06 IV. THE TEACHING FORCE
IV. THE TEACHING FORCE
Chapter IV THE TEACHING FORCE
Since the vacation Bible school is not another in-stitution but a program of teaching engaged in by the church, it should be under the oversight of the elders of the congregation. Where there is a full-time minister, he will likely be expected to take the immediate supervision of and direct the activities of the school. In addition, he may be expected to teach a class. In the congregation where there is no full-time minister, someone else who is interested and qualified may be selected to direct the school, If the school is for children only, some sister who has had experience in teaching may do a good job of directing the vacation Bible school.
Selecting Teachers
After the director of the school has been selected, the next problem is the selection of a faculty of teachers. This is sometimes a difficult problem because many of the most capable teachers in the church may have occupations that will keep them from teaching in the school. Certainly, very few of the men will be available for teachers. Consequently, you will be left to select the best teachers you can from those who are available. Usually your regular Sunday school teachers make the best workers in this type of school because of their experience as teachers. However, this is a good place to give the inexperienced some good lessons in teaching if the work is properly supervised. In all probabilities it will have closer supervision than the teaching on Sunday morning. You may be able to use some of your most stable high school pupils to assist in this school.
Qualification of Teachers In the selection of teachers for Bible classes, wc certainly should be very careful because of the respon-sibility that goes with the teaching. Consideration should be given to the habits, disposition, appearance, attitude toward children, general training, interest in church services, and knowledge of the Bible. Sometimes I hear brethren talk of selecting a certain individual as a teacher for the purpose of giving that person something to do and thereby keeping him or her interested in the church. This may be good for the individual, but it certainly cannot be recommended for the class. Teachers should be selected because of the interest they already have and not to create interest in them.
Since a teacher’s life is constantly under inspection by her pupils and since her life either enforces her teaching or detracts from it, teachers should be selected who have the very best habits. Such habits as you desire the children to cultivate are the habits for which you should look in a teacher. The morals of our students can quickly be spoiled by the bad habits of a teacher.
Care should be taken concerning the- disposition of the teacher because a quick, irritable disposition may do more harm in a short while than a good teacher can overcome in several months. Patience is one of the necessary qualifications of a teacher of children. Usually a mother who has small children will have more patience with small children, Because of the lack of patience men usually do not make good teachers of small children. A teacher, in order to have the best influence on children, should be neat and attractive when she goes before the class. Neither gaudy apparel nor slovenness in dress has the best influence on the pupils. Modest apparel, carefully worn, which befits the adornment of the heart, will make an impression on the •hearts of children that they will not soon forget.
It is not every person who loves children. Those who do not love children will not take a sympathetic interest in them. The children will very soon learn that the teacher does not love them. Their attitude toward that teacher will become cold and this attitude may be transferred to everything connected with the church. Consequently, it is important that our teachers have the right attitude toward children in order to lead them in the right direction. Not everyone who knows what to teach in a Bible class knows how to teach. It is important to know what to teach. It is also important to know how to teach. In selecting teachers, all other things being equal, preference should be given to those who have made a study of methods of teaching or who have had a period of suc-cessful teaching in their experience. So far as methods of teaching are concerned I think we can do no better than turn to the public schools for our lessons. Consequently, a person who has had a successful experience, teaching in the public schools, will be an asset in your teaching force if she is qualified otherwise.
Every Bible teacher, because of the influence she may have on others, as well as for her own good, should regularly attend all the services of the church. Every service of the church is planned with the idea of edifying those who aitend. Furthermore, any service that is attended with a studious attitude will give thought and prepare one to be a better teacher. A lade of interest is shown by teachers who stay away from the Sunday evening and midweek services. This disinterest will defeat their effort in trying to create an interest in the study of the Bible. A constant meditation is necessary to a deep and thorough insight into the word of the Lord.
It goes without saying that an individual who does not know the word of the Lord cannot teach it to others. No one should be placed as teacher over a group of children who does not know the word of the Lord, however well prepared the individual may be in other respects. If the word of the Lord is to be taught, the teacher must know it. This furthermore means that the teacher must be a student of the gospel in order to keep refreshed on the teachings of Christ. Unless a teacher is studious she is very likely to make a failure in her teaching effort. We need teachers who know and who are learning constantly.
Moral and spiritual goodness must have a good share in the consideration of prospective teachers, Many who are otherwise qualified to teach are unsound in the way they live. There are some things you would not tolerate in a preacher, and for the same reasons they should not be tolerated in a Bible teacher. If we can keep our teachers and leaders sound in faith and life, we have gone a long step forward in keeping the church clean.
I do not consider it wise, though it may sometimes seem necessary in order to fill our quota of teachers, to urge someone to take a class. A desire to teach seems to be a prerequisite to a successful teaching career. Something should be done to encourage brethren and sisters to desire to teach. The situation should be such that we would have prospective teachers on the waiting list. Teachers’ training classes will help some in this respect, But more thought and effort must be given to this problem,
Outside Help
Certainly you do not use anyone to teach the Bible who is not a member of the church of Christ. But you may be able to find someone who is a member of some other congregation who can be engaged to come and conduct or teach in your vacation Bible school. If you have a regular preacher, he may be able to exchange work with some other preacher, and thereby get some valuable help in your school. If you are conducting your first school, this exchange idea may help you get a man who has had previous experience, which will be very valuable to you. For this kind of school, a music teacher and director is very important; for singing should be taught and should become an outstanding feature of the school. For the interest it will add to your school, for the good it will do the children, and for the general interest it will add to your song services, you can afford to hire a singing teacher for this school- This same teacher may be able to teach a Bible class during your school as well as conduct a singing class at night for the whole church. Do not overlook the song program in planning your’ school.