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Listening: A Planning Tool for Teacher Development
by Carol F. Krau
In many congregations, the spring of the year means the end of the
"regular" Sunday school year. Summer Sunday school may mean new class
configurations, new teachers, and experimental curriculum. In some
congregations, Sunday school "goes on vacation" during the summer -- to be
continued in September.
Spring is a natural time to reflect on the past year and to begin planning
for the upcoming year. Teacher appreciation and evaluation go hand-in-hand
in many congregations. During the spring months, educational leaders
identify needs for new and existing classes and invite teachers to staff
those classes. Listening should play a major role in this planning
process.
How Will Listening Help?
Listening can result in several benefits for your congregational ministries
of Christian education:
1. Listening builds community.
Spending time talking with teachers gives you the opportunity to get to
know one another. It offers the chance to practice "being present" to one
another and to share one another's joys and concerns. Conversation helps
to build a shared vision for educational ministries in your congregation.
2. Listening expresses care.
Most people appreciate the opportunity to talk about what they do and what
it means to them. Teachers want to know that someone else supports their
work, that they have someone to turn to when they need help, and that they
are not alone.
3. Listening solicits feedback to use in future planning.
When your agenda is to listen to teachers, you discover needs they may have
-- as individuals, as family members, and as Christian educators. You can
begin to identify concrete ways to support teachers and to develop their
knowledge and skills. Ongoing support encourages confident, dedicated
teachers.
4. Listening confirms (or contradicts) "hunches."
Sometimes we plan based on what we think people need or want. Listening
provides data to support our suppositions.
How Can I Listen Effectively?
Listening can be done in a variety of ways -- surveys, focus groups,
informal conversation, and others. One-on-one interviews with teachers are
effective listening tools. You can use the following questions or a
variation of these questions:
- Tell me about being a Sunday school teacher.
- What supports you in being the best teacher you can be?
- What keeps you from being as good as you would like to be?
- How does being a Sunday school teacher help you grow in faith?
- How are you helping other people grow in faith by being a Sunday school
teacher?
- What one thing do you wish you had to help you?
Based on the responses to each question, ask follow-up questions, such as:
- "Tell me more about that."
or
- "A minute ago you said . . . Say more about that."
The follow-up questions help you understand what the teacher wants to
communicate. It takes the guesswork out of listening and responding. For
example, if a teacher says, "I hate the curriculum!," ask for further
clarification. You might say, "Tell me what you don't like about the
curriculum." Then after some conversation, repeat what you heard so that
you are sure you understand the issues. (By the way, the interview time is
for listening, not for decision-making. By listening and acknowledging the
teacher's needs, you communicate that you are interested in him or her.
Let the teacher know that you will share his or her needs with your pastor
or work area and that his or her feedback will be helpful in planning for
the coming year.)
Depending on how talkative the teacher is, you may not get to all the
questions. Each interview can take about an hour. If you plan for a
shorter interview period, limit the number of questions you ask. You may
want to hold your interviews in the church parlor or another room with
comfortable chairs. Have glasses and water available.
Members of your work area on education or nurture may be partners in the
interview process. Print the questions you will ask on a sheet of paper,
and leave room for notes. Have one person ask the questions; have another
take notes. If several interviews are scheduled on the same day, partners
can rotate between asking the questions and taking notes.
A Listening Timetable
When spring has "sprung," fall is never far behind! Get a head start on
effective planning by setting up three or four interviews with teachers.
Invite your pastor, members of the work area on education or nurture, your
Sunday school superintendent, or a friend to hold several interviews also.
Then later in the summer, compare notes from what you've heard. You'll be
ready to map out a strategy for teacher support and development in the
coming year.
Happy listening!
Carol F. Krau (ckrau@gbod.org) is the director of
teacher/leader development in Christian education for the General Board of
Discipleship. This article has been adapted from the Spring 1996 issue of
Christians in Education, a resource of the Christian Educators Fellowship. It is used by permission.
Originally posted June 13, 1997
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