Teacher Training Ideas

I've lamented before that training opportunities for Sunday School teachers seem to have gone by the wayside. A few decades ago we saw weekly Sunday School meetings, regular training classes, annual regional conferences, teacher "certification" programs, and a national convention. Now I fear that some congregations manage a quarterly teachers' meeting, but most offer no organized training at all. I know we can do better.

So a recent post by the Sunday School Revolutionary (Darryl Wilson, a Sunday School leader for the Kentucky Baptist Convention) caught my eye. Under the title (you can link to his post by clicking on the title) "Twelve Months of Sunday School Teacher Training," he offers several creative suggestions for equipping teachers, including some that encourage us to spread the leadership roles with others.

send teachers an article or blog post to read and answer three questions to prepare for discussion at the meeting

ask the pastor to share the background of book(s) teachers will be covering in the upcoming quarter

ask one of your teachers (could be in each age group) to be prepared to demonstrate a teaching method for the group--allow time to debrief/dialogue

show a short Sunday School training video--allowing time to debrief/dialogue

read a short section of a Sunday School book to teachers--divide them into groups to dialogue, closing with a summary

devote one of your planning meetings to training beginning with a 20-30 minute presentation and dividing into age groups for application each one facilitated by an age group teacher

Great ideas! Implementing even one or two of them would provide a helpful shot in the arm for those who teach God's children His Word in your congregation.

What do you think? Are my impressions accurate? What is the state of teacher training in your Sunday School?

What training suggestions can you add to Darryl's list?