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 Not Everyone Learns AlikeHow to teach in the ways people learn best.
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Dynamic learners want to discover truth themselves. Hidden possibilities excite them. Their favorite question: "What can this become?" The world comes to people like these in rather concrete principles, but they process it actively and with flair. People like this often seek careers in sales, action-oriented managerial positions, and marketing. For a lesson on evangelism, I may charge the dynamic learners to design a strategy to reach a local apartment complex with the gospel. And I'd challenge them with the task of not only designing the plan but also finding ways to bring it to reality. This is a real task, one they would consider worthy of their enthusiasm and creativity. Making New Methods WorkUnless I push myself into uncharted areas, I run the risk of never reaching the students with other learning styles. Introducing new techniques to a traditional classroom is best done gently. I start with non-threatening suggestions—a work sheet done with a partner, a small-group question-and-answer session, or brainstorming in a large group—nothing that can be interpreted by nervous students as potentially embarrassing. Only when the group is accustomed to a few changes do I offer choices the class may interpret as unusual. Skits, group projects, art options, special research, or even individual study can be a breath of fresh air to those students who long to be invited to learn in their own favorite style. I try to accommodate each of the four learning styles at some point in the lesson. When I plan, I keep in mind specific students in the class who best represent the various learning styles. Then I make sure there is something in the lesson that will appeal to each of those students. It may be the introduction, one of the options to explore the biblical data, or the application. Somewhere in the lesson, I want each person to know the message is for him or her. In his grace, God has made each of us unique. At times, teaching a roomful of people who learn in different ways can be frustrating. But we can use that same uniqueness to enrich our classrooms. At the time of writing, Penny Zettler was minister of Christian education at Central Baptist Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota. © Christianity Today International 2008. This article originally appeared in Leadership journal. For more articles like this one, go to Leadershipjournal.net. |             |
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