Teacher Training & Teaching Staff Meetings

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Bible Teaching Staff MeetingSince it can be hard to get busy people out for additional meetings, you might want to include some teacher training in with your teaching staff meetings. Yet, with all the announcements you might need to make and work you must do on strategies, you might have little time remaining for teacher training. To be impacting, you therefore need to make every moment count.

  1. Zero in on ONE key concept.

The goal would be for teachers to leave with something they can remember and work on.

  1. Weave the key concept throughout the entire meeting in a variety of ways as a means of reinforcing it.

This will be easier to do if you make the training topic relevant to other issues you will be covering.

  1. Extend the training by suggesting additional resources to do on their own.

You can use the training resources pages on this site for possible resources to suggest.

An Idea: One thing I did was to send out a one page (often front and back) newsletter about one to two weeks after the staff meeting. On it I included a recap of the key training concept, asking how they were progressing, and then looked at it from different angles.  I would sometimes give a practical illustration of it, some additional points to consider, a quotable quote related to it, a resource recommendation, and a devotional related to a personal quality they could work on that would help them implement it. The Be-Attitudes for Teachers Devotional Book actually had its beginning in these newsletters. I always emphasized that what we do grows out of who we are.

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Downtime Doesn’t Have to Mean No Training

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We sometimes face downtimes in the church when our teaching ministry slows down or is temporarily suspended. Summer tends to be one of those times but for some churches these kinds of decisions must be made in light of current events.

Use Downtime for Self-Study Teacher Training

If you can’t gather your Bible teachers together for a training seminar, it doesn’t mean you can’t provide training. Check out the list of different ways to provide teacher training at: In a Teacher Training Rut?

Though you may not be able to use the means that require large group or even one-on-one meeting, there are ways to adapt even some of those means through the use of technology. But, consider using this time as an opportunity to do training in ways not normally used. Ministry Tools Resource Center can provide an economical source for the following dowloadable resources that can be used for self-study:

(Though these resources may not be put on your church website, you do have permission to e-mail the files -PDFs- to your teachers.)

Tips for Self-Study Training

  1. Try to choose topics relevant to the needs of the individual teachers. That will help with motivation.
  1. Plan follow-up for questions and feedback, letting them know you will be contacting them at a given point. That will provide some accountability.

Also, keep the line of communication open during downtime to encourage and support them personally, not just in their teaching capacity. That will let them know you care.

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In a Teacher Training Rut?

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How easy it is to get into the rut of doing something a certain way because “we’ve always done it that way.”  Teacher training in the church is no exception.
Training as a part of your teacher staff meetings is good.
Special teacher training seminars are good.

Though valid means of training Bible teachers, seminars tend to provide more of a cookie cutter approach.  Everyone, regardless of need or teaching experience, receives the same training.  Whether pre-service or in-service training, Bible teachers would most benefit from a variety of approaches.

Use Different Means of Teacher Training to Get Out of a Training Rut

This Christian Teacher Training Blog will help you think through different ways of training Bible teachers. Click on the links below to learn about the various means:

Christian Education Teacher Training ModuleAll of these means of teacher training are included in the CE Files Teacher Training Module with additional helps for each means than what you will read in this blog.  This module is part of the Christian Education Files Download but can be ordered separately.

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In a Teacher Training Rut? – Try Apprenticeship

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Apprenticeship is an ideal way to train new Bible teachers. In essence wasn’t apprenticeship what Jesus used with the twelve disciples?

How Jesus, the Master Teacher, Trained His Disciples through Apprenticeship

Jesus Training His Disciples Like an ApprenticeshipThey observed Him.  He invited them to participate in small ways.  He sent them out.  He provided feedback on what they did.

They spent three years with Him before doing ministry without His physical presence.  Though Jesus ascended to heaven, they still had access to Him through prayer and through the Holy Spirit.

Can you or a seasoned teacher take a prospective teacher under your wings?

The challenge in using apprenticeship as a means of teacher training is that leadership cannot wait until a need opens to recruit.  You must work ahead of needs so there is time to go through the process.

The Teacher Training Module included in the Christian Education Files resource suggests a process for training by apprenticeship. It also looks at 22 additional means of training Bible teachers. (The Teacher Training Module can be purchased separately.)

Other Means of Teacher Training

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