All teachers, regardless of previous experience, benefit from strategic pre-service training. People new to teaching the Bible need specific training prior to placement into a teaching position.
What Teachers New to Teaching the Bible Should Know Before They Begin
Start with a basic understanding of the Bible and its message.
Unlike any other book, the Bible’s uniqueness suggests that even those who have taught in a traditional school setting gain at least a basic understanding of the Text they will teach. People don’t need an exhaustive knowledge of the Word before teaching but at least a solid big-picture understanding. Even veteran Bible teachers continue to learn and grow. These training resources can help those new to Bible teaching gain that big-picture perspective:
Move on to a basic understanding of the Bible teaching-learning process.
New teachers also need a grasp on the goals of the Bible teaching-learning process. It goes beyond the acquisition of knowledge to addressing the heart as well as behavior. Beginning with head knowledge, it culminates in “bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:9-11). Teachers need to know how to structure individual lessons to increase the potential of their students reaching that end goal. Here’s a resource to help:
New Teachers Will Also Benefit from Other Basics
Know age level characteristics.
God made people to learn certain ways at different stages of their development. Though curriculum usually accommodates the age level, teachers will face teaching moments off script before or after class, even during activities. New teachers therefore need a basic understanding of the age they’ll teach. Here are resources to help:
Know how to effectively use curriculum.
People new to Bible teaching need to understand the role of curriculum as a guide, with the Bible being the real Text. While lesson preparation will tie into the curriculum being used, we need to study God’s Word and not rely solely on the curriculum. We need to depend on God’s Spirit to make truth known. We mustn’t underestimate the role of prayer in both preparing and presenting the lesson. Training should therefore include specifics about the curriculum itself but also emphasize the role of the Holy Spirit and prayer. Check out these resources:
- When You Need to Adjust the Curriculum Worksheet
- The Holy Spirit and My Teaching Devotional
- Praying Like You Truly Believe HE is the Source of All You Need Worksheet
If teaching children or youth, new teachers would benefit from some discipline basics.
Even with all of the above understood and implemented by new teachers, disillusionment and discouragement can set in if students don’t cooperate or pay attention. So teaching doesn’t become more about “crowd control” than actual teaching, new teachers need at least a basic understanding of managing classroom discipline before beginning to teach. These training resources provide some of the basics. In time, training on classroom discipline can go deeper.
- Biblical Authority versus the Authoritarian and Permissive Teachers Worksheet
- Handbook on the Basics of Classroom Discipline
Other training topics like methodology, creativity, time management, and more, are important but but people new to teaching the Bible may get overwhelmed with too much too fast. Begin with the basics and then continue with in-service training to fill in the gaps.
