Posts Tagged ‘teaching’

The following is part 6 of Rob Turner’s article: “Great Teachers and the Greatest Teacher.”

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How Do They Treat Students?

There is one key principle that Bain observed in effective teachers that guided their treatment of students. This principle is summed up in one word: investment. One teacher interviewed by Bain states clearly that “our teaching must communicate that we have an investment in the students and that we do what we do because we care about our students as people and learners” (Bain 2004, 139). This attitude toward students engenders a trust that develops into a reciprocal commitment between teacher and student. Bain interviewed another teacher who verbalized these strong words:

I will do everything possible to help you learn and develop your abilities, but you must decide if you want to engage in this experience. If you do decide to join this enterprise, there are some things you must resolve to do to make it worthwhile for you and others in the group (Bain 2004, 139).

It is clear from words like these that investment means nothing without an objective commitment to learning and to other fellow learners.

This attitude of responsibility and commitment to their students derives from a common humility within effective teachers. Bain discovered through his research that this humble attitude was not flippancy toward their own intellectual capital but an understanding of “how much they didn’t know and that in the great scheme of things their own accomplishments placed them relatively close to those of their students” (Bain 2004, 142). The residue of this humble stance toward students fostered a learning atmosphere marked with trust, reciprocal openness between teachers and students, and a safe atmosphere for risk taking in learning development (Bain 2004, 142).

Jesus viewed investment in a very similar way as this teacher when He said “remain in me and I will remain in you” (John 15). It is important to note that Jesus did not initially say to His students to follow His teaching but rather follow Him. There were many people who heard Jesus, spoke to Jesus, walked with Jesus, and were touched by Jesus. But only twelve received investment from Jesus. The personal association and involvement of Jesus changed His students “because they believed him and were committed to him, were transformed by him” (Zuck 1995, 121). Jesus was very clear that success can only happen within this dual investment.

Investment is the handmaiden of commitment and Jesus would actually detach Himself from people when His omniscience uncovered a limited commitment within His hearers’ hearts (John 2:24). At one point in His ministry Jesus had many who were following Him as fans would follow a movie star. To separate the followers from the fans, Jesus taught a striking lesson from His hearers’ religious heritage and tied it to the commitment and suffering necessary to achieve kingdom success. Many left because of a startling but simple conclusion, “this teaching is too hard” (John 6:60) The response from Peter to Jesus’ question of him leaving as well highlights the principle of investment: “To whom shall we go, You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

This absolute investment that flows out of an absolute commitment is enriched by the humility of Jesus. The very humanity of Jesus existed because of His humility (Philippians 2:5-8) Jesus pointed to His humility as an open door to come to Him, especially in the midst of personal hardship (Matthew 11:28-29). The humility of Jesus is seen in how children felt safe in His presence, in relating to social outcasts (Luke 7:34), in His desire to gather a rebellious nation into His arms (Luke 13:34), and especially in His forgiveness while suffering the humiliation of the cross (Luke 23:34).

When humility is combined with personal investment in order to reach a clear objective commitment, authenticity is the result. Stark authenticity can either endear people to someone or make them revolt because of a potential exposure of their own lack of authenticity. The authenticity exhibited by Jesus is shown in His purposeful vulnerability, especially toward His students as He divulged to them the exorbitant sorrow He felt in the garden of Gethsemane. The boldness in the way Jesus spoke also highlights His authenticity. There is no evidence of anyone who accused Him of hiding anything He was not. Lastly, the accessibility of Jesus given toward His students provided a means for His students to continually shed preconceived notions that were wrong about their teacher (Medefind and Lokkesome 2004, 75-78).

Authenticity fosters trust within a learning environment. When there is a high amount of trust between teacher and student, a student’s willingness to take some learning risks will also rise. The lives of Jesus’ students exhibit a willingness to take risks: they were willing to abandon their vocations, their familial relationships, and even their very lives to follow Jesus.

A particular instance of this willingness to risk was displayed during an early morning storm on a fragile boat. The students are in a deathly panic when they vaguely observe the figure of Jesus walking on the water. Peter takes what would be defined by any standard as a risk. In order to prove the identity of Jesus, Peter asks Jesus to enable him to come to Him on the water. Jesus, without specific directives, simply says, “Come.” Peter obeys and takes steps that have never been taken since.

This amazing feat was a mixture of both success and failure. Yes, Peter walked on water but soon took his eyes off of the teacher. Failure immediately comes in the sinking of this human rock but not without Jesus lifting Peter out of the water. Through this teaching experience the students of Jesus moved into a deeper knowledge of His deity (Matthew 14:22-32). This researcher believes this moment between Jesus and His students is a great example of dissonance with the storm, a risk of getting out of the boat, success in walking on the water and safety in being pulled from the water.

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Part 7 (the conclusion) will be posted on the Apex blog tomorrow. The full article will be available in the Apex resource library tomorrow as well.

The following is part 5 of Rob Turner’s article: “Great Teachers and the Greatest Teacher.”

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What Do They Do When They Teach?

This particular section of the research paper will be the most expansive since it delves into the specific strategies utilized within particular learning environments. Up to this point, the discussion has addressed the knowledge base of effective teachers, how those effective teachers prepare, and expectations those teachers have of their students. This section describes what those beliefs look like in action.

Bain saw seven unifying principles that emerged from his research that guided the practices of effective teachers. First, the creation of an environment that valued critical learning in a natural way was very important to these teachers. This was achieved primarily through the asking of questions and tasks that students found fascinating. Getting the students attention and holding it was a second guiding principle. A provocative question, statement, or certain acts by the teachers were common traits to gain their student’s attention. A third principle from these effective teachers was a commitment to start with the students and not the discipline. A class that begins in the book and not in the heart of the students deadens any intrinsic desire on the student’s part to devote themselves to the discipline.

A fourth principle used by effective teachers was the challenging of their students to a commitment. This commitment calls for the teacher to communicate clearly the promises of the material for their life above and beyond the classroom. Fifth, effective teachers plan their course strategically so that students will have the “know how” when it comes to implementing the course to their life outside of the classroom. Sixth, effective teachers teach their students to think about thinking. They make their learning development public for the students to see and hopefully grasp in their own development. Lastly, effective teachers involve their students in diverse learning experiences. Every student does not learn in the same way and varied learning experiences keep student’s minds moving and adapting to new knowledge (Bain 2004, 99-116).

Jesus, in the opinion of this researcher, cultivated a highly effective learning environment for His students. He used multiple ways to achieve that environment; some of them mirror Bain’s findings about effective teachers and some of those ways are completely His own. This will not be an exhaustive treatment of every specific way Jesus taught but rather a general overview of His teaching methodology.

First is observing how Jesus communicated to His students. Unfortunately, more attention is paid to the miraculous physical acts enacted by Jesus and diminishes His miraculous use of words. His words are as subversive today as they were over two thousand years ago. As subversive as His words were, Jesus was not trying to communicate an esoteric message to the intellectual elite. Bill Donahue sees that the message of Jesus “portrayed a ruddy realism, the kind that fisherman and tax collectors and centurions could understand, a message that is inspiring, convicting, and provocative” (Donahue 2005, 23). The following paragraphs elaborate on powerful ways Jesus conveyed His message.

The most potent communication method, in the opinion of this researcher, is the way Jesus used questions to uncover the presuppositions of His listeners. Though Jesus was not the first teacher who was noted for employing questions as a teaching device, the way He used them was unique. Robert Stein notes that Jesus had a way of “drawing from his audience the correct answer he sought. When the correct answer was drawn from the listeners rather than by simply being declared by Jesus, it was more convincingly and permanently impressed upon their minds” (Stein 1978, 23). Jedd Medefind and Erick Lokkesmoe, who have written specifically on the communication ability of Jesus, observed that Jesus asked questions with sincerity, attuning them to each unique situation, fitting them toward His audience, with a goal toward clarification, and then allowing space for His audience to respond (Medefind and Lokkesmoe 2004, 60-62).

Jesus was a renaissance communicator in that He was able to employ in an effective fashion divergent rhetorical devices such as irony, hyperbole, simile, metaphor, and paradox (Stein 1975, 11-20). A rarely discussed aspect of the communication ability of Jesus is His use of humor. A camel who is attempting to go through an eye of a needle, a log stuck in someone’s eye, and throwing pearls at pigs smack of humor, though very serious in their underlying principles. The humorous responses toward his antagonists “convicted and sometimes even silenced them” (Zuck 1995, 204-205).

Communication was not the only effective part of Jesus’ teaching ability. He also knew how to make His students object lessons of their own learning development. A clear example of this type of teaching occurred in the context of very needy people sitting on a hill. The students of Jesus, on the heels of communicating to others the Kingdom of God, report to Jesus the success of their mission and prepare to rest in Bethsaida. As they are traveling toward Bethsaida, thousands of hungry people begin to follow them. By their shallow response this researcher can see that these students of Jesus had more learning to do despite the success of that previous learning experience. Jesus proceeds to model before His students what true servanthood looks like and then puts them to work to achieve it themselves (Luke 9:10-17). Over two thousand years later people are still learning those same lessons of those students who learned the humility of handing out thousands of fish and loaves of bread to hurting people on a hillside.

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Part 6 will be posted on the Apex blog tomorrow. The full article will be available in the Apex resource library at the end of this week.

The following is part 4 of Rob Turner’s article: “Great Teachers and the Greatest Teacher.”

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What Do Effective Teachers Expect Of Their Students?

Conventional wisdom would seem to point to low expectations of students as a common denominator of effective teachers.  These low expectations can translate into a smug- like attitude from teachers regarding their unyielding commitment to bombard their students with information.  Bain deduced that “some professors are convinced that the path to teaching awards is paved with lower standards and expectations, and that their own refusal to compromise accounts for the miserable showings they muster on student ratings” (Bain 2004, 71).

In contradiction to the conventional wisdom, Bain saw in his research that effective teachers actually expect more of their students.  Now, expecting more does not necessarily mean a heavier work load or complex testing.  A high expectation of students goes deeper than homework and testing recall.  It goes to fundamental beliefs that students may not even believe about themselves.  These beliefs are intertwined and involve the valuing of each individual student and having a great faith in each student’s potential to achieve while having an acute sensitivity to external forces that come to bear upon their students.  These beliefs drive teachers to the conclusion that every student, no matter their degree of development, has something to contribute to the class’s academic enterprise (Bain 2004, 72-83).

A case can be made that Jesus also had high expectations of His students.  The provocative nature of His words has led one author to observe that, “when Jesus was speaking, the room split into two groups- those who longed to hear him again and those who wanted to run him out of town” (Donahue 2005, 23).  It is hard to disagree when even a novice reader of the New Testament reads about Jesus telling a man to follow Him instead of burying his father, or demanding another man to sell everything he had in order to be His student.  The greatest challenge Jesus gave to His students was for them to make more students “of all the nations” (Matthew 29:19-20).  These are just a few of the demands of Jesus that underscore the unconditional commitment Jesus expects of His students.

There is a crucial caveat to the expectations of Jesus on His students:  His expectations of His students were devastatingly low when His students were disengaged from Him.  Jesus believed that His students were incapable of anything without His presence.  On the other side of the coin, Jesus believed that His students could achieve anything within the parameters of His guidance.  This principle of development within His relationship was not only communicated while Jesus was with His students (John 15:1-8) but is still relevant in light of His present physical absence (Matthew 28:20).

One area of commonality of Jesus as teacher and Bain’s research is the recognition of uniqueness among His students.  Most of His students were from different backgrounds.  Some were radically so, like Levi, who worked for Rome and Simon, who probably desired to make war with Rome.  Furthermore, within His main twelve, Jesus invested specific, teachable moments into three of them, namely Peter, James, and John (Mark 9:2).  Zuck points out that Jesus even adjusted His teaching when He surmised His audiences were disciples, inquirers, or enemies (Zuck 1995, 51).

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Part 5 will be posted on the Apex blog tomorrow. The full article will be available in the Apex resource library at the end of this week.

The following is part 3 of Rob Turner’s article: “Great Teachers and the Greatest Teacher.”

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How Did They Prepare To Teach?

The best teachers, according to Bain, view teaching “as anything they might do to help and encourage students to learn.” Furthermore, “teaching is engaging students, engineering an environment in which they learn” (Bain 2004, 49). In contrast to the “transmission model” of teaching where students are passive containers of potential knowledge, effective teachers develop a culture of learning that engages students and places them into active roles of their own learning (Bain 2004, 48). The teacher in this model is not the traditional communicative puppet of knowledge but rather a coach of learning.

There were thirteen questions discovered by Bain that were offered by effective teachers as important to answer in order to produce cultures of learning. These questions ran the gamut from student assessment, reading strategies, to class communication (Bain 2004, 50-59). These angles of inquiry find their summation in this capstone question:

How will I create a natural critical learning environment in which I embed the skills and information I wish to teach in assignments (questions and tasks) that students will find fascinating- authentic tasks that will arouse curiosity, challenge students to rethink their assumptions and examine their mental models of reality? How will I create a safe environment in which students can try, fail, receive feedback, and try again? (Bain 2004, 60)

Though not quantified by Bain’s exact terms Jesus portrayed them in how He developed learning environments. Anyone who reads through the gospels can see that the classroom of Jesus was always in session for His students. Jesus engineered a learning environment by using multiple means to engage His students. It is true that He sometimes used a straight forward lecture methodology but the scriptures show Jesus using other competencies like strategic questions (Matthew 16:15), clarifying ambiguity (Mark 4:13-20), the use of real life examples (Matthew 18:2-3), challenging presuppositions (Mark 2:8-9), allowing the tension of mystery and dissonance (Matthew 26:62-63), and blunt warnings about the cost of being a student (Luke 9:57-62).

The basic way Jesus prepared to teach was to simultaneously be taught Himself. This was seen practically in His consistent communication with the Father (Mark 1:35, Luke 22:39). Robert Delnay points out that “some sixteen or seventeen times the gospels mention that He prayed, sometimes briefly, sometimes for whole nights” (Delnay 1987, 14). This intense preparation was foundational to what Jesus taught for He made known to His students what He had heard from the Father (John 17:8).

Prayer was not the only preparation for the teaching ministry of Jesus. The testing of Jesus cannot be overlooked as another important part of His teaching effectiveness (Luke 4:1-13). Times of testing and temptation not only initiated Jesus into His teaching ministry but were a constant presence throughout His life (Delnay 1987, 16-17). An effective teacher would never ask students to go where they themselves have never gone. The purposeful humility of Jesus being God in flesh and the testing that came with that humility produced an environment of safety that enabled His students to become dangerous like Him.

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Part 4 will be posted on the Apex blog tomorrow. The full article will be available in the Apex resource library at the end of this week.

The following is part 2 of Rob Turner’s article: “Great Teachers and the Greatest Teacher.”

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What Do The Best Teachers Know And Understand?

There is a certain type of intellectual capital that effective teachers bring to the teaching setting.  This is above and beyond the teacher’s ability to communicate the pertinent material to the students.  Communication is the servant of our knowledge but this knowledge is not just data that covers a given subject area on a particular day.  According to Bain, effective teachers not only know their disciplines well but also the histories and controversies that surround that given discipline.  Consequently, an ability arises which enables teachers to “think deeply on the nature of thinking within their fields” (Bain 2004, 25).

Bain also uncovered a common thread in how effective teachers view the reception of knowledge in their students.  This common thread runs through the research areas of cognition, motivation, and human development (Bain 2004, 26).  In opposition to pouring knowledge into empty containers, effective teachers believe “everybody constructs knowledge and that we all use existing constructions to understand any new sensory input” (Bain 2004, 27).

When effective teachers view knowledge through constructivist lines, there are certain assumptions that teachers make about their students.  One assumption is that students need to be led through the dissonance that comes with assimilating new knowledge with their preconceived knowledge.  This can be somewhat traumatic, especially if that older knowledge is now seen as irrelevant or completely wrong.  Another assumption uncovered by Bain is the belief of teachers that some students will actually cling to existing models of knowledge in the face of repeated “expectation failures” (Bain 2004, 28).

One other area of study within the confines of a teacher’s knowledge is their insights on what infuses students with a desire to learn.  Traditionally, teachers use grades as the primary tool to foster motivation for academic achievement.  Grades are primarily extrinsic awards that place the teacher and student in a delivery and retrieval relationship that is essentially linear and one way in direction.  Effective teachers on the other hand, utilize intrinsic awards with their emphasis on learning goals and a “mastery orientation” (Bain 2004, 35).  Whereas grades place emphasis on the demands of the class, learning goals emphasize the promises of the class (Bain 2004, 37).

As already noted, effective teachers not only know their content well but also the content’s real world implications.  They also understand their students and the way they construct knowledge.  The teaching ministry of Jesus is the epitome of someone who is in command of His content.  The New Testament describes the way Jesus taught as one who had an authority in His teaching that surpassed their teachers of the day (Matthew 7:28-29).  Roy Zuck notes that people who are elected to positions have derived authority while people who are born into positions of authority have inherent authority (Zuck 1995, 45).  Inherent authority is the authority of Jesus since He is the first born over all creation (Colossians 1:15), the very wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24), and is in essence God Himself (John 14:9).  The characteristics of Jesus under gird a powerful facet of the teaching ability of Jesus.  He was the literal embodiment of His own content (John 1:1-3).  Furthermore, any history or controversy surrounding His agenda was not unknown to Jesus for no theory, object, or living being was made without His handiwork (Colossians 1:16).

Jesus not only thoroughly grasped His content but He was equally adept at understanding people (John 2:24-25).  Because of His aforementioned qualities Jesus had insight into humanity they did not have themselves.  These characteristics of Jesus has led one educator to exclaim that “no teacher today, no matter how well trained in education or psychology, can claim to know the thoughts or intentions of his or her pupils.  Jesus’ insight into what others were thinking was evidence of his unique position” (Zuck 1995, 51).

This researcher believes that Jesus Also taught with a developmental view of adult learning.  In His intensive training of the disciples, Jesus did not deluge them with all of his knowledge but instead unfolded the revelation of Himself in a somewhat slow but deliberate fashion.  It is interesting to note that the teaching ministry of Jesus was a display of constructing knowledge upon His hearers prevailing knowledge.  For example, when Jesus consistently used the phrase, “you have heard it said, but I tell you…” (Matthew 5:27) He was building upon previous knowledge of the Law and its implications.  With that knowledge as a base, Jesus would then move his hearers into the deeper implications of the law, namely Himself.

As Bain saw in the research of modern day effective teachers, Jesus also used promises as a key component to developing His students.  The overwhelming amount of demands Jesus made toward his students were couched in promises that Jesus reciprocated back to the students.  In one instance, He demands fishermen to drop their nets and follow but He follows that with a promise to make those men fishers of men (Matthew 4:19).  On another occasion, Jesus demanded His students to participate in a relentless, giving away of their life but promised that those who do so inherit a life that is so much better (Mark 10:29-31).

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Part 3 will be posted on the Apex blog tomorrow. The full article will be available in the Apex resource library at the end of this week.

An introduction from Rob Turner:

At first blush the act of teaching seems to be a verbal and cognitive exercise.  Teaching certainly contains those attributes, but it is by no means limited to them.  All one has to do is to look at the teaching ministry of Jesus to see the various facets of effective teaching.  Two years ago, as part of my academic research, I wrote an extended article on how Jesus taught His disciples.  The framework of this article was examining the teaching style of Jesus with the research findings of Ken Bain, Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at New York University.  Bain wrote an excellent book called, “What the Best College Teachers Do,” and it was my goal to show how Jesus exemplified Bain’s findings and more.  We are putting this article (below) on our website as a seven part series.  It is my hope that this article will provide house church leaders within our network a clearer framework to operate from as they facilitate a learning environment within their house churches.

The following is part 1 of Rob Turner’s article: “Great Teachers and the Greatest Teacher.”

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“Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for only 3. Yet the influence of Christ’s 3-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined 130 years of teaching from these men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity.” Though the author of these words is unknown, the truthfulness of this statement is hard to refute.  In light of this observation about Jesus, are there specific facets of the way Jesus taught that translate over into the teaching effectiveness of teachers in earthly academia?

This paper will answer that question by synthesizing three resources.  First will be the use of the Holy Scriptures, which is the ultimate authority on the life and teaching of Jesus.  Secondly will be principles gathered from What The Best College Teachers Do by Ken Bain.  Bain is the Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at New York University.  In the research for his book, Bain studied teachers who “had achieved remarkable success in helping their students learn in ways that made a sustained, substantial, and positive influence on how those students think, act, and feel” (Bain 2004, 5).  Lastly will be the use of works by other authors who have studied specific traits of Jesus that define Him as an effective teacher.

In order to give symmetry to this paper, this researcher will utilize the six areas of inquiry put forth by Bain.  The first area of inquiry asked, “What do the best teachers know and understand?” Secondly, “How do they prepare to teach?” Thirdly, “What do they expect of their students?” Fourth, “What do they do when they teach?” Fifth, “How do they treat students?” and lastly, “How do they check their progress and evaluate their efforts?”(Bain 2004, 15-19).

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Part 2 will be posted on the Apex blog tomorrow. The full article will be available in the Apex resource library at the end of this week.