to neglect the Bible. Relevant teaching flows out of an individual who is a diligent student of the Word, constantly applying what he has learned.
Knowledge about the students. A good teacher will want to understand the students as well as possible in order to teach in the most effective way. A teacher must learn about age-level differences and abilities. A good teacher will want to learn about the individual student. He or she will want to understand something about the student's home life and intellectual ability. Then, that teacher will want to teach so that each student can comprehend. That teaching will be based upon what the teacher has learned about his students.
Knowledge about ourselves. As mentioned earlier, everyone is always changing — even teachers. We need to be in tune with ourselves, understanding our strengths and weaknesses and how they impact the teaching process. It is difficult to teach Christian principles that we are not personally applying.
So, the teacher must honestly evaluate his or her life. Honest evaluation helps a teacher to instruct others from a position of strength.
Knowledge of effective methods. God wants His teachers to teach well. Good teachers are exciting and motivational. They inspire by their personal enthusiasm and ability to guide others into learning for themselves. Good Christian teachers should be well versed in effective teaching methods, specifically designed to meet the needs of their particular students.
If there is no desire to grow in this area, the teacher must examine himself to find out why he is unwilling to learn. If we are to please God by being continual learners, then it must include learning how to teach the students most effectively, using the best methods and strategies.
God wants His teacher-gifts to His church to be exciting and dynamic. He has given us His Word and His Spirit to help us become effective. However, it is up to us to decide to keep learning. It is a matter of our will.
