Lesson 4: Understanding Our Students

Because SGC’s program has the purpose of ministry training, the student should be a Christian believer with a good testimony and God-honoring lifestyle. An unbeliever will not understand or appreciate much of the content of the courses.

The student should believe the historic essentials of the Christian faith, including evangelical doctrine. The program is designed to serve the body of Christ everywhere, so distinctive denominational beliefs are not required.

The student should be a church member who participates in the worship and fellowship of his or her church. Students who are unwilling to commit to churches are not good candidates for ministry training. Ideally, they should be part of churches that will allow them to practice what they are learning. Some of the assignments involve the participation of other believers.

A local institute should be designed to serve students who can read and write well. It is not necessary that they be school graduates, but they must read and write to understand the courses and complete the assignments. The institute should offer a certificate to students who are able to study at this level.

Other levels of teaching may be offered to students who want to learn but are not able to do the assignments. For example, teachers may teach general congregations or home Bible study groups with people who do not read well and cannot do the assignments.

Students who enroll in local SGC institutes are different from students of other kinds of institutions. They are not like children in school. They are different from university students and many of the students at a Bible college. Teachers should adapt their styles for this kind of class. The academic ability of some of the students will be lower than the ability of a college student. Teachers should adjust their expectations. They should explain how students should do assignments. They should reprimand laziness and carelessness, but their critique of students’ work should be helpful and encouraging, never disrespectful.

Remember, if God has called individuals to ministry, God is giving them the abilities they need. Students may already demonstrate the anointing and blessing of God in their ministries. It is our responsibility to help them develop. It would be wrong to discourage them.

There will be a wide range of age in most groups of SGC students. Some may have recently finished school. Others may be the age of grandparents. Maybe some have been pastors for many years. Sometimes a student may be older than the teacher.

A student twenty years old who recently finished school may have more academic ability than a pastor who is sixty years old. However, each must be shown respect. We should not honor academic ability in a way that disrespects maturity and experience. While we emphasize academic requirements, we should avoid embarrassing students who are not practiced at that kind of work.

► What should be different about our method of teaching when we are teaching adults instead of children?

Adult learner is a term used to describe a student who has begun adult life. Adult learners may be married and have children. They may have worked at some occupation or ministry. They have already had a variety of life experiences. When adults choose to become students again, they are committing to some personal goals.

The style of the teacher and class should be designed to meet the needs of adult learners.

1. Adult learners want training that helps them immediately. They need to discuss how they will practice what they are learning. The class should take time for students to describe how they expect to apply the knowledge. The teacher should not spend all of the class time presenting material without interaction with the students.

2. Adult learners want respect. They already have adult responsibilities and do not want to be treated like children. Teachers should have the attitude of learners and demonstrate openness to ideas. They should show respect for the experience and insights of their students.

► In your culture, what is the best way to show respect to adult learners? How do you want to be treated as an adult student?

3. Adult learners want to make choices as they study. Their experiences and goals make some kinds of study attractive and relevant to them. They need freedom to follow their interests and develop their own styles of study.

4. Adult learners want to practice in class. The teacher should have students make presentations, explain sections of material, and help answer questions. Sometimes students may tell stories from their experiences. Though teachers must avoid wasting time, they should also realize that a story may be a student’s way of applying something he or she learns.

5. Adult learners develop relationships with the other students. They learn from each other’s feedback. They give and receive respect. Adult learners will remember and value some of the interaction for the rest of their lives. The class may need to occasionally divide into small groups for discussion.

6. Adult learners want to come to their own conclusions. They expect some variety of opinions to be tolerated.

7. Adult learners want to like and respect the teacher. They do not expect the status distance between themselves and the teacher to be as great as the difference between a student and professor at a university. They value personal attention from the teacher. They want to be able to admire not only the knowledge but the committed life and character of the teacher.

The teacher should take time in class and with individual students to talk about good study habits. Students should learn how to discipline themselves and schedule daily study time.

The teacher should keep careful records of assignments and attendance. At the end of the course, the record will be the basis of the grade. During the course, when individual students are not doing well, the teacher should talk to them and tell them how to improve.

It is important for the teacher to make sure the student understands how to do an assignment. Assignments that are done poorly should be returned to the student for improvement, but the teacher should make sure the student understands how to improve the work.

If students’ attendance or assignments are making their grades low, the teacher should talk to them about the need to improve. Students should not be surprised by their grades at the end of the course.