Category Archives: Means of Teacher Training

Devotionals Provide Encouragement that Helps Bible Teachers Maintain the Right Focus

As a means of teacher training, devotionals go beyond needed teaching skills to attending to hearts and our walk with God. They can provide reminders of our need to tap into God’s power. As such, devotionals can address some key factors related to Bible teaching.

1) The Practice of Accountability

James 3:1 says “… we who teach will be judged more strictly.” Teachers therefore need to be challenged to guard their words and examine their lives.

Devotionals will often help us look at what’s happening inside, at the core of our being, so our actions line up with God’s desires. “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34). The heart, according to Proverbs 4:23, “is the wellspring of life.”

Encouragement: Focus on the heart and you shouldn’t have to fear accountability.

For more on accountability:

• Accountable Bible Teachers
• Lesson Prep: Accountability Needed
• Words & the Teacher’s Accountability

2) The Principle of Sowing and Reaping

“A man reaps what he sows” (Gal. 6:7-10). What a teacher sows into his/her own life will have a way of spilling out onto others. Those who do not take time for spiritual growth opportunities, or personal enrichment, will soon have little to offer.

Devotions should provide us with a time of reflection about what we’re sowing into our lives and teaching.

Encouragement: Focus on feeding your spirit and you will have something to share.

For more on sowing & reaping:

• Teachers Reap What They Sow
• Lies Bible Teachers Might Believe
• Words & the Teacher’s Heart

3) The Priority of Being Over Doing

God’s recruitment criteria is the person of the heart, not one’s skill or appearance. “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7)

Devotionals can serve as reminders that who we are matters to God, not just what we do. This kind of encouragement spills over into what we do in the classroom.

Encouragement: Focus on what’s on the inside and you will soon be doing what you should do.

For more on “being”:

• Being Versus Doing: Which is most important in ministry?
• Teacher Acrostic – What’s in Your Heart?
• Bible Teacher Qualities

Using devotionals geared to Bible teachers can encourage and enrich but also provide challenges sometimes needed to move to the next level not only in teaching but especially in one’s walk with God.

GO TO: Teacher Training Devotionals as Downloads

We often think of job descriptions, also known as ministry descriptions in the Church, for recruitment purposes to let people know their responsibilities. But, ministry job descriptions can also be effective for evaluative and accountability purposes. Used accordingly, they can also be a good tool for teacher training.

4 Ways Ministry Job Descriptions Can be Used for Teacher Training

We don’t have to get stuck in a rut with the way we approach teacher training. Let’s use whatever tools may be at our disposal, like ministry job descriptions.

1. Go over the ministry description with new teachers, line by line, to determine where they most need help and then tailor pre-service training to their specific needs.

2. Distribute a copy of the ministry description for all teachers to evaluate their teaching in light of these expectations, perhaps including a scale on which they can rank themselves in each area. Provide training for individuals where they ranked themselves the lowest.

3. Part of the way through the teaching year, observe teachers in action and later sit down in private consultation with them. Use the job description as an assessment tool to review how you perceive they are doing in accomplishing the various responsibilities and what kind of training you believe could help them.

4. Use the broad responsibilities listed in the ministry as an outline or framework around which to build an on-going teacher training plan during teachers’ meetings.

Perhaps you don’t have ministry job descriptions developed for your teachers. Or, perhaps you need to review and revise outdated ones. Here are some helps in the TrainChurchLeaders.com site that could be of help: Church Ministry Job Descriptions Resources

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.

2. 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.

Too often we train teachers in a large group session because we’re in a training rut or because it seems more convenient to cover everyone at once. But, if we aren’t careful, for some it could be a waste of time if not relevant to the age they teach or the setting in which they teach.

Tips for Having All Bible Teachers in One Group Training Session

If you must include all teachers in the same session, pay particular attention to the first tip below and where possible, follow the second tip as well.

1. Think broad. – What topics relate to teachers of all age groups or in any setting?

2. Use break out groups based on setting or age taught after presenting broad content. – How does this content specifically apply to each teacher’s particular situation?

Topics Appropriate for all Bible Teachers in One Training Session

For the most part, the following topics apply to teachers of all ages and settings.

• overall goal of Bible teaching

• Teaching for Changed Lives Training Sessions
• Aiming for Empty-less Teaching

• qualities and roles of Bible teachers

• Assess One’s Teaching – Circle Response
• Being an Effective Teacher

• basics of the teaching-learning process

• Audiovisual Teaching Because of God
• The Holy Spirit & Bible Teaching
• Have Good Lesson Aims

• some general encouragement

• Rediscovering the Joy of Teaching PowerPoint Presentation