Create a Learning Environment

Here's a YAC (Yet Another Column) decrying teaching methods in Sunday School classes, and advocating more electronics, less lecture.

I partially agree.

I agree that dumping kids into rows of chairs and Blah-Blah-Blah lecture isn't going to help them learning. But it's not because the lecture method can't be effective, per se. You can bore them to tears with PowerPoint, too. (All of what I'm saying is true for adults as well.)

Learning -- which I think of as the transfer of information that changes the way we think and behave -- requires that you have an engaged brain. If your brain isn't engaged in the material, you aren't learning from the presentation of the information.

Now you can influence learning (brain engagement) by how you set up a room, how you present information, how much individual interaction happens, etc. -- and you should make every effort to do these things better and better. But it's not enough.

So what's required?

First, prayer. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing. This is spiritual work, and all spiritual work must begin and be sustained and completed in prayer. Pray for open minds, open eyes, open hearts. Without this spiritual openness, the best you can do is entertain or annoy people.

Second, passion. "A student will be like his teacher." Love Jesus, love His Word, and this passion will engage people.

Third, relevance. You cannot engage a person's mind unless he/she perceives this information is relevant to their lives somehow.

Eestablish these three things, and even weak teaching methods and presentation can still lead to life-changing learning.

If you are interested in learning more, including the practical how-to aspects of teaching the Bible, check out www.teachtochangelives.com .