Effective Teaching

 

I.         The essence of teaching is the communication of ideas or experiences from one person to another

            A.        You need:

                        1.         A teacher - Romans 10:14-15

                        2.         A lesson to be taught - Titus 1:3

                        3.         A means of communication - I Timothy 4:11-12

                        4.         A student - Romans 10:17

                        5.         A means of verifying the lesson was learned - II Corinthians 12:19-21

II.        The teacher

            A.        Must know the lesson to be taught - Hebrews 5:12

                        1.         The teacher must know the lesson thoroughly and fully. He must be familiar with what is being taught and is clear about it in his own mind.

                        2.         Knowledge alone is not enough, there must be an understanding as well - Luke 1:3

            B.        Must encourage a desire to learn - Luke 24:32

                        1.         This requires gaining the attention of the student and retaining attention through interest

                        2.         Enthusiasm helps but is not enough

III.       The lesson

            A.        Start with what the student already knows - Acts 8:30-35

                        1.         This means discovering where the student is at in his experience

            B.        Add to it in single steps, simple and easy to understand - Luke 1:3; 24:27

            C.        There needs to be content to be expressed.

                        1.         Too often in religious classes feelings are substituted for meaty material

                        2.         Feelings are just sugars in a diet – a quick impact but no lasting good.

            D.        Keep the student thinking one step ahead of the lesson.

                        1.         The student needs to be able to anticipate where you are going.

                        2.         Then he is thinking and a part of the lesson

            E.        There must be an objective - Matthew 9:6; John 20:31

                        1.         Know what you want the student to remember when they leave

IV.      Communication

            A.        There has to be common language between the student and teacher - I Corinthians 14:9

                        1.         Words must be known by both student and teacher

                        2.         Both student and teacher use the same definitions

            B.        But there also needs to be common experiences to serve as illustrations - Matthew 13, Jesus’ parables

                        1.         The known illustrating the unknown

            C.        Teaching is actually using the student’s mind to understand the lesson and make it his own. - Luke 24:45

            D.        A lack of distraction - Proverbs 5:1

            E.        The power of repetition - Luke 24:44

V.        The student

            A.        Must attend to the lesson - Luke 11:10

VI.      Verification

            A.        Without some feed back, you cannot know if the lesson intended was actually grasped - Luke 2:46

            B.        It may be

                        1.         Review – restating the facts - Luke 1:1-4

                        2.         Rethinking - applying the lesson to new situations - John 12:16

                        3.         Applying - putting the lesson into personal practice - James 1:22-25

            C.        Review is a time to

                        1.         Deepen a student’s understanding

                        2.         Help find new applications

                        3.         Correct misunderstandings

                        4.         Reaffirm the correct understanding

Print Friendly, PDF & Email