Category Archives: Means of Teacher Training

Since 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

Conference calls provide a means of getting a group of teachers together at one time without having to leave home. This saves busy teachers travel time.

While you could use mere audio calling, how much better if they could see each other via video.

You can use Skype, Zoom, or any other computer based phone conferencing program teachers are willing to install.

Benefits of Using Conference Calls for Teacher Training

Using conference calls for teacher training does the following:

• provides a platform for learning
• presents a means of collaborating
• promotes community

How you use conference calls will be blocked only by your creativity. You’ll find some ideas in the Teacher Training Module which is part of the Christian Education Files resource. This resource also looks at 22 additional means of training Bible teachers. (The Teacher Training Module can be purchased separately.)

Other Means of Teacher Training

Sometimes sending your Bible teachers to an outside conference or Christian Education convention can be quite beneficial. You don’t have to train teachers yourself all the time. Going to a different location has the potential of expanding teachers in ways that might not happen in a familiar setting. It exposes them to new people with different experiences. Hearing from speakers and workshop facilitators different from someone they hear time and again helps them see even familiar content in a fresh way. Guard against getting stuck in a rut in the way you do teacher training.

Benefits of Bible Teachers Attending Conferences Outside Your Location

• Understanding expands hearing the same material from a different perspective and/or in a different style.
• Creativity expands as they sometimes glean fresh or innovative ideas that they can bring back and share with others.
• Networks expand as they meet with teachers from other churches and ministries with whom they can fellowship.
• Enthusiasm expands as they hear what God is doing elsewhere and see the possibilities for their own setting.

Sending teachers to conferences outside of your church can get costly. They’ll benefit, however, even if they only go occasionally, especially if it covers an area for which you can’t find training resources.

More and more churches are using Social Media to communicate with their congregations about upcoming events and special needs.  Have you considered setting up an account on one or multiple social media platforms to be used solely as a teacher training tool?  You can do some or all of the following through it:

If all teachers are not following it, some of the teachers will miss out some vital training.  As such, you would not be able to rely on this medium alone but rather use it as a supplement to those who are able to follow it.

Suggestions for How to Use Social Media for Teacher Training

There are multiple ways social media can be used for training your Bible teachers. Get some ideas in the Teacher Training Module which is part of the Christian Education Files resource. This resource also looks at 22 additional means of training Bible teachers. (The Teacher Training Module can be purchased separately.)

Other Means of Teacher Training