Page 83 - Teaching Principles and Methods Student Textbook short

2. The goal of teaching is always life change
In preparing a lesson plan, the teacher should never approach the material with the
goal of, ‘What do I want to teach the learners?’; the goal should always be, ‘What do I
want the learners to do?’ Too often teachers have the simple goal of information
transfer rather than life transformation. It was once said that ‘Wisdom is knowledge
applied to everyday life’. The teacher would do well to consider this concept while
preparing teaching material. Consider the question, ‘What will the learners do with this
information?’ In order to facilitate the process of applying knowledge in a practical way, the teacher
must be able to think through the material and process how the information can be implemented in
everyday life.

This can be illustrated with one idea: the teacher is not a lecturer, but a tour guide. The lecturer stands
behind the podium, using big words and complicated ideas. In this setting, the one lecturing is separated
from the learners in many respects. The tour guide, on the other hand, shares the real life experiences
of the learner, while walking through life on the same level as the learner. The tour guide is able to
communicate for life change, because the learner sees the tour guide as one who is ‘wrestling with life’
in the same way. This distinction can be helpful in preparing a lesson. It is much easier to lecture on lofty
concepts and abstract principles; it takes much more time to apply those concepts and principles into
everyday life for change.

3. Effective teaching is transferable
The teacher has not done his job unless the learners can walk away with ‘the big idea’ of the lesson. The
‘big idea’ could also be the ‘main point, the insight, or the principle’ that each learner can take home
and implement it into his everyday life. Andy Stanly, in “Communicating for Change”, offers this helpful
process for finding the ‘big idea’: “1. Dig until you find it, 2. Build everything around it, and finally, 3.
Make it stick.” The most important part of this process for this principle is ‘make it stick’. Generally
speaking, people are not going to remember a long paragraph or a lengthy discourse of explanation.
People need a statement that is transferable. For the teacher this takes time. As a teacher, you should
be able to reduce your ‘big idea’ down to a take home level. Think ‘short and memorable’.

To illustrate this principle it might help to ask yourself two questions when preparing a lesson. 1. What is
the one thing I want the learner to take home? and 2. What do I want him to do with this information?
For most communicators, this step is the biggest challenge; therefore it might be helpful to have a small
sheet of paper on your desk as you prepare your lesson. While you are preparing, work on that
statement, wrestle with it, change it, and start over. Do all that you have to do in order to make the ‘big
idea’ transferable.

4. Effective teaching involves the learners
As we have seen in principle 1, the learner can be an invaluable resource to the lesson. The learner is
often prompted to ask questions that pertain to the discussion, which can also speak to life situations of
other learners. Too many teachers ignore this great truth when teaching. But, involving the learner
promotes more learning. Teachers will find that people tend to learn more when they are involved in
the process. The learner is not going to absorb every single meticulously-crafted statement you deliver
during a lesson. While this takes much preparation, it is well worth it. The less you talk, the more the
class will own the lesson.

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