Basic Christian Education Principles For Teachers

By Ruth Baker


Christian education required a different approach when teaching compared to other subjects. The lessons taught are about life and therefore go beyond teaching in order to pass examinations. There are Christian education principles for teachers that will guide you on delivery of the lesson and ensure that your students not only understand the principles taught but also live them on a day to day basis.

Focus should be on what the students are learning as opposed to what the teacher is teaching. This sounds like you are being asked to abandon what was taught in college. Do not take it as a reason to abandon your lesson plans and objectives. Rather, it is an opportunity to focus more on the students as opposed to the procedures of teaching. You are not a good teacher simply because you followed these procedures. Being a good teacher is a matter of producing the best students.

Take the less-is-more route. This can be considered as an extension of focusing on learning more than teaching. Do not rush over so many topics that at the end of your lesson, no student remembers anything. Avoid overloading your students by forcing them to memorize. Your learners will lack the depth that is required in Christianity.

Students should be taught to understand concepts other than memorize them. It is a common practice for teachers of religious studies to force their students to memorize issues. This means that they fail to understand the scriptures but will have a lot to whip out as justification. Their reasoning through scripture is poor, meaning that they cannot handle challenges well.

Insist on your students thinking through your lessons. Thinking is an extension of the prohibition to memorize. You will never produce proactive children or students until they can think through the lessons they are being taught. Thinking turns them into responsible, active and proactive Christians. Thinking is important because it helps them to deal with emerging situations. They learn to interrogate situations and find the best solution out of it.

Create a class that is active. This includes such tactics as asking questions, acting plays, singing and pilgrimages, among others. Situational analysis is another trick that you can use to encouraging creative thinking. When engaged in a discussion, be a moderator instead of giving yes or no answers. When you moderate, the students can develop own lines of thoughts and ideas. This is important because it makes them active Christians instead of mere listeners.

Your lessons must have an opportunity for the students to ask question. This is the only way you will create an open minded class of Christians. Whenever a question comes your way, it should be taken positively. You are likely to take it as a disruption if you are not prepared. Were possible, yes and no questions should be avoided. Instead, you should encourage the probing type of questions where people think beyond what is taught in class.

The teacher must be more knowledgeable than the students to enable him answer questions. In case a question is beyond your capability, admit and do more research. Your answers during question time should be deep and confident. Teach students to think through situations and you will produce the best cohort of Christians.




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