The E’s of Teaching

In more than thirty-five years of teaching at the university and seminary levels, I’ve noticed four types of teachers. One type is highly educated, skilled in teaching methodology, polished in presentations, with great teaching EXPERTISE. They may have gone straight from the academic arena as a student to the academic arena as a teacher, bypassing the field of experiential learning. A second group is filled with stories of how it is when their teaching field encounters reality, equipping their student for real-life experiences. They may have spent less time in academic preparation and more time in practical service. They teach largely out of EXPERIENCE. A sad third, but gratefully small group has neither proper EXPERTISE, nor adequate EXPEREINCE, yet they teach. Blessed is the student who sits under the fourth type of teacher, one with both EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE. These are the EXPERT teachers. They share out of their own academic preparation as well as from their on-field activities. So here’s a formula for the want-to-be teacher: EXPERTISE + EXPERIENCE = EXPERT. The formula is a biblical one. Jesus was both the formal teacher in the synagogues and the practical teacher in the midst of life’s activities. “Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:35). Learn from those who teach from head knowledge. Likewise, learn from those who teach from hand knowledge. Especially, learn from those who successfully blend the two into expert teaching.

Join me in remembering the following global prayer concerns this week:
• Pray for those who serve in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, the fastest growing city in Canada with a 19% growth in the last five years.
• Pray for Suzanne as she recovers from surgery.
• Pray for those who live and serve in Eastern Europe where record cold temperatures are causing death and difficulties.
• Pray for those who will use Valentine’s Day as a means of ministry.
• Pray for those who serve in the African country of Mali, amidst great unrest and insecurity.