Teaching Others in Order to Learn, 3

You have a topic to prepare, you have a class scheduled, and you have a big question. "Do I know this material well enough to teach it?"

If you've asked yourself that, you've focused on the wrong question. You must ask yourself, "Do I know this material well enough that I don't have to teach it?"

What do I mean by this? Well, in many universities, the most experienced professors teach teach the introductory courses. In many cases, they choose to do this so that they themselves master the basics of their discipline. As they assimilate these basics, they achieve a new level of mastery. 

Now the prof does not have to teach the content in order to know it. At this point, a smart teacher will shift focus from knowing the material to the techniques that impart it to his student/disciples. 

In your teaching experience, only at that point do you move from teaching others so that you yourself may learn, to becoming a master ready to make teachers of others.

Teaching Others in Order to Learn, part 2

These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Mathew 10:5-7)

I note that Jesus sent the twelve out to teach people about the Kingdom of God even though they were still disciples -- learners. I find this significant, since I've already demonstrated that the Bible recognizes the value of teaching in order to learn.

A story follows that lends credence to the teaching-to-learn model of discipleship & education.

Back in 1990 a university professor shared the secret of his academic success. He did it in a book entitled The Overnight Student: How I went from Straight F's to Straight A's.

Gary North tells the prof's story:

 The professor had been a mediocre student in high school. He had gotten into college, but he flunked out. He asked to get back in. He was told that he would have to take correspondence courses first. He did. This took him two years.

He was re-admitted. But he was working three part-time jobs to pay for school. He worked very hard. He just barely got by academically. Then he made a discovery. He began using a simple technique for improving his comprehension. He describes it in Chapter 7 of his little book. He never got anything lower than an A from that point on. ("The Number-One Study Technique for Mastering New Material and Reviewing Old Material", garynorth.com)

The book now sells on Amazon for about a thousand dollars, used. The excerpt that follows reveals the kernel of his method:

Isaiah 28:13 tells us that the Lord teaches by giving us precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little. [King James Translation] So, start at the beginning of your notes, your book, or whatever your source document is; and pick a bite-size portion, perhaps a paragraph,

and read it. Now look away from your notes or cover them, and don’t touch them. You won’t be allowed to touch them while you’re taking the test, so let’s get rid of that security blanket right now.

Use Your Tongue

Now, teach what you just read, out loud, using your own words, to an imaginary class. Don’t talk in a monotone. Vary your voice inflection. Use your hands. Be a teacher. (Dr. Michael L. Jones, p.25, Louis Publishing, Bellingham, WA)

When I first learned of this, I tried it, and I want to tell you, it required a lot of focus. In fact, I found it so mentally taxing that I gave up. 

The difference between this Jones method and Whole Person Discipleship (via Whole Brain Teaching) lies simply in the fact that you don't have to imagine an audience. Your disciple teaches the bite-sized bit of learning to another disciple, right there. Personalizing the message in his/her own words will come automatically and improve over time.

Thus, while it encourages me to have corroboration of the teaching-to-learn model, it gives me even greater pleasure to know that I have access to an equal or better method, more easily applied.

Teaching Others in Order to Learn

And what things thou hast heard of me, by many witnesses, the same deliver to faithful men, which shall be able to teach other also. 2Timothy 2:2 (Geneva Bible)

Timothy's knowledge of the faith came not only from personal teaching by the Apostle himself, but the Apostle also utilized many witnesses to reinforce that instruction. This is how A.T. Robertson explains it:

 Plutarch has dia in this sense and Field (Ot. Norv.) suggests that it is a legal phrase “supported by many witnesses.” Not mere spectators, but testifiers. (Word Pictures of the New Testament)

In his Word Studies in the New Testament, M.R. Vincent concurs as he renders the the preposition to mean "through the medium of, and therefore in the presence of." You can see here the apostolic practice which made not only learning, but teaching others an important part of becoming a mature disciple.

Based on II Timothy 2:2, the Biblical model for the transmission belt of total discipleship looks something like this:

1. Things you heard from me personally/things you heard from me by many witnesses;
2. You teach same things to faithful disciples, personally/they teach same things to others.

Edgar Dale later rediscovered this principle, which he put into his famous "Cone of Experience". It boils down to the fact that while you remember no more than 5% of what you hear, you will remember 90% of what you teach.

Whole Brain Teaching has incorporated pupils teaching each other as an integral part of the learning process with the command/response, Teach/Okay. You can see an example of how one teacher uses it here:

The point here is that we should use Teach/Okay in our discipleship endeavors not just because it represents modern pedagogical practice, but also because it follows Biblical norms. I can see it useful in teaching Bible content and doctrine, Biblical worldview, Biblical ethics, and Biblical foundations for each discipline of the curriculum as well as curriculum content.

How well your charges teach each other the truth will inform you how well they have absorbed your teaching. This allows you immediate opportunity to correct false impressions and fill in incomplete knowledge.

It also gives you confidence that they will some day faithfully and effectually deliver the same truths to "faithful men which shall be able to teach others also."