We’ve all been in a lesson at Church where the teacher has the whole lesson planned out and maybe even a PowerPoint/video to help drive their key thoughts home. They come knowing what they want to cover, they ask people to read this scripture or that quote, and sometimes they will ask a question like, “What are your thoughts?” But quickly stifle any discussion so they can “get back to the lesson.” Despite all of the preparations that were made, these are the lessons that people tend to get the least out of. It’s like asking your friend their thoughts on the last few weeks of Come, Follow Me and then trying to pay attention while they lecture you for nearly an hour.
I remember the distinct difference in lessons when the church pushed for more discussion-based lessons as our meetings were shortened to two hours. Instead of that one-sided conversation with that friend and you struggling to pay attention, it became more like a group of friends sharing the best part of their studies and then talking about them.
As the church has been trying to teach us to “teach people, not lessons,” it makes sense that you would have to base a lot of your lesson on the comments of the people around you and not have a preconceived plan of exactly how the lesson is going to go. It makes it easier to follow the Spirit when things go in an unanticipated direction. Yet, many people don’t teach this way. And I bet most of those teachers would say, “Yeah, if I had that kind of participation it would be a lot easier to teach that way!”
What these teachers don’t realize is that their teaching style discourages comments from others. It is hard to change your teaching style, especially if you have been doing it that way for a long time! So, whether you are a long-time teacher and trying to break from the lecture-based lessons or a new teacher who is beyond nervous about standing at the front of the room for 50 minutes, here are five things that you can do to be a better gospel teacher starting today.
1st. Know Your Material
This one shouldn’t come as a shock, but to be an effective gospel teacher you need to know what you are teaching! Besides the rare circumstances where you had no time to prepare, you can only expect the Spirit to guide you through the lesson if you have put in the time and effort to be familiar with the material that is the subject of the lesson.
You should be able to fit your entire lesson plan on a single piece of paper. Let me say that again. You should know your material well enough that the only prompts you need can fit on a single piece of paper. That also means that you don’t have elaborate lesson plans with a bunch of stories and sources outside of a scripture reference or general conference talks.
For example, when my sister was a Gospel Doctrine teacher in her ward, she would study Come, Follow Me throughout the week, and then Sunday morning she would compile all of her thoughts into a lesson plan that was a few pages long. This worked well for her until she was called early Sunday morning to attend a family emergency that only finished with enough time for her to get a skirt on and head to church. She was so nervous about teaching with only a few points she wrote down on a piece of paper during Sacrament Meeting, but that lesson was one of her most spirit-led classes and was filled with tons of comments from others. It was a blessing for sure, but one that she could have because she was familiar with the material and was willing to be led through it by the comments made and the Spirit.
“It is a little scary to trust in the Lord and come prepared to lead a discussion without lots of material,” said Linda Harmon, a Relief Society president, “but once you do it—if you have prepared yourself through prayer, study, going to the temple, and whatever else you are inspired to do—it is amazing.”
The Ensign, Nov. 2017
2nd. Ask Open-ended Questions
Very few things discourage people from answering questions more than if they feel like you are looking for one particular answer! Nobody likes the “guess my mind” game. This also includes answers that everyone should know and the ones that you hope they will say if you keep asking for input long enough. If it is blatantly obvious that everyone should know the answer, save some time and just say it rather than play games! There will be plenty of other opportunities for everyone else to be heard. If you are looking for a specific answer to help you segway into the next portion of your lesson, you are lecturing and your lesson plan is longer than a single sheet of paper. The type of questions that will encourage participation can be answered a thousand different ways and can all be correct.
A good question can be as simple as, “How has the temple blessed your life personally?” Or “After I read this quote, I would like to hear what parts stood out to you and why.” However, the vague question “Any thoughts on these weeks of Come Follow Me study?” or “What do you think about that talk?” can be too vague and are harder to answer. Questions are the fuel for a good lesson, so ask them often and let as many people answer as would like to before moving on to something else.
How do we make sure our questions lead to more natural and meaningful discussion? There are some do’s and don’ts that many teachers have found helpful: Don’t ask questions that have obvious answers. Do ask questions that have more than one answer. Don’t ask questions that are too personal.
It may also be valuable, before we start planning questions to ask in class, to ask ourselves a question: Why am I asking questions in the first place?… Questions that invite class members into a heartfelt conversation that fosters spiritual learning include questions like “As you read this verse, what stands out to you?” or “What experiences have taught you to trust the Lord’s promises?” or almost any question that begins with “What do you think … ?”
The Ensign, Jan. 2017
3rd. Be Comfortable with Silence
Now that you’ve asked the question, here comes the dreaded silence. But wait, why is it dreaded? You might feel awkward standing in front of everyone with nothing to say, but what are people in their seats doing? They are thinking. They could be getting prompted by the Spirit in that moment of silence. You’ve invited the Spirit into the lesson and have engaged everyone in gospel learning, why shouldn’t the Spirit get a chance to speak to those who are receptive? If you wait long enough, some people will even share the thoughts they just received from the Spirit. Those comments are gold, and often missed because we feel too awkward with silence.
I can guarantee there are others who would like to share a comment that they have, but they first need a moment to form their thoughts, work up the courage, and then raise their hand. Not only can these comments build unity among everyone in the room by this person putting themselves out there, but they are also often the most profound comments because they are coming from a perspective you don’t often get to hear. So when you are standing up there in the quiet, just remember: The longer the silence, the better!
Another reason why silence is so valuable is inevitably there are those minds that will have started to wander and the silence brings them back to class. I’d be lying if I said that has never happened to me. If you think that is the case, you can slowly count to 5 and then ask the question again. That should be the only way you break the silence before someone raises their hand. That way everyone can be on the same page and know that you actually do want to hear from them. I have found that if you wait long enough someone always shares, and often more people will be willing to share after them.
If you wait for input until a couple of comments are shared before moving on, people in the class will know that you genuinely would like their participation and likely the silence will be shorter next time. However, if you graze over the question because you don’t have hands go up almost immediately after the question is asked, then you are only allowing the few assertive people to make comments and everyone else goes on trying to pay attention to a lecture.
Do not be afraid of silence. People often need time to think about and reply to questions or to express what they are feeling. You might pause after you have asked a question, after sharing a spiritual experience, or when people are having difficulty expressing themselves. Be sure to give people time to complete their thoughts before you respond, and do not interrupt while they are talking.
Preach My Gospel Chapter 10: How Can I Improve My Teaching Skills?
4th. Affirm Every Comment
Whenever someone shares a comment, a good gospel teacher strives to always affirm either them or the comment itself. With great comments, this is pretty easy! But you are likely to get some comments that stray from a productive topic or are just straight-up doctrinally inaccurate. It is important to say something that affirms their comment or expresses appreciation to the commenter to encourage others to share. There are plenty of people in the room who don’t know if their comment is any good, but they feel like they should share, so when those people know their comment won’t be shot down they are more likely to actually raise their hand.
So how do you affirm a comment that seems nonsensical or completely off-base? Even something as simple as, “Thank you for sharing,” or “I never thought of it that way,” is adequate. You can then go on to the next raised hand, ask if someone else has something they would like to share, or even move onto a different topic if you are worried about it derailing the lesson and distracting from the Spirit.
But what if what they say is against the doctrine of the church? It is your calling to correct false doctrine taught in your class, but you can do so lovingly and then reconnect on something they said that was accurate. There will always be something for you to reconnect on, Satan does not get us to accept a lie without making it look pretty with a few truths.
For example, let’s say someone just shared a personal experience about how they started “paying their tithing” by donating 10% of their income to charities rather than tithing it to the church. Your job as the one called to teach this class would be to say something like, “The church teaches that we are supposed to tithe 10% of our income to the Lord through his appointed representatives, our bishop, so I don’t think that can be considered tithing and might be something you want to chat with Bishop about, however I totally agree that we are called to be charitable beyond just the tithing we give the church and there are many ways to do that. What are some other ways that we can be charitable outside of our regular tithing and fast offerings?” There will never be a perfect way to both not offend and to correct false doctrine, but when it is done lovingly you allow the Spirit to teach everyone the truth.
“You can help those you teach feel more confident about their ability to participate in a discussion if you respond positively to every sincere comment. For example, you might say, “Thank you for your answer. That was very thoughtful” or “What a good idea! I had never thought of that before” or “That is a good example” or “I appreciate all that you have said today.”
Never ridicule or criticize any question or comment, but show courtesy and love as you do your best to respond. When people feel that their comments are valued, they will share their experiences, feelings, and testimonies more freely”
Teaching, No Greater Call: A Resource Guide for Gospel Teaching: Conducting Discussions
5th. Don’t Plan on Covering Everything
Even if your lesson notes can fit on a single page, don’t plan on getting to every point you have on your paper, and be okay with that. Good lessons are always taught by the Spirit. Your job as a gospel teacher is to merely create an environment that invites the Spirit to do the teaching. So, if the Spirit and the comments being made lead you in a different direction than you had planned for or keep you on a topic longer than you were expecting, THAT’S GREAT! That means you are teaching people, not lessons, and that you are being guided by the Spirit rather than your agenda.
Few things make people less likely to share their comments than if you seem like you are running out of time to cover what you want. Avoid using the oft-repeated, “We have so much to cover.” You prepare not so you know exactly what you need to share, but so you can say a prayer and put it in the hands of the Spirit.
“It is the responsibility of the teacher to prepare the way for learners to have a spiritual experience with the Lord. Rather than saying to their class that they have a lot to cover that day, leaving little or no time for discussion or questions, teachers must listen to the Lord to know the most important principles they should teach.”
David M. McConkie, “Revelation Is the Secret to Being a Good Teacher”
Conclusion: You can become a good gospel teacher
You aren’t a bad gospel teacher if you haven’t been doing these things. The fact that you are reading this article means that you are teachable and care about those you teach. Those are great qualities that will help you succeed in becoming the best gospel teacher possible. The Spirit can be present in any classroom where truth is being taught, and you have been doing that. These changes are inspired and can invite the Spirit to be the teacher rather than just being a testifier. If you don’t feel like you can do it at once, try to encourage participation. Then once you have that down, focus on shortening your lesson plan to a page once you see how much people are willing to participate.
I promise you people will share more if they think they are contributing to the class rather than getting in the way of you teaching your planned lesson. Then you will be enjoying the best of everyone’s study as well as getting to share your own! It won’t happen right away. But the more that you try to be a good gospel teacher by encouraging comments with inspired questions, leaving room for them to answer, affirming comments that are shared, and not making people feel like you are trying to cover your material, the more you will be able to see how a single page of notes is enough for God to work with.
If you like this article, you might also like: Five EASY Ways to Increase the Quality of Sacrament Meeting
