No matter what level of student you’re teaching–pre-school, adult, or anyone in between–your goal is not only to get through the lesson, or even for your students to get information, but to have actual learning going on in your classroom. You want your students to understand God’s Word, and to be changed by a relationship with Jesus.
Statistics tell us that people retain only about ten percent of what they hear or read. And with the best of intentions many, if not most, Christian-education programs still teach this way, by reading and/or by the teacher doing all the talking. But those same statistics tell us that people remember up to 90% of what they experience. So how can you bring real-life experience into your classroom?
That’s a question we ask every day here at Group, and we’ve boiled our approach down to a simple acrostic: REAL. Here are a few ideas to help you better understand that approach, and to begin making it happen in your classroom:
R — Relational. Again, you’re not only there to present information. You want your students to reflect on and really process what they’ve learned. Brace yourself: There’s no better way to do that than to get your students talking. When people talk, they actually think about what they’re learning, rather than just assume they already know it. We often recommend breaking up your class into pairs or smaller discussion groups during your class or small-group time, so everyone gets a chance to talk and really dig into what’s being studied. And even as they learn, they begin developing friendships that could last a lifetime. Being relational in your teaching helps your church to learn, and grow, together.
E — Experiential. Take a fresh walk through the gospels, and you’ll notice that Jesus used experiences and real-life items to make his lessons real to his disciples. Foot washing, fishing, coins, seeds, clothing–all were perfectly good fodder for important lessons we still learn today. Experiential learning engages all of the senses, as well as our emotions. Think about life lessons you’ve learned in the past, or memories from your childhood. There’s a very good chance that there have been some strong emotions or certain sensations attached to those memories.
Great experiences, by definition, contain something of the unexpected–and the unexpected forces us to engage both our minds and our hearts. Experiential learning in your classroom or group will accomplish the same thing–it will force your students beyond listening to participating, not only to think but to feel. And that’s where life change begins to happen.
A — Applicable. This is where the rubber hits the road. Application is where a one-time experience can become a lifetime change. Provide opportunities for students to put what they’ve learned into practice. If it’s a lesson on faith sharing, give students ideas on how they can do that this week–not just verbalizing their faith, but also learning to listen in order to discover how God can specifically help, or by serving others to show them Jesus’ love. If the lesson is about keeping your focus on Jesus, give students ideas how to go home and start eliminating those things that distract their focus (by giving things away to others, or by “fasting” from something they’ve been preoccupied with for that week).
One more thing: Don’t just have students do it; have them debrief it. Make sure students come back together and talk about their experiences. Even a few minutes talking it through deepens the lessons learned, and helps others to understand their experiences better. Ask open-ended questions, and discover what God’s been saying to your students through their experiences.
L — Learner-Based. Different people learn in different ways. While a small number of students indeed learn best by listening and reading, the same approach won’t work as well for your tactile learner, that otherwise bright student who can’t sit still, or that student whose social skills far outstrip his or her reading or listening skills. And you want everyone to learn. By using an experiential-learning approach, all of your students get an equal opportunity to learn in the way God “wired” them.
So go ahead–don’t just say it or read it. Do it. Get REAL with your students. It’s a fun and functional way to teach, and by changing your approach you’ll better develop your students’ minds and hearts.
Carl Simmons is adult-curriculum editor for Group Publishing in Loveland, Colo.
