What Needs to Change?

Nearly every teacher and leader in Sunday School that I talk to these days shares the same concern. Their Sunday School is not as good as they would like it to be. Something needs to change. All too often, the assumption is made that a new curriculum is the solution to our Sunday School ills.

I was struck then by this quote from pastor, Christian educator, and blogger Pete Jurchen: "I'd go so far as to say that a teacher could have a very dry curriculum, one that doesn't seem 'relevant' or 'fun' and doesn't have a lot of videos or activities, and could still make it an engaging learning experience if the effective learning techniques were employed. How we choose to interact with learners and teach material, it would seem, has a vastly greater impact on overall improvement then what we use to teach."

It is wonderful, of course, when our curriculum has relevance, fun, videos, activities, and engaging learning experiences. The truth is that "engaging learning experiences" are more about the interactions between the teacher and students, the relationships, than about the material. I and the other editors on my team spend the bulk of our time creating the best material we can. But we know that the material is only half of the equation. The teacher is the other half.

We pray for Sunday School teachers who will spend a little time each day preparing for his or her next class, who will work to know the personal story of each student, who will tailor the lesson activities we provide to be of maximum benefit to the students they teach.

Thank you for time you spend creating engaging learning experiences for your students as you teach God's children His Word.

The Value of Pictures

(Thanks to my friend and colleague, Ed Grube, for including a January 18, 2014, blog post from FreeBibleImages.com in his weekly tips for parish educators. The post provides some helpful tips and sparked my own thinking on the value of pictures in the Christian education process.)

Some of those who read this blog may be aware that Concordia Publishing House invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past decade on new biblical art for use in our Sunday School curriculum. The resulting paintings are a rich library of authentic biblical images. The Bible accounts they illustrate were studied carefully for clues about the settings and contexts for each account. The details included in the art were carefully researched to be appropriate and likely. The artists were chosen based on their ability to convey the culture and people of the Bible well. And the images were reviewed through our in-house doctrinal review process for theological accuracy. The results are often stunning.

These paintings are truly worth studying in class, exploring the details and nuances that will inform the students' understanding of the biblical text. The setting and culture of the Bible is unfamiliar for many students; pictures are a simple way to bridge the gap, The pictures can be used in a variety of ways in the lesson.

Before, During, and After 

Pictures can be used before the presentation of the Bible account in the lesson as a kind of formative assessment (a pretest of sorts).

• Study this picture and tell what you remember or discover about the Bible account.
• Who was present? 
• What happened before the moment depicted in this picture?
• What happened after?

They can also be used as a hook to draw the students in to the Bible account.

• Why do you think these people are smiling or angry?
• What do you think will happen?

During the presentation of the Bible story, pictures can be used to unpack the cultural and practical details of the account.

• Who are these men wearing fancy clothes?
• Why are they walking?
• Where is this taking place?

After the Bible account has been presented and discussed, pictures can be used to review the lesson (another formative assessment). Let the students use the picture to tell the story again. Use this "before, during, and after" strategy for that review.

• What happened before the moment of this picture?
• What is happening here according to the Bible test?
• What happened after this picture?

Why and How?

The process of Christian education, all education really, is taking students from where they are in their understanding of the Bible's message, providing experiences and information that add to their understanding, and deepening their knowledge of God's Word. Pictures provide a simple way to provide new information and experience. What the children discover as they study and hear about a picture gets added to what they already know to build knowledge.

A good picture, then, is always worth studying. Encourage children to look both at the big picture, the event that is taking place, and at the details, the small things that add meaning. This kind of study takes time. Make sure that the students can all see the picture well enough and long enough to absorb the details. This is why the biblical art is always prominent on our leaflets, so each student can see and learn. If you are using posters, display at eye level and encourage the students to stand close enough to see the details, even if it means getting them up out of their seats. If you are showing pictures from a picture book display the pictures fully (turning so all students can see them) and move it very slowly (slower even than you think is possibly necessary) so that students catch the details.

A good picture is truly worth a thousand words!

God bless you as you teach His children His Word — through pictures!

Formative Assessment, a Critical Sunday School Task

We don't talk very much about assessment for Sunday School. Perhaps that is because most people, when they hear the term "assessment," think about summative assessment.

Summative assessment measures achievement and assigns a judgment, a grade. It is the grade you get at the end of the course in school. It is also all the grades for the quizzes and tests you took that are compiled to make up that final grade. The key here is that the assessment is fixed and immutable at that point in time at which it is rendered. We are judged, and often found wanting.

Formative assessment is different. It is assessment that intends to set the course for continued effort or instruction. It is the pre-test that helps the teacher to understand what the student already knows and does not yet know about a subject. It is the ongoing data from your GPS, telling you how you are doing as you approach your destination. It is the regular checkup with the doctor that suggests changes in diet or treatment for an illness.

One could argue that summative assessment has relatively little value in Christian education. The objective of such training, faith in Christ and life as one of God's children, is not subject to objective measurement or human judgment.

Formative assessment though would seem to be a different matter. When a teacher takes time to determine what a student, or a class as a whole, remembers about or knows about a particular Bible account, the teaching that follows can be more carefully tailored to the needs of those students. When a teacher takes time to investigate how each of the students in a group most enjoy learning or how they learn most easily, activities can be chosen that will capture more attention and accomplish more teaching and learning. When a teacher takes time in the middle of a lesson to check for comprehension, the remainder of the lesson can be salvaged or maximized.

So, forget the final grade! But take time to ask, "What do they know?" and "How am I doing?" Because the important thing at the end of the hour is not how much did I teach but how much did they learn?

God's blessings as His children learn His Word!

What Are You Teaching? or What Are They Learning?

Too often Sunday School teachers and leaders focus too much of their attention on the question "What shall I teach?" than on the question "What will/did my students learn?"

The "teaching" question is admittedly an important question. It is the starting place. It is where so much can and does go wrong as churches make choices about curricula or teachers make choices about activities. Without a great plan for "what I will teach," any lesson has a low chance of success.

But the "learning" question is really the crux of the matter. If I don't take time to know, to assess, what my students learn, I may well have wasted my time as a teacher. The students may have been overwhelmed, bewildered, and clueless, unable to make sense of the material, but too polite to say so. They may have been bored to tears and tuned out completely.

How do I know what they've learned? One of the easiest ways is to ask them. Dialog is a time-honored and reliable method of assessment, but it is not the only one. "Draw me a picture." "Tell me the story." "Let's take this simple quiz." All are possibilities.

How do you know they learned what you intended to teach?

What is your most successful means of assessment?

God's blessings as you teach His children His Word!