Phillip A Bishop
Kinesiology, University of Alabama
Long before I ever arrived at the university as a professor, I had eagerly anticipated becoming one of the greatest teachers that higher education had ever known. Then I tried to teach Jim.
It was my second semester. Jim was a railroad worker in his late 30s who had come back to do his undergraduate degree. Near the end of the term I asked Jim how he had liked the class, intending to solicit a litany of compliments. Instead, for the next 30 minutes (it seemed to go on for hours)
More Difficult Than It Looks
Jim tactfully pointed out my many shortcomings as a teacher. That day I discovered that effective teaching is much more difficult than it looks, and that I still had a lot to learn –especially from Jesus.
Jesus was willing to stop talking before he had wrapped up every issue, forcing his listeners to think. Some of us aren’t that good at thinking. Most of us aren’t very good at getting our students to think. Jesus would raise a complex issue about the Kingdom of God, then leave it to them to sort it out. In fact this is quite common in the parables.
In Luke 14, Jesus is at the home of a prominent Pharisee and notices that the dinner guests are jockeying for the best seats. He warns them not to seek the place of honor at a dinner. He then gives the parable of the spurned host of a great banquet who invites the poor, crippled and lame in to replace the original guests.
My temptation is to make sure everything gets wrapped up neatly and that students have all the answers, even if they don’t know all of the questions. Jesus didn’t seem all that worried about the mid-term exam. He seemed quite happy to raise a question without providing an answer.
Do We Steal From Our Students?
I that believe we often steal the thrill of discovery from our students. In our research we have the joy of discovering some bit of knowledge that no one else has yet elucidated (or at least has not promulgated). Why do I deliberately deny that thrill of discovery to my students?
This approach is new, and a bit risky, and many students want completely everything laid out for them. I’ve done some of this “incomplete approach” from time to time, and I know there are some pitfalls.
Jesus undoubtedly knew that some of His audience would figure out things, and some would not. Yet, Jesus had faith that the Holy Spirit would reveal what needed revealing.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
© 2006 Phillip A. Bishop