HOW TO MAKE GOOD TEACHERS
Sometimes it's a relief just to have the right number of
volunteers to staff your ministry's programs. But you can't
afford to approach recruiting like that. Every ministry needs to
develop guidelines describing appropriate volunteers, then help
equip them for the task.
Volunteers must:
- Have a relationship with Jesus. It's imperative that your
children's ministry teachers have a thriving faith
relationship with Jesus Christ. Many churches require new
teachers to be members of the church ensuring that they
believe what your church teaches. Other churches require
volunteers to attend the church for six months to a year
before they're invited to teach.
- Grow spiritually. So many teachers skip the worship service
because they're preparing for, or cleaning up after, class.
Focus on worshiping God in the community of other worshipers.
Take time during the week to spend alone with God.
- Have Bible knowledge. While they don't have to be Bible
scholars, teachers need opportunities to learn more about the
Bible. Encourage teachers to be part of a Bible study, or
give a biblical overview to the entire staff as it relates to
the curriculum. Start a sabbatical program for teachers so
that after they have taught for a certain length of time,
they have time off to attend adult education.
- Have teaching ability. On your teacher application form, ask
if the applicant has previous teaching experience. Make sure
all your new teachers go through a new-teacher orientation
that imparts basic facts about teaching children, the
procedures and policies of your children's ministry, and job
expectations.
How to make good teachers:
- Make training a requirement. Make sure that teachers
understand that part of their commitment is to attend
teacher-training sessions. Help them understand it can help
them do their jobs better and more efficiently, and have more
fun in the classroom. It also gives volunteers a chance to
meet other teachers.
- Make meeting times convenient. Consider holding a training
meeting on a Sunday morning during the Sunday school hour.
Provide a special activity such as a video for the children
that morning, and invite parents to be the helpers.
- Evaluate the content of your meetings. Volunteers need to see
the benefit in training. Know the issues your volunteers are
dealing with, and plan your meetings around those issues. For
instance, if several children in your church have Attention
Deficit Disorder, offer training on helping children with
this disorder.
- Consider alternatives to traditional teacher-training
meetings. Start a monthly newsletter for your teachers, and
include training tips. When you attend a conference, bring
home tapes of the workshops to share with your teachers.
Start a lending library that includes videotapes, audiotapes,
books, and magazines about teaching. Encourage your teachers
to participate in this kind of independent study.
- Use short-term commitments for volunteers to try out
children's ministry. VBS or special events are good times to
recruit potential teachers and give them a taste of
children's ministry.
- Share the vision. Help your volunteers understand what your
church is trying to accomplish through children's ministry.
Help them understand that their jobs turn that vision into
action by concretely linking it to the specific things they
do each week for children.
- Treat your volunteers well. Give them a lot of affirmation.
Write notes commenting on something exciting you saw them
doing with their children or their classroom.
- Clear expectations. Make sure your volunteers know what is
expected of them. Provide detailed job descriptions outlining
expectations for attendance, preparation, training, and
length of service. Make sure volunteers have what they need,
that supplies are readily available in their classrooms, and
be willing to reimburse them for inexpensive purchases they
make to enhance their class' experience.
- Be available to your volunteers. Stop in each classroom prior
to the beginning of class to make sure teachers have
everything they need. Stop by after class to see how things
went and if there were any problems. Thank your volunteers
often for their efforts. This helps people feel that they're
part of something bigger than their class. Pair teachers as
prayer partners. Invite your volunteers to social activities
that have nothing to do with teaching.
Reprinted by permission from Quick Relief for
Children's Ministry Leaders by Ivy Beckwith.
Copyright (c) 1998 by Group Publishing, Inc., 1515
Cascade Avenue, Loveland, CO, 80539, 1-800-447-1070.