Written by Karyn Dancy, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
There are many different styles of teaching. What I’ve found most effective, though, is intentional teaching through relationships. Paul gives us examples of this, especially in his relationship with Timothy.
I used to be a classroom teacher at the elementary level. I worked in two low-performing schools and I was told from the beginning by other teachers that these children were worthless. It was appalling to me that anyone would say such a thing. As a new teacher, I went in, excited to share some of the resources I’d learned about in school with the other teachers, and the response was actually that these children weren’t worth the effort. This started my determination to show those children and their families that they were very valuable and capable. I wanted them to know they weren’t limited by the expectations of others, not even teachers.
I set out to show the students and their families that they were important to me by building relationships with them. I learned about their cultures and invited them to share things in the classroom that were important to them. Many of them came from immigrant families, so we had a great opportunity to share the diversity of their cultures in the classroom.
Each month we featured a language of the month. The quiet signal for that month would be counting to five in that language and I would teach the kids common words. They would earn points for good behavior, and then at the end of the month, we would have a cultural celebration. (We weren’t allowed to have “parties.”) I invited parents to share about their cultures and bring food for the kids to sample. One particular family was a great example of how that relationship benefited their student. Our language of the month was Samoan. When I asked the student’s mother to help me with the basics of the language, she not only did so but also became active in the classroom in many other ways. Previously her son had not been the best student, but once his mom took an interest in the class, so did he. It was like they were invested in the learning process once they felt valued. It turned out that the student’s grandfather was a tribal chief back in Samoa and had made a video of how to harvest coconut. The student’s mom brought the video in to share with the whole class.
The way it all worked out, once I’d built a foundation of relationship with these children and their families, they came alongside me and cared about what I had to share with them. I was able to teach more effectively because they trusted me. When there was any particular difficulty, for example, math with fractions, we’d explore different activities that would help them until we found what worked best for them.
These students were sixth graders at the time. It’s been about 18 years now, and I still keep in touch with some of those families. It was a very rewarding experience.
Similarly, Paul built a relationship with Timothy. Then Paul mentored and equipped Timothy to follow him as he followed Christ, and Timothy was then able to do the same with his students. Paul didn’t only want his students to learn information; he wanted them to act on that knowledge. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:19 that he became like the people he was teaching so that those people could relate to him and believe. Paul shows us through his example how a teacher positively reinforces through encouragement, modeling, and monitoring. The relationship didn’t end when he handed things over to a student to become a teacher. He followed up because it was a true relationship, not simply a means to an end.
Since you’re reading this, I know you care about relationships with your sisters in Christ. Keep building and nurturing those. Let’s follow Paul’s example. We can be the students. We can find mentors to trust and build relationships with. Then we can pass on what we’ve learned to others, with our own added flavor, and keep the process going to win as many as possible and build each other up.
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