Scottie May, an Christian educator, author and consultant, spoke the following words in a seminar at my church many years ago and they have been with me ever since....

"We teach for transformation, not just information."

For many years these words graced my bulletin board. They were a touchstone for me as a teacher and lesson writer.

A similar sentiment has also stuck with me over the years...

It's just "news" -if it isn't Good News.

Most teachers know how to teach information, but they struggle with how to "teach for transformation." Part of the problem for many teachers and lesson writers is that they were raised in traditions (mine included) which emphasized information over transformation (head over heart, knowledge over spirituality). It was assumed that being raised in the church and learning "about" the Bible was enough. But without transformational teaching in our lesson plans, the information is merely recreational at best, - ice cream social religion with about the same nutritional value. The effects are now well known over the past 40 years of informational Sunday School. We've churned out several generations now of children who know their faith, but don't have much of it.

Moving from information to transformation isn’t hard, it’s just different than the way most of us have experienced teaching and teachers (which has been mainly through the public schools and passionless Sunday Schools).

Becoming agents of transformation happens in the way we teach, the media we choose, the questions we ask, the way we seek answers, and most importantly –in the way we pastor, guide, model, and share in the classroom.

To be sure: there is no faith without the facts. In my seminars I often tell people that "the first job of every lesson is to teach the story." If they don't know the basics, they have nothing to build on. And many lessons fail at even that basic task. That's why I like the Rotation Model... it repeats the story for several weeks in a row. But KNOWING the story is not enough. We want them to encounter and remember the TRANSFORMATIONAL meaning of the story. And that's the hard-work of teaching.

Ways to help move from Information to Transformation...

The teacher is one of the the biggest agents of transformation in the lesson. How you treat your students, care for them, speak to them, laugh, discipline, and encourage... all these things matter. To that effect, the opening 5 minutes of your lesson are probably the most important. They set the stage and the tone.

The teacher's sharing of their story, -how their life has been changed, is part of the transformation process.  Sometimes teachers play too much of a game of "I've got a secret." They go into the Bible study, ask tricky questions, and see if any of the students can figure out what the lesson means. Then the teacher lays the big conclusion on the class, the secret, -the ah-ha! One of the first things I do in Bible study with my students, especially older ones, is tell them why I think a certain story is important.
-What it says to me.
-What I need to hear in the story.
-What I wrestle with.
I share my emotional and spiritual investment in the story. I tell them what I hope they'll learn today, -what's "good" about the news in the lesson. In other words, I help them understand why they should care. I do this as a preface to the Bible Study. It's an important step in "priming the pump." Good initial questions are important too. In fact, I'll often write the "Question of the Day" on the board for all to see.

Certain teaching techniques act as agents of transformation... 

I'm a big believer in dramatizing a story, whether by re-reading it in various voices, or using props, or doing an actual skit. Even if I'm using software that day, my lessons often begin with a dramatic reading around the table. Unfortunately, many of our traditions and practices have us reading the Bible FLAT, without feeling or emotion or inflection. And yet these are the very things which often make the Bible come alive and sound real. When Peter yells "I'm sinking" -we really yell it.  In fact, we make take TURNS yelling it!  When Jonah complains to God, the reader will shake his/her fist and try to sound as gruff and whiny as possible. When John the Baptist addresses the "Vipers Brood" ...we might go around the table to see who can say it with the best disdain.

Forming an emotional connection to the material is important, and it begins with a faithful reading, not a flat one. It's all there! ....if we want to pay attention to it. And the kids' minds are eager to grasp and store it, when it's presented with vigor.

Examining the "Internal Emotional Content" of a story is a big help to the transformational process...  "How did the man feel when Jesus told him to get up and walk? What was going through his head?" "What risk did the man's friends take by bringing him up to the roof and cutting a hole in it? What might the townsfolk or owner done to them?"  "What were the disciples back in the boat thinking about Peter?"  "How do you supposed God felt about Pilate when Pilate condemned Jesus to death?"  "How did Elijah feel when he finally got to the cave at Horeb?"   To say this another way... we are connecting to the human nature in the story. And when you do that, you can begin to see YOURSELF in the story.

You'll notice that a lot of the content I've tucked away in our software deals with the emotional content of the story. I know that such content is often overlooked by over-anxious kids. But I put it there for the TEACHER to grab onto and run with.

Retelling the story in new words helps a lesson move from information to transformation.  This is the lesson of Pentecost: using different languages to share the Gospel. You can see us playing with this type of transformational activity in numerous programs, including, "Gabby Talker" in Awesome Bible Stories CD, the "Fluffimations" in Fluffy's Christmas CD, Let's Talk CD, and the Babel 4000 in Jesus in Space CD.  Using their own words or selecting from a new pallet of words helps them begin to internalize the story, and it helps the story stick. 

Reflection activities are important transformational agents in EVERY lesson. However, they are often overlooked, under-resourced, and crowded out.  Many teachers spend most of the lesson time delivering information, and very little on "reflection" at the end of the lesson. In particular, I've observed that games and involved craft projects have a way of crowding out reflection time. It's one of the reasons that I started to incorporate reflection in the beginning and middle of my lessons, rather than just at the end where the typical lesson plan puts them. It's also an important reason why I like my teachers to go through the software with the kids, rather than sitting back and waiting for them to get done. Reflection, i.e. "life application" -can and should occur all along the way.

Reflection is something we pay attention to in the software we design. For example...  In our Prodigal Son CD, the transformational activity is a simple letter-writing activity where the student takes on the role of one of the characters in the story who must explain their point of view to another in the story. In Ten Commandments CD, students can leave messages for future users of the program on the top of Mt. Sinai, and/or rephrase certain commandments for certain situations they may find themselves. In Exodus Adventures, some of the reflection questions are found when you swim up to the characters swimming in the pool created by the water gushing from the Rock of Horeb! In Jesus in Space CD, we created a narrated Emmaus reflection activity that illustrates in dramatic and visual way the idea of "how we help others see Jesus today."

Opportunities for Reflection are often missed by the improper use of media. Drama lessons that are heavily scripted and place the emphasis on correct performance allow no room for reflection until the drama is over. Teachers who don't use the PAUSE button on the VCR also fall into the same trap. There may be a dozen great points for reflection during the video, but they wait until the videotape ends before bringing them up. In the computer lab, you miss opportunities by not having enough time or help to be right at the computers when kids go through content.

Getting kids to reflect can be challenging. It's even hard with adults!  But it is one of the reasons I like teaching with software. Software drops barriers. Being at the computer, the kids are less self-conscious, and more open. They'll express themselves a little more freely when they're not put on the spot in front of everyone. --When the teacher isn't staring them directly in the eye. And software can also make the process of reflecting FUN. In our Let's Talk CD, for example, the kids can make the computer respond to your questions. It's a bit of "mis-direction" ...taking the pressure off the student to speak in front of the group, and allowing the computer to do it for them.

Here's a great all-purpose Reflection Question:
What's the GOOD News for Me in the story?
Or, as a youth pastor once preached it, "What's the Power Outlet in the story? --What can I plug my life into?"

I love these two questions and have used them often in my teaching. We're studying the story of Elijah in the whirlwind... what's the Good News I can hear in this story for me right now? ...that God is in charge of my life and death; ...that God will always provide another prophet to carry on. Or how about that I am Elisha standing there at the whirlwind --being offered the prophet's mantle?

Sometimes to help them understand the "Good" News in the story, I ask them to tell me a version of the story that would be "Bad" News. We're studying the Prodigal Son... "tell me something the Father could do or say that would turn this story into bad news for both brothers." 

This brief article is just scratching the surface, but I hope it has given you some good thoughts and suggestions. If you have comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

<>< Neil MacQueen, neil@sundaysoftware.com