Page 136 - Ecclesiology Textbook Masters

Illustrating a Point

A very effective tool employed by the master teacher is to teach a concept,
then illustrate or give depth to the idea with and illustration, generally a story.
This is a very important tool if you want to become an effective teacher.

For example, an expert of the law or today we would call a lawyer, came to
Jesus and asked him what he must to do to obtain eternal life. Jesus answered him with a question
which brought a response from the lawyer. Jesus’s answer to his response brought another question
from the lawyer. In response, Jesus told the lawyer a story of the Good Samaritan which would illustrate
who his neighbor was. The story explained to the lawyer that his neighbor was perhaps those he did not
care to associate with. The illustration of the Good Samaritan hit the lawyer at the heart level.

Sometimes when a teacher shares a new idea or concept, the learner cannot quite understand. If the
teacher will follow up with an illustration, the story will help bridge a gap and bring enlightenment to
the learner. After sharing the illustration, the new concept will then make sense. Illustrations help bring
understanding to the learner.

There is no one set method a teacher must employ to communicate information to the
learner and to ensure that learning is happening. Have heard the saying, “Variety is the
spice of life?” That is true, especially for the sake of those who sit on the receiving end of
a class. You will find that your class will respond to your teaching style if you use several
methods.

How long can people listen to you?

Here is a saying that is so true: “The mind can only receive what the seat can endure.” Sitting an hour
listening to you drone on using a lecture method will result in very little learning. Use methods that take
into account the amount of time the student in your age group can actually concentrate. The time is
shorter than you think.

For example, the average attention span for a goldfish is 9 seconds. Not many of you will teach goldfish,
so you don’t really need to know that. Younger children can have an attention span of 10-15 minutes
and older children can hang in there about 15 – 20 minutes maximum. The average attention span for
an adult varies, but typically an adult can retain concentration about 30 minutes. After that, the mind
will tend to wander.

What this means is if you create a lecture or sermon for 50 minutes, not only will the retention be about
10%, but after around 30 minutes the majority of the class will shut down to almost zero percent
retention. An effective teacher will incorporate several methods within a class that will take attention
spans into account. This is extremely important: mixing methods resets the attention span on a new
mental clock the moment the teacher makes the shift.

The method used depends a lot on the content of the information you wish to impart. Using an
improper method may totally confuse your students. So, prayer and careful consideration should be
made by the teacher in selecting a method.

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