One of the most difficult aspects of becoming a teacher is, well, teaching. It can be difficult to form a connection with students. If this doesn’t happen, guess what: they won’t be motivated to learn, and they won’t retain the information you’re teaching.
Now this is just the case for a standard teacher. With the way the world is evolving, teaching Christianity in 2020 is even more difficult. Although with the following tips, the process is made a little easier.
Stay on Top of the Latest Teachings
Religion and Christianity is a subject which is constantly changing with the times. When you take into account how culture is so much different to how it was just a few years ago, there’s a necessity to recharge and rethink your own Christian education.
To do this in an effective manner, there are online courses available. You could pick, for example, a Biblical Worldview in education course which will teach you the best ways to integrate worldviews into the classroom. Furthermore, certain courses have the added benefit of counting towards ACSI certification.
Maintain a Cool and Friendly Attitude
Remember back to the days you were at school. Now what type of teacher had the most positive impact: was it the stuffy, overly strict teacher? Or was it the educator who was always warm and supportive? The latter, of course, should be the correct answer.
If you have a negative and dismissive approach towards teaching students, this will be harmful in multiple ways. First of all, it will damage the teacher-student dynamic where the pupils will be less likely to take in whatever information you’re providing. Secondly, it will cause students to question Christian teachings. They might ask themselves: ‘If teacher has this type of gloomy attitude, is Christianity really that good?’
With this in mind, stay happy, positive, and friendly. You’re not only representing yourself, but also Christianity.
Involvement, Incentives and Encouragement
The methods you use to teach your students have a massive impact on how they receive and retain information. To begin with, you should be doing what you can to get all pupils involved and participating. This can be tricky — especially with shy students — but it’s certainly possible if you make participation fun and rewarding.
Speaking of rewards, offer students an incentive to work harder. This can range from a small privilege for an exemplary individual, to a class party if the class raises its average test scores.
Get Family Involved
Christian education starts at home. After all, parents are the children’s first and lifelong teachers. Babies typically utter their first words in front of their moms or dads. They are also likely to follow most of their parents’ characters when they become adults. Hence, parents can neither blame you nor the school for not teaching their cherubs things they don’t introduce themselves.
You can get your students’ families involved by teaching the importance of the Christian faith during parent-teacher meetings. However, try not to be too aggressive. Otherwise, you might scare them away. You can also encourage parents to participate in family bible study sessions. The sessions are usually free and can be conducted face to face or virtually.
Stay Humble and Don’t Be Scared to Say “I Don’t Know”
It might not seem probable based on the general message of the Bible, but teachers can become a little too arrogant and proud. To ensure any air of smugness doesn’t creep in, always maintain a humble approach to teaching.
Along these lines, remember that not every question has an answer. No matter how much you would like to provide a satisfactory response to a question about Christianity, there are cases where you simply have to say, “I don’t know”. This is because God’s Word in Scripture is restricted. As a result, don’t fill in the blanks — only teach what is revealed by the Bible.
