Christian education is the cornerstone of a vibrant congregation. The role of the Sunday school teacher therefore is as important as the pastoral teaching. Teachers are the candle bearers of Christian ministry among children. They need personalized training to succeed in this ministry.
As a Sunday School teacher, he/she is entrusted with the task of responding to the areas of concern in a child’s growth as a Christian, namely, self, God, Jesus, the Church, the Bible and the World around that child.
A good teacher teaches not only in the traditional way, but also talks about the circumstances of everyday life that shows a child the best way to live. Teachers should be equipped with different ideas for staffing, equipping, programming, evaluating, motivating, managing and improving the Sunday School in quality and in spirit.
On-the-job training, as in the case of military recruits, can be effective in the Christian ministry too. This hands-on training with the application of the best tools available to the teacher-in-training is more meaningful to the individual than the mere reading of a book to prepare for a training certificate. However, this process may involve the teacher-in-training to attend different grade level classes and may take a couple of years to complete.
This approach may be difficult to implement, considering the fact that many Sunday Schools in the Northeast and Southwest American Dioceses experience a shortage of qualified teachers and/or who have to work within the constraints of available space and duration of Sunday School classes.
Under these circumstances, the Sunday School Board at its March 15, 2003 meeting held in New York established a Sunday School Teachers’ Training Certificate Program. The purpose of this program is to provide guidance to potential teachers who did not have the opportunity to complete all twelve grades in a regular Sunday school setting in this country.
Very Rev. Thomas P. Mundukuzhy Cor Episcopa [Sunday School Director, 1982-2003] started developing a syllabus that accommodates Sunday School curriculum of our mother Church in Kerala while applying the American way of teaching and testing. The initial draft of the syllabus was presented at the annual meeting of the American Diocese Sunday School Association held on September 13, 2003 at St. Gregorios Malankara Orthodox Church, Washington, D.C.Consensus among the attendees regarding the Teachers’ Training Certification program and the suggested syllabus was positive.
Additional work on the syllabus was continued under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Raju Varghese with assistance from a few members of the Curriculum Committee. After a series of consultations among the curriculum committee members, and suggestions from others, a draft outline of the syllabus was developed and presented at the annual meeting of the Sunday School Association, held at St. Mary’s Indian Orthodox Church of Rockland, Suffern, New York on September 11, 2004. The revised draft of the syllabus outline was submitted to the diocesan metropolitan H.G. Mathews Mar Barnabas for His Grace’s comments and approval for use in our Sunday Schools.
The suggested syllabus is a composite of a number of resources, the primary ones being the Sunday school textbooks for Grades VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII. The lessons in the TTC syllabus were chosen for their significant role in formulating or increasing the Biblical knowledge, Orthodox faith and spiritual growth of our prospective teachers before they commit their time and resources to teach the young children of our Sunday Schools.
The teacher’s certification committee under the direction of the Sunday School Director takes the necessary steps to set the detailed guidelines, prepare the notes and materials per syllabus, work and coordinate in setting the question papers and arranging an evaluation process and generally be responsible for the conduct of this course and the examination. The program and the examination shall be managed and administered by the Diocesan Sunday school leadership under the control and direction of the Sunday School Director.
TEACHERS’ TRAINING
There are four elements essential for an effective Sunday School class: Content, Action, Relationships, and Experience. Together they form the acronym C.A.R.E.
Traditionally, Sunday schools have been focusing mainly on content and have included very little of the other three components. This has left the children with the impression that Sunday school is a boring, unfriendly place where they receive certain information but nothing else. A comprehensive “C.A.R.E” approach will maximize the children’s learning and they might actually like it.
Let us start with content. What topics are you prepared to teach? You will choose a topic because it is in the curriculum, or because it is something your children need to learn about, or because the parents have asked you to teach that topic, or you heard it at a convention you attended recently. Whatever the reason may be, it is helpful to put some thought into the topics you plan to cover in a given period.
Begin the preparation by asking “What content do I want to communicate?” This will help you to take aim on what you want students to know, feel, and do by the end of that class period.
With the topic for the class decided, you are ready for the second step: develop, a plan of action to communicate your content. What kinds of actions do you remember from your Sunday School years? Most of us remember those lessons that required us to get involved and to do something.
You can incorporate action simply by adding variety to the way you communicate, such as role-plays, simulations, field trips, discussions, interviews, debates, and learning games, which will keep the children interested and increase the likelihood of them remembering it later on.
People who visit a Sunday School class will make commitments to be part of, if they develop friendships in that group. Try to develop a relationship with the children in your class. Children want to go where their friends are and where they can develop friendships. Sunday school offers great opportunities for building relationships. You can start or finish each class with a few minutes of icebreakers.
You can form a welcome/follow-up team that sends ‘thank you’ notes or call those who were absent in the class. Your class can celebrate special days in the kids’ lives, such as birthdays and other events of importance. This will enable the students to experience “love each other as I have loved you”(John 15:12).
Now, it is the time to teach the children how the content can specifically help them to know, feel, and do, or experience. How can they experience these truths in their everyday lives? Leave time in your lesson for questions such as: How would your life be different if you applied this truth at home, at school, with your friends? When you teach the truth, it is not what they learn, but how their lives will be different from what they learn.
As a teacher you will inherit a group of children at an age when they are ‘most open to Christ’. Tackling the tough topics the students are working through will help them understand the relevance of their faith. Tackle children’s questions and issues as best as you can with intelligent discussion on that topic. Questions like: What do I do when nobody likes me? How do I deal with a school bully? How do I handle my doubts about Christianity? Why can’t I get along with my parents?, should be handled with care because they are very personal issues.
While discussing faith and traditions, teenagers may be struggling with questions like: How can God be just and allow innocent people to die? What about AIDS? What is wrong with drinking or premarital sex? Why shouldn’t I cheat to get better grades in school? You may check out these hot topics with parents before you present them to your class. You may find references from the Bible that you can use in these discussions.
You may not have adequate answers to some questions from the students such as: How old is God? What is on the other side of heaven? You should be willing to say “I don’t know”. Showing intellectual humility and admitting that ‘we don’t have all the answers’ is a great gift to give these children. You create in them freedom from the burden of feeling that they have to know everything.They will realize that not having all the answers is part of life, and that will stimulate them to think hard.
To have some fun in the class is also important to keep the minds focused. In fact, game playing as in regular schools can be more useful in Sunday School where a higher percentage of students are probably there because someone made them come.
A good game will pull down barriers and put smiles on otherwise less-than-sunny faces, and create an environment in which they learn how to play, laugh, and have fun together, an environment that will attract children to the Christian faith.
Teachers should be ready to improve their teaching skills. A survey among the students to evaluate your lessons may help you learn more about your teaching. Your students can also assist you in picking the topic for the class from an already available list of topics as prescribed in the class syllabus.You will see the interest level among your students rise as they help choose or at least prioritize the curriculum.
Teach your students life skills and manners during the lesson. They may become handy in the class as well as in their daily lives. Assign your students with light chores around the Sunday School to make them feel at home.Opening the ‘window of service’ can wake up apathetic children and teach them lessons that last a lifetime.
The church approved curriculum may have little or no relevance to anything your students are interested in. Paying attention to the spiritual level of your class will enable you to customize your lessons to meet the needs of three categories of students: casual, curious, and committed.
Changes as simple as having the children face a different direction, meeting in a different room, or changing the class routine, may be just the prescription they need to keep their attention in the class.
Sometimes the teachers may be the only one in the class, patiently waiting for the arrival of the students. As the students drop in, one by one, start the class with those present; this will give you time to get to know the few children who are already there in the class, on an individual basis.You can have discussions involving everyone in a small group.
Always be kind and gentle with your students. Do little things for them. Pray for each student and encourage others to do so, especially when you come to know that they need your support. Listen to them when they talk.
Give your hour or more to the children and they add up and are magnified in God’s eyes. That is how you become an example for them when they are adults. Participate in their outside activities whenever you can spare your time.A joyful teacher will attract students to his/her faith and lifestyle.
Come prepared for the class with prayer. Sometimes your students leave you with the feeling that you lost them; place them in the hands of God and let Him fight His own battles.
Encourage your students to talk. Let them role-play as a teacher. You be the student and do what you should like your students do when you are leading the class. Go around the class and make others participate in the class.When a discussion veers off the subject, resist the temptation to cut it off too quickly. Give up and pick it up the following week.
There is no one ‘right’ way to teach. Use a variety of styles: speaking, debating, serving, playing, storytelling, journaling, memorizing and questioning. When you feel stuck with the subject, depart from the curriculum for a week and try something interesting. You will catch up, for sure.