THE LAW OF EDUCATION

Pages 38-53

“The true function of the teacher is to create the most favourable conditions for self-learning...True teaching is not that which gives knowledge, but that which stimulates pupils to gain it. One might say that he teaches best who teaches least.”

John Milton Gregory

Effective teachers:•Know their content•Know those whom they teach•They do not simply inculcate principles•They want to infect people

Effective teachers:•Know their content•Know those whom they teach•They do not simply inculcate principles•They want to infect people

•inculcate |inˈkəlˌkāt; ˈinkəl-|•verb•instill (an attitude, idea, or habit) by persistent instruction•• teach (someone) an attitude, idea, or habit by such instruction

Effective teachers:•Know their content•Know those whom they teach•They do not simply inculcate principles•They want to infect people

The Law of EducationThe way people learn

determines the way you teach

John Milton Gregory called this The Law of the Teaching Process

The key idea is to stimulate and direct the learners self activities

TOTAL SILENCE IS REQUIRED!

This is a nonverbal exercise - You must communicate without words or sounds (no lip-reading, notes etc. are allowed). The group is to form a single straight line, according to birthdays.January birthdays will be at the beginning of the line, earliest dates first followed in order by later dates. December birthdays will be at the end of the line.When the line is completed, each person will shout out his/her birthday, beginning in January.

BIRTHDAY LINE

Alice, Brian, Carol and David have to cross a bridge in 17 minutes. The bridge will collapse if there are more than two people on it at the same time. It is dark and it is too impossible to cross the bridge without a torch. There is only one torch.

CROSSING THE BRIDGE

Alice can cross the bridge in 1 minute. The others are wounded or injured to varying degrees which means that it takes:Brian 2 minutes to cross the bridge;Carol 5 minutes to cross the bridge;David 10 minutes to cross the bridge.If there is more than one person on the bridge, the bridge can only be crossed at the speed of the slowest person. How can they cross the bridge in 17 minutes?

Alice(1 min) and Brian(2 min) cross the bridge.Alice(1 min) takes the torch back to the other side.Carol(5 min) and David(10 min) cross the bridge.Brian(2 min) takes the torch back to the other sideAlice(1 min) and Brian(2 min) cross the bridge.

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The Law of EducationThe way people learn

determines the way you teach

Hendricks further defines the law in this way:

“The teacher must excite and direct the learner’s self-activities, and, as a rule, tell the learner nothing - and do nothing for him - that he can learn or do for himself. Therefore, what’s important is not what you do as a teacher, but what learners do as a result of what you do.”

The teacher: primarily a stimulator and motivator...not the player but the coach who directs the players

The learner: primarily a investigator a discoverer and a doer

The Ultimate Test of teaching is not what you do or how well you do it, but what and how well the learner does.

Good teachers are not focussed on what they are doing, but what their students are doing.

Plato said,

“What is honoured in a country is cultivated there”

Plato said,

“What is honoured in a country is cultivated there”

What do you honour - or want to - in those you teach? Do you just look for right answers and repeated truths?What impresses you in a student (or a person in general)?Knowledge, wisdom, understanding, application?

“Many people who have never sat in a inside a college classroom are brilliantly educated. They are men and women of wisdom, and they have received - and are receiving - an education. They may not know everything, but what they know they live - and God is using them as his instruments to accomplish his purposes”

Hendricks (page 40-41)

Abraham Maslow pointed out 4 levels of learning (though he is best known for his hierarchy of needs);

THE TENSION

The learners beginning point - everyone starts here - unconscious incompetence - you are ignorant and you don’t know it

The next level - conscious incompetence - you know you don’t know. How do you find out? Someone tells you, or you find out.

The next level - conscious Competence - you have learned something, and are consciously aware of it as you do it - e.g. When you have learned to drive a car

The final level -unconscious competence - you are so competent you don’t have to think about it any more. Much of the time you can spend thinking about something else

The art of teaching - and the difficulty of learning - is getting people to place themselves at the beginning of this cycle so that they can start the learning process.This is not easy -for the teacher or the studentWithout this tension there is no development, no learning, no growth.

Too much tension leads to...

Frustration, anxiety, stress

Too little tension leads to...

Too little tension leads to...

Too little tension leads to...

Too little tension leads to...

So God periodically comes in and disturbs things - in order to develop us

If it was good enough for Jesus...it will be good enough for us

During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered

Hebrews 5:7-8

Do you let people in your class feel comfortable?

Do you disturb them so that they realise...I’ve got to study God’s word more and think more; I’ve got to try this out in real life

What are the advantages and disadvantages of both styles - when would each be most appropriate / inappropriate?

ROLE PLAYIn 2‘s - Role play:A skit about Jonah

A pastoral visit to a dying personAn argument between husband and wife

Presenting the Gospel to a difficult, non-believerOr another scenario of your choice

Hendricks tell the story of getting up to preach, going into the pulpit and finding a sign facing him,“What in the world are you

trying to do to these people?”

WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?

Hendricks tell the story of getting up to preach, going into the pulpit and finding a sign facing him,“What in the world are you

trying to do to these people?”

WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?

When asked about it the pastor said,“Hendricks, I’ve been preaching for 12 years without an objective, and it finally dawned on me one day that if I didn’t know what I was doing, there was a good possibility they didn’t know what they were supposed to do. So I’ve started coming into the pulpit with clear objectives.”

Hendricks tell the story of getting up to preach, going into the pulpit and finding a sign facing him,“What in the world are you

trying to do to these people?”

WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?

When asked about it the pastor said,“Hendricks, I’ve been preaching for 12 years without an objective, and it finally dawned on me one day that if I didn’t know what I was doing, there was a good possibility they didn’t know what they were supposed to do. So I’ve started coming into the pulpit with clear objectives.”

Do you have clear cut objectives for teaching?

Do you know how to give a true education?

If you want a person to permanently change you have to change their thinking - not merely their behaviour.They have to understand why they made the change - if not change will be superficial and short lived.Parable of the sower - what is the major variable?

GOAL 1 - TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO THINK

If you want a person to permanently change you have to change their thinking - not merely their behaviour.They have to understand why they made the change - if not change will be superficial and short lived.Parable of the sower - what is the major variable?

GOAL 1 - TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO THINK

Your task as a teacher is to stretch the human mind - which like an elastic band once stretched never quite returns to its original form.Warning: There is no danger of overuse of a brain

In the Hospital the relatives gathered in the waiting room, where their family member lay gravely ill. Finally, the doctor came in looking tired and somber.I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news," he said as he surveyed the worried faces. "The only hope left for your loved one at this time is a brain transplant. It's an experimental procedure, semi-risky and you will have to pay for the brain yourselves."

The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news. After a great length of time, someone asked, "Well, how much does a brain cost?"The doctor quickly responded, "$20,000 for a Baptist brain, and $200 for a Pentecostal brain."A man, unable to control his curiosity, blurted out the question everyone wanted to ask, "Why is the Baptist brain so much more?"

The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and so to the entire group said, "It's just standard pricing procedure. We have to mark down the price of the Pentecostal brains, because they've been used."

As a teacher don’t simply rearrange students existing ideas - or prejudicesPlant seeds - let them germinate - and bear fruit (who knows what form the fruit will take!?)Often students are impacted by things you think are ‘nothing’

PLANT SEEDS

Remember if you want to teach your students to think - you must be able (know how) to think for yourself

[Jesus]...answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

Luke 10:27

Create learners who will perpetuate the learning process for the rest of their lives.Learning is a process - it goes on all the time“Every moment you live you learn; as you learn, you live. Stop learning today, and you stop living tomorrow.”

Hendricks p.45

GOAL 2 - TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO LEARN

“Often in churches the people who most need to learn are those who seldom try”

Hendricks p.45

Learning should be a logical process - ideally with 3 steps;It goes from the whole - to the part - back to the wholeThis is called synthesissynthesis |ˈsinθəsis|combination or composition, in particular the combination of ideas to form a theory or system : the synthesis of intellect and emotion in his work | the ideology represented a synthesis of certain ideas.

Synthesis moves from the big picture to an analysis of the parts - breaking them down, seeing their meaning in the light of the whole - to putting them back together so everyone walks out the door thinking, Now I understand it and can use itTo get people involved in the process of learning, first, give them the big picture

Synthesis moves from the big picture to an analysis of the parts - breaking them down, seeing their meaning in the light of the whole - to putting them back together so everyone walks out the door thinking, Now I understand it and can use itTo get people involved in the process of learning, first, give them the big picture

Many people in church life do not know the big picture because we specialise in breaking it down into small parts. What use is a detailed study of Ephesians if you have no idea of the whole theme and flow of the Bible?Teach people how to study the Bible for themselves - they will find out that it is exciting, encouraging and stimulating.

CAN YOU BRIEFLY SUMMARISE THE

WHOLE BIBLE?

God made Adam bit Noah arked Abraham split Joseph ruled Jacob fooled

Bush talked Moses balked Pharaoh plagued People walked Sea divided Tablets guided

THE BIBLE IN 50 WORDS

THE BIBLE IN 50 WORDSPromise landed Saul freaked David peeked Prophets warned Jesus born God walked Love talked

Anger crucified Hope died Love rose Spirit flamed Word spread God remained

1. Eden to Ur2. Ur to Haran3. Haran to Israel4. Israel to Egypt5. Egypt back to Israel6. Israel to Babylon7. Babylon back to Israel

THE OT IN 7 MOVES

1. Eden to Ur2. Ur to Haran3. Haran to Israel4. Israel to Egypt5. Egypt back to Israel6. Israel to Babylon7. Babylon back to Israel

THE OT IN 7 MOVES

Never do anything for a student that they are capable of doing for them self. If you do you will make them an educational cripple - a pedagogical paraplegic.

Hendricks p47

GOAL 3 - TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO WORK

Teachers have to develop students who are self directed, disciplined, and who do what they do because they choose to.Hendricks suggests (p48),“...you spend more time questioning answers than answering questions”

Teachers have to develop students who are self directed, disciplined, and who do what they do because they choose to.Hendricks suggests (p48),“...you spend more time questioning answers than answering questions”

“Our job is not to give quick and easy answers, patent medicine solutions that never work in the realities of life. It’s far, far better to have students leave your class scratching their heads with questions they think and talk about, and with problems they’re eager to find solutions for...then you know you’ve got some education going on” Hendricks (p48)

Teaching students to think learn and work requires helping them to master 4 basic skills:Reading - we have talked about this enough!Writing - creative assignments are givenListeningSpeaking

BASIC SKILLS

Hendricks (p 48), “The problem with the average guy coming out of university is that he can’t read, can’t write, and he can’t think. And if you can’t read, write or think, what can you do?”Someone answered, “Watch television”

Listening is a great art - and crucial to attainWho do you know that is a good listener - the best listener you have ever experienced?Why do you think they are a good listener, what are the qualities of a good listener?Who has ever taught you to listen?

THE FOUNDATION OF THE LEARNING PROCESS

The disciples learned through failureLuke 912 sent out - v.6 healing everywhere5000 fed - v.10ffTransfiguration - v.28ff Can’t cast out a demon - v. 40Mark says - this type only comes out through prayer - failure is a learning experience

THE FOUNDATION OF THE LEARNING PROCESS

The disciples learned through failureLuke 912 sent out - v.6 healing everywhere5000 fed - v.10ffTransfiguration - v.28ff Can’t cast out a demon - v. 40Mark says - this type only comes out through prayer - failure is a learning experience

The principle: never tell or do anything that a student can learn for themselves Exceptions:

•Saving Time

•Students with special needs for encouragement and help - failure here might make them give up

BREAKING THE RULES

The principle: never tell or do anything that a student can learn for themselves Exceptions:

•Saving Time

•Students with special needs for encouragement and help - failure here might make them give up

BREAKING THE RULES

•When a student is so highly motivated they take in everything you give and still come back for more.•Warning: Though it might take time, once a student gets over the barrier and into the joy of discovery and learning, they can never again settle for education that is less exciting.

And so we come to the end of another exciting, stimulating, riveting

presentation. Surely by now you simply cannot wait to be a teacher?However if you can wait then there are still future sessions in store.

Come back soon!