I'm puzzled. I'm trying to come up with a wise way to handle things, but I'm not that good. Maybe one of you homeschoolers can help me out? Seems like it would be your problem as well.
The problem is the level of teaching. It could be school or church or Sunday School or AWANA. The question is to what level do you teach? There are smart kids in class (or seasoned adults in church or ... you get the idea) and there are ... not so smart kids. Do you teach to the smart kid level and lose the lower kids, or do you teach to the lesser kids and bore the smart ones?
It seems like an every day problem to me. One of the problems with public education is that the prevalent mindset is one of "compassion": "Don't lose the kids who are challenged." So they try to minimize the push. Don't teach too much stuff. Don't try to meet the standard of the grade level they are in. Try to make sure that the least advanced kid in the class is up to the same level as the most advanced. That is accomplished by not teaching the advanced kid as much as by teaching the less advanced. In other words, you can only teach to the least common denominator.
It's also the common problem in churches, small groups, and Bible studies everywhere. You have a group of people who have gathered. They are there for the same reason, but each is at a different level of understanding. To which level do you teach? From what I've seen, it appears that churches, small groups, and Bible studies are following the same path. Teach to the least common denominator. I mean, if you speak on penal substitutionary atonement and 10% of the congregation doesn't know what "penal", "substitutionary", or "atonement" means, you've wasted their time, right? And just because there is that upper 10% that can probably explain it as well as any seminary student or pastor doesn't mean that you can afford to lose that bottom end group.
I see that side of it. But I also know that when I played sports the only time I improved was when I was playing against people that were better than I was. There is something that drives us when we are in the presence of something beyond ourselves. It takes more work, sure. It isn't easy. That's a given. But being in the water above your head forces you to swim. So maybe we should be pushing toward a higher mark rather than the lowest.
I'm not sure. What I am sure of is that most of public school kids suffer from LCDS -- Least Common Denominator Syndrome (a syndrome of my own making. Hey! If the AMA can make them up, why can't I?). And the Church today suffers from the same thing. Educationally we are in dire straits, and spiritually we are in an equally sad condition. Depth of knowledge, real understanding, and maturity are not the things that mark our schools or our churches today. Maybe LCD is not the right approach.
3 comments:
*standing ovation*
As someone who has a degree in education, I couldn't agree with you more. A great way to think about it is this: just because someone is advanced spiritually, meaning that they are to the point spiritually where they are eating meat, doesn't mean they forsaking the fundamentals of the faith, or the milk. So in preaching to the "more advanced," meat is there for the more spiritually mature, but milk is also present for consumption by the spiritual infants. They may not grasp it all, but they can latch on to some things.
If you only teach milk, on the other hand, the spiritual infants will not mind, as they are being fed (notice, they're fed one way or the other), but the spiritually mature or going to be wondering, "where's the beef?!"
I think the best approach is to be teaching the meat, but in doing so, having milk for the meal, too, so to speak. The more advanced concepts of the faith are based on the fundamentals, and we all constantly need reminders of those things.
Stan, great questions & ponderings in our post. Ryan, great insight into what you shared ... ties it up, explains it well -- and I totally agree. Reach for the stars I say, REACH. Do not be satisfied with only the milk, serve up the meat...
LouAnn
Some good questions, and indeed homeschoolers have some good answers. Perhaps I will write a post on this in the near future.
But in the meantime, have you read the article:
http://www.visionforumministries.org/issues/uniting_church_and_family/children_in_the_meeting_of_the.aspx
and others at:
http://www.visionforumministries.org/issues/uniting_church_and_family/
And you missed something when your said:
I see that side of it. But I also know that when I played sports the only time I improved was when I was playing against people that were better than I was.
As any good teacher will tell you, the other time that you really learn is when you are getting ready to teach, teaching, being asked questions (that you never thought of) by your students, etc.
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