How to Train Sunday School Teacher
Bradley Simon
Note: These are a few tips for how to train Sunday school teachers. It assumes you also conduct training for the other areas of Sunday school leadership: in-reach, outreach, etc..
Before the meeting.
Locate a room with a large White Board(s) so everything can be listed.
Find secretary who can type notes into a computer so they can be printed and handed out at the conclusion.
Many with experience in knowing how to train Sunday school teachers require them to complete the “Lesson Preparation Guide” (see the appendix in the Teaching To Transform Not Inform 2 book) before attending the meeting. This ensures they have studied and thought through the lesson.
Accountability.
Consider making it a requirement to complete the “Lesson Preparation Guide” before arriving.
You want teachers to arrive having already studied the text and put together a tentative lesson outline.
During the meeting.
Make it fun, encouraging, and relational (help teachers build relationships with each other).
Spend a percentage of your time specifically training the Sunday school teachers on effective teaching principles and techniques.
Quickly review the “Lesson Preparation Guide” to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Develop the lesson as a group.
Those familiar with how to train Sunday School teachers often find it more effective to develop the lesson together during the training time than to use the group time for explaining the text since teachers can easily do this at home ahead of time. It is far more effective to use this time to develop the lesson’s Sticky Proverb, Visual Anchor, Application points, the Conclusion Challenge, and more (for a complete discussion of each of these teaching principles, see Teaching To Transform Not Inform 2 book). As multiple teachers brainstorm these elements together, the creative juices flow, and the group as a whole can almost always develop a better lesson than a single teacher alone can.
Remind teachers of previously learned teaching principles as they apply to the lesson being developed.
When developing the lesson as a group, work through the seven elements of a lesson as discussed in Teaching To Transform Not Inform 2. As you develop each section of the lesson (e.g., Sticky Proverb, Visual Anchor, etc.), ask teachers what they previously came up with for each teaching element. As each teacher offers their suggestion, thank them for it, and write it on the board. You don’t need to correct suggestions at this point. After all suggestions have been listed on the board, have everyone vote on the top two or three. Then, use these two or three to develop a final version that everyone can use. By using this method, you never seldom need to correct a suggestion that misses the mark.
The Teaching To Transform Not Inform series will help you train your Sunday school teachers
How to train Sunday School teachers tip:
Constantly expand the circle representing your teachers’ effectiveness and encourage them to teach outside it on a regular basis.
You can help your teachers fulfill the Great Commission through their teaching ministry by taking them through the Teaching To Transform Not Inform series. It places at their fingertips a simple, practical, step-by-step process for developing and teaching Sunday School lessons that change hearts and transform lives. They will discover the seven teaching elements that need to be included in every lesson that has transformation as its main objective. Each book in the series builds upon previous ones giving your teachers a linear path for developing more and more advanced teaching skills.
This innovative, practical series is full of examples and how-to steps to help you develop Bible lessons that lead listeners into an intimate relationship with Christ. The series will help you know how to train Sunday school teachers to become transformational teachers who change lives.
Those who know how to train Sunday school teachers know that most great teachers don’t begin as great teachers but develop over time.
(The following principles are taken from Teaching To Transform Not Inform 1)
The above article, “How to Train Sunday School Teachers” was written by W. Bradley Simon. The article was excerpted from Simon’s book, Teaching To Transform Not Inform I.
The material is copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.
This article may not be written by an Apostolic author, but it contains many excellent principles and concepts that can be adapted to most churches. As the old saying goes, “Eat the meat. Throw away the bones.”
