CM The Nature of Teaching 2

The section about the skill of listening is wonderful! Lots of practical suggestions in a very short space. The line I like best, "It takes discipline to learn to listen to silence." [CM p. 265]

They talk about questions that cause children to think, reflect and ponder. These are questions that require more than a learner just retrieving information. Like the authors, many educators use Bloom's Taxonomy as a reference for developing questions that require different levels of thinking. Their discussion of questions includes more discussion of story. [CM p. 266-269]

Their section about Teaching Young Children is "The Best!" Not literally but preschool is my favorite age group to teach. I love the simple but profound observations they make in this book. They talk about use of space, tone of voice and pace. They remind us that young children are sensitive to our attitudes, our actions, our expectations first and to the things we say, second. The authors talk about the language we use and how literal young children are. They talk about how to reference time for little ones. Nice! Have you ever considered that one year is 1/4 of the life of a four year old? It's like my referencing the last 12-15 years. They remind us that young children learn through play. The combination of structure and play, space and pace, tone and attitude all factor in - as much or more than content. I have to say as my five children have grown to become young adults I've grown to appreciate the wonder of all the different stages of childhood but if I get to pick an age group to interact with, it's still preschool. [CM p. 269-271]

They finish the chapter with a discussion of various models used for Christian education (old and new) They talk about "Training Teachers for Alternative Models," "Effective Teaching, Whatever the Model," and they discuss some of the challenges to effective teaching. [CM p. 271-281] I'll read that part next.

When you talk about the "nature" of learning, the "nature" of teaching you're talking about something organic, something alive not just about substance, information, values, morals. In every teaching and learning situation you have a living teacher, a living learner, the living Word, and God's Holy Spirit - alive and "called alongside to help." Amazing! Scary! It's a wonder that God would ever trust us with something like teaching and learning...something so alive! How to keep the living part alive ... How to help it thrive ...