Teaching notes used at Life Transforming College international - 501, Introduction to Christian Education.

1. Knowledge cannot be passed
like a material substance from
one mind to another; for
thoughts are not objects which
maybe held and handled...
Ideas must be rethought,
experience must be re-
experienced
John Milton Gregory

2. As a teacher:
Your job is to impact people not
to impress them;
You are not just to convince
them but to change them

3. Law 3
The Law of Activity

4. Law 3
The Law of Activity
Maximum learning is
always the result of
maximum involvement

5. Law 3
The Law of Activity
Maximum learning is
always the result of
maximum involvement
As long as the activity
in which the learner is
engaged is meaningful

7. Christianity is the most
radical life changing
force on the planet - it
changes people.
Christian teaching is
passive and boring!
Many teachers /
preachers never change
their style (or content)

8. Romans 8:
And we know that in all things God works for
the good of those who love him, who have been
called according to his purpose. 29For those
God foreknew he also predestined to be
conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he
might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30And those he predestined, he also called;
those he called, he also justified; those he
justified, he also glorified.
How much change should we
expect?

9. If teaching were telling my
children would be brilliant!
The problem is the teaching-
learning process is far more!
Just because students are busy it
does not mean they are learning
anything.

10. The Law of Activity:
Maximum learning
is always the result
of maximum
involvement

11. The Law of Activity:
Maximum learning
is always the result
of maximum
involvement
One Condition:
The activity in
which the learner is
involved must be
meaningful

12. The Law of Activity:
Maximum learning
is always the result
of maximum
involvement
One Condition:
The activity in
which the learner is
involved must be
meaningful
In teaching:
Activity in learning
is never an end in
itself; it’s always a
means to an end

13. The Law of Activity:
Maximum learning
is always the result
of maximum
involvement
One Condition:
The activity in
which the learner is
involved must be
meaningful
In teaching:
Activity in learning
is never an end in
itself; it’s always a
means to an end
Your purpose
determines your
outcome. You
achieve that for
which you aim

14. Purposeful activity
implies quality
activity.
How can you
improve each of
the following
statements?

16. 1. Practice makes perfect

17. 1. Practice makes perfect
Practice does not make perfect - it
makes permanent.

18. 1. Practice makes perfect
Practice does not make perfect - it
makes permanent.
If you practice the wrong way you
will not improve.

19. 1. Practice makes perfect
Practice does not make perfect - it
makes permanent.
If you practice the wrong way you
will not improve.
In sport you use a coach to help you
improve

20. 1. Practice makes perfect
Practice does not make perfect - it
makes permanent.
If you practice the wrong way you
will not improve.
In sport you use a coach to help you
improve
Well guided practice makes
perfect

22. 2. Experience is
the best teacher

23. 2. Experience is
the best teacher
Experience is a good teacher

24. 2. Experience is
the best teacher
Experience is a good teacher
But what if you get addicted to drugs
or alcohol?

25. 2. Experience is
the best teacher
Experience is a good teacher
But what if you get addicted to drugs
or alcohol?
Experience can be a dangerous and
difficult teacher.

26. 2. Experience is
the best teacher
Experience is a good teacher
But what if you get addicted to drugs
or alcohol?
Experience can be a dangerous and
difficult teacher.
Properly evaluated
experience is the best
teacher

28. 3. We learn by doing

29. 3. We learn by doing

30. 3. We learn by doing
Plato is thought to have first said this.

31. 3. We learn by doing
Plato is thought to have first said this.
We do learn many things by doing -
but we have to make sure we are not
learning wrong things

32. 3. We learn by doing
Plato is thought to have first said this.
We do learn many things by doing -
but we have to make sure we are not
learning wrong things
If we learnt he wrong things it can be
destructive

33. 3. We learn by doing
Plato is thought to have first said this.
We do learn many things by doing -
but we have to make sure we are not
learning wrong things
If we learnt he wrong things it can be
destructive
We learn by doing the right
things

34. Learning and doing are linked - the
higher a learners involvement the
greater his potential for learning
The best learners are participators -
and they enjoy learning more than
those who aren’t involved

35. Imagine:
You are required to teach
a class about the Holy
Land.
You have all the
resources that Richard
would usually use in his
class - and any other
things that would be
available to you.
How would you do it?
Hendricks suggest three
options...

36. Option 1
Lecture
Person with great historical and
archaeological knowledge

37. Option 2 Presentation
Great pictures, good background music.

38. Option 2 Presentation
Great pictures, good background music.

39. Option 3
Join the Person on a Visit
See it for yourself!

40. I do - and I Change
Ancient Chinese proverb
I hear, and I forget.
I see, and I remember.
I do, and I understand.

41. I do - and I Change
Ancient Chinese proverb
I hear, and I forget.
I see, and I remember.
I do, and I understand.
Hendricks adds;
When you do, the result is
more than understanding;
You also change

42. Psychologists say we
potentially remember
10% of what we hear.
(If you do this you are
in the genius category)
Problem: Most of
Christian Education
is hearing orientated
- hence it is often so
inefficient

43. If we add seeing to hearing our
potential to remember goes up to
50%
So, visual aids become important
What type of visual aids could
you use in teaching? (only ones
that would be available to you)

44. •In the USA:
•66% of infants and toddlers watch a
screen an average of 2 hours a day
•kids under 6 watch an average of about
2 hours of screen media a day
•8 to 18 year olds spend nearly 4 hours a
day in front of a TV screen and almost 2
additional hours on the computer

45. •In the USA:
•66% of infants and toddlers watch a
screen an average of 2 hours a day
•kids under 6 watch an average of about
2 hours of screen media a day
•8 to 18 year olds spend nearly 4 hours a
day in front of a TV screen and almost 2
additional hours on the computer

46. Children who consistently spend more
than 4 hours per day watching TV are
more likely to be overweight.
Kids who view violent acts are more
likely to show aggressive behavior but
also fear that the world is scary and that
something bad will happen to them.

47. Doing, seeing and hearing - memory
potential goes up to 90%
Learning by using is an highly
effective tool

48. Truth and way of life are married in the
Bible.
Titus 1:1
Jesus, “He who has ears to hear...”
According to Hendricks when you read
hear in the NT you can read it as do
Luke 6:46

49. Truth and way of life are married in the
Bible.
Titus 1:1
Jesus, “He who has ears to hear...”
According to Hendricks when you read
hear in the NT you can read it as do
Luke 6:46
The name of the game
in Christian education
is not knowledge - it’s
active obedience

50. Truth and way of life are married in the
Bible.
Titus 1:1
Jesus, “He who has ears to hear...”
According to Hendricks when you read
hear in the NT you can read it as do
Luke 6:46
The name of the game
in Christian education
is not knowledge - it’s
active obedience
In the spiritual realm, the
opposite of ignorance is
not knowledge, it’s
obedience. In NT
understanding, to know
and not to do is not to
know at all.

51. 5 Examples of
Meaningful Activity

52. 5 Examples of
Meaningful Activity
Maximum learning is always
the result of maximum
involvement - if the activity is
meaningful

53. In giving
assignments
there should be a
sphere of freedom
- a structure to
help the student
learn which is not
a straightjacket.
1. Activity that provides
direction without dictatorship

54. Most students act
as if the aim is to
find out what the
teacher wants.
Good teachers
enable a student
to work for
themselves not
for the teacher

55. In education you are meant to draw
out - not pour in
[In fact the root of the word education
is “to draw out”]
This means you also have to let the
students learn from their own
mistakes (the lack of applying what
you have taught them)

56. This is activity that immediately lets
the learner put to use everything that
has been taught.
This suggests that at one time you need
to only teach what can be taken in.
Teachers treat the students like
storage tanks that need to be filled up.
2. Activity that stresses function
and application

57. Jesus didn’t do it this way! In fact he
warned his disciples that he had
much more to teach them, but he
had to leave it to the Spirit of Truth
to do that.

58. What do you aim for in teaching?
Your objective determines your
outcome.
What am I aiming for in wanting a
student to read that book or paper?
Why do I want that paper written?
Do you do it simply because it is the
way it has always been done?
3. Activity with a planned
purpose

59. A twin of making students busy is
entertaining them.
How much of a challenge is offered in
your teaching or church - is Sunday
merely a part of the programme?
Is anything ‘demanded’ of the students?

60. 4. Activity that is concerned
with the process as well as
the product

61. Students should not only know what
they believe, but why.
You can limit a student by only
teaching them what you know - the
product.
Give the student the process and
you launch them on a path with no
limitations.

63. Your students can,
in fact, exceed you
and become more
effective than you!

64. Your students can,
in fact, exceed you
and become more
effective than you!
Do you want
students to do
better than you?

65. Research has shown there are
surprising similarities between
Christian and no-Christian children
in terms of morals, values and
behaviour.
The only major difference is a verbal
one - the Christians answer no when
asked if they would lie, cheat or go
to bed with someone. The non-
Christians say, “Of course, if it is to
my advantage”.

66. The actual behaviour of both
groups is the same.
Do we settle for the wrong things
Do we accept words without looking
for the process to be right?

67. 5. Realistic activity that includes
problem-solving situations

68. A student is not looking to answer
your questions about things but their
own.
You need to bring situations into the
classroom which are real in the life of
the students.
Ask: Where are the students ‘at’?
What are they struggling with?
What temptations are they facing?

69. There are many moral
issues facing the
church today - are you
talking about, and
teaching about them?
Are Biblical figures
real with the same
problems or
temptations we face?
Are your activities
lifelike - and realistic.

70. “Do you want the will of God for
your life with peace, satisfaction
and success, or do you want your
own will with poverty, emptiness
and misery?”
Is this a good question?

71. Learning is a
process - so don’t
just give a
student one
experience and
think they have
learned it and
experienced it.
Going On...

72. Hendricks tells the story of Peter
walking on the water.
He then asks the, excellent,
question, “How do you think Peter
got back into the boat?”
Did Jesus carry him, did the
disciples dive in and rescue him, or,
did he walk back on the water
(watching Jesus all the time)?

74. “Studying the life of the Saviour, the
greatest Teacher, makes it clear that
he didn’t cram a lot of heads full of a
collection of theological facts. No, he
involved his disciples in the process
so that later the pagan world was
compelled to testify, “These are they
who have turned the world upside
down.”
Hendricks (p. 67)

75. Law 3
The Law of Activity

76. Law 3
The Law of Activity
Maximum learning is
always the result of
maximum involvement

77. Law 3
The Law of Activity
Maximum learning is
always the result of
maximum involvement
As long as the activity
in which the learner is
engaged is meaningful