Techniques of Gospel Teaching

In June 14th of this year (2015), I taught the Gospel Essentials class, on the topic of faith. It was a straightforward lesson, focused on the text of the Gospel Principles manual, and more especially, on the scriptures referenced therein. As I reflected on the half-hour of teaching time, I decided that I had done a good job, but that I could also stand to improve upon my skills at engaging the audience. I recalled a training video we had watched at our latest stake conference, which had given direction to teachers about balancing classroom-wide discussion with focus on key doctrines:

"Sometimes I feel we think that if we had a discussion, we did the job, and it's over. And it seems to me these discussions all need to lead to an inspired conclusion, that's doctrinally-based."

In my case, I taught with a direct, leading style. While I invited questions and comments, I noted that the class was especially reticent. Some more encouragement could have made a valuable difference in the dynamic, and made the lesson more inspiring and thought-provoking. What could I do better next time, I wondered, in such a situation? I found an answer in the next thought from the training:

"[Discussion] often starts with a good question. And I think we've learned that the caliber of the answers is often related to the caliber of the question."

Ah, yes! A good teacher will ask inspired questions. I recall asking several questions, but they were on the fly and seldom really meaningful. Next time, I can plan out some really meaningful, engaging questions ahead of time. And this is all described in Chapter 2 of the missionary teaching manual, Preach My Gospel! I love when personal experience confirms the value of something I read. (Speaking of personal experiences, it may also have helped to have thought of a few ahead of time, to illustrate the principles.)

Although it's hard to do, PMG also teaches that a good gospel teacher must also live the gospel. The teaching helps with the living, of course, by the feelings and thoughts it inspires, but the living also helps with the teaching. It seems that people will learn more, in the long run, from what I do outside of the classroom, than from what I say in the short time we spend together within it. A lesson for life! Our private decisions play a large part in determining our public influence. How much more, when teaching about aspects of our character, should I be in practice with that aspect? I am sure that my abilities to relate about faith in the class certainly benefited from my efforts to live the principle, and the more I had been engaged with it, the better I could have conveyed its value and truth.

Elder Holland wrapped up the video training meeting by quoting Paul and Christ and calling teaching "about as fundamental a task as we have in the gospel, from earliest childhood to our senior citizen days." He said that we are all the product of whatever it is we have been taught, and testified that the Savior was the Master Teacher.