Laying The Ground Rules

Ah this is more like it. It’s a Tuesday. It’s late night. I’ve ministered to the wife’s needs and heard her day. I’ve had the day at work and the evening at the session and I’m ready to write.

We learnt a fair amount of stuff today in the session, legislation, communication and the importance of referral systems to support the learner in their holistic approach to effective learning. Among other things we learnt today was the importance of setting ground rules with the learners in our given class. As we discussed some of the things to be stated in any set of ground rules I found it intriguing how much for granted people took their own values, almost as though their own values should naturally be followed by others just because it’s the standards of their day. What’s also fascinating is how on the one side imposing views and beliefs on others is a bad thing, but in actuality that’s what teaching seeks to do by one means or another. Nothing is rigorously challenged about those beliefs and they are taken on face value. What lies beneath however, is often something that appeals to an objective authority. It is as if it is good because it was good for me and my parents and the upbringing I had.

Ground rules, however are important in any given venture. A certain understanding of the guidelines and necessary boundaries to experience the best of what’s available can only be a good thing. The alternative of feeling anything goes and finding out it’s hugely detrimental effects can make any venture fraught with danger after danger. Ground rules are cool, ground rules are important. In the sense of being with a group of learners who you want to empower in their understanding and overall development sharing the experience and having ownership of the making of the ground rules can only be a good thing.

As I thought further on the subject I looked at it in the light of Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount. In a very real way these can be considered the ground rules for access to the Kingdom of Heaven and His ability to teach them obviously left his listeners amazed at the level of authority with which He spoke. When you read it out – not as if you’re reading a menu, but as if you’re reading someone teaching – when you read it that way it is quite something to see how connected it all is and how challenging these ground rules are. Imagine being told that the way is going to be hard, imagine being told that only a few would ever find it – that doesn’t exactly sound like an inclusive deal does it. That doesn’t sound all-embracing really. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making out that Jesus had an agenda that fell neatly into a right-wing version of heaven brought about by as many wars and offensive behaviours as possible. I’m definitely not making out that Jesus was applauding those with a mentality to completely opt out of the world as we know it and live in communes and enclaves and even worst Christian ghettos where we have Christianised versions of world products and lifestyle.

What I am suggesting, back to my desire about wanting to teach people who want to be taught, in as much as I want what I teach to be accessible to people of different backgrounds and style, there is actually something about the content and it’s challenge that not everyone will live up to or want. Them are just the ground rules.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd

Teaching Basics

I met a very good friend today. By very good friend I mean the kind of friend who I don’t see regularly, but when we sit down and talk they are always … always … fruitful occasions. We can get as deep as we need and there’s often something said that makes me go back and ponder on some of the true things of life.

Today whilst we were conversing he shared about the need to get back to basics on what it is to follow Jesus. He looked at how easy it can be to get distracted with other peripheral issues and make them the big day and avoid the main things. Whereas when our focus is on the basics we never stray from what could ever make us successful in life. It is almost as though the basics work as a seed and we must get back to that seed to get an idea of what kind of plant we really are meant to be.

Today’s teacher training session reminded me of that principle. We teased out some things about establishing aims and objectives and key concepts in terms of what it is to set objectives. It was a draining session in some ways … that being considering some of the material being laid out and how it fit into the bigger picture of what we’re going to learn. It is also still the initiation stages in terms of learning the system of the course structure and what’s expected, how and when. It was looking at those basics though and understanding what to have in approaching the subject. (I’ve used a word for which I would be shot if it were applied to an objective – understand is not a concept easily measured and so requires something else in terms of an active verb to state the intention.)

I have found it fascinating to consider the different ways that people learn and the different methods that can be used to meet those tastes. We have affirmed again that the deal of teaching is getting something across to a group of people who differ in their learning style. The irony is, however, to effectively put together something that could possibly meet the tastes of an individual is based on generalities in terms of definitions for teaching methods. Sometimes I’m not sure if the pupil-focussed approach stretches the teacher beyond his own capabilities, but I guess it is good to be stretched in considering what the outcome of your teaching should be.

When looking at these issues it baffles me again that the highest place of learning in the formal education structure – university – does not reflect these important issues on the whole and persist in methods that it as learning institution itself would hardly describe as an effective learning method, i.e. the lecture style. My experience of Philosophy and Politics back at Essex University was mostly of the lecture then tutorial method. Looking back it makes it all the more remarkable that I made it through that as I did.

Looking wider at the issue of how best to learn, when I consider some of the tensions of the education system and pressures on teachers, it reaffirms my scepticism towards the mainstream education system being the best place for my children to be educated. A holistic approach to learning incorporating the key facets of the individual whom you are teaching is something the system is not set up to do at the level most effective (I believe it’s the affective domain to which I refer). It is way too taxing to expect our system to be able to get children to engage with that on the attention they deserve, not just because of class sizes, though that is an issue, but because of the nature of the investment in the child that is required.

So lots to take on board and ponder. Much to work on and the plan is that I will do so over the weekend and get myself up to speed as much as I can. So far so good and there are a lot of connecting points with other projects and schemes I’m considering. After all to be a good teacher, you have to be a good student, and being a good student can allow me to stretch myself as a reader and a writer – that can only mean good things for pursuing God through the gifts He’s given me. Keep praying.

For His Name's Sake

Shalom

dmcd