Christian Educating, II

MON., MAY 25, 1992, 7:08 AM
FARM, STUDY

Yes, o son, you heard Me correctly. The theme this morning is the answer to Selah as I continue with thoughts on educating in the Christian tradition and as a Christian person. Go back and read over the Ruminations on teaching, written some years back and then decide if you could have an update, based on these and other more recent Teachings.

I’ll pick up the last theme of the previous Teaching as the prime one to emphasize this morning… the atmosphere of a Christian learning situation. You, as teacher, must have a positive feeling both for the class and the subject, even the particular content of a lesson within a course. Obviously you can’t genuinely feel as enthusiastic about every lesson as you do about those that are your genuine favorites, so that’s where spirit is important. Spirit in the teacher communicates the importance of learning, even when the natural enthusiasm is not maximum.

Anther part of this atmosphere is the teacher’s feeling that every learner is a child of God and one worthy of time and attention. This is not always possible… to actually give time and attention to each one… when the class is large, but if you, as teacher, feel this “way” many learners will feel loved even though each doesn’t get individual attention. One key here, of course, is knowing each name early in the learning experience. You generally do this rather well, and, yes, one of the indications that it is “time to hang it up” as a teacher will be your unwillingness to exert yourself to learn every name, quite early in the class experience. A child of God has a name… and the Christian teacher should know it, for each.

One of the “arts” of teaching is correcting mistakes and misconceptions without demeaning the self-concept of a learner. Many young people (and older ones, as well) have too much of their self-esteem based in how they accomplish in any situation. Thus, if a learner presents an idea that truly is faulty the artful teacher can correct that in ways that don’t damage the learner’s self-image nor harm him in the eyes of fellow learners. This is almost pure art, deciding how much accuracy you can sacrifice for the good of the person.

Consider an “almost” example. When I as Jesus, intervened amongst the Jewish men who were ready to stone to death the woman caught in adultery (and, yes, I should have found out her name and called her by that) I was teaching several lessons. The one most often emphasized is that aimed at the men, a rather harsh one that only if you are without sin yourself can you be free to judge and execute another for sin. Their self-righteousness had to be reduced, justifying some harshness. The lesson for the woman, however, was not that adultery was an approved behavior, BUT that despite what she did she was a child of God, and one in such “status” will think too much of herself to sin again and again. Can this be learned in one lesson. Not always, but each situation is an opportunity. When your class spontaneously applauded each other for answers on the oral exam, even those whose answers were incomplete or insufficient they were showing forth this spirit… and you should have complemented them on this. An opportunity missed.

Despite the trouble involved, be sure and have this upcoming drug class prepare a meal at the final session. This is an important, active learning experience, one with real potential for modifying mood and behavior. And don’t be ashamed to bless the food. You’re old and secure enough to do that.