ArticleIn the past month, coincidentally, I have qualified as a volunteer assistant teacher to help people with literacy and computer skills, and as a volunteer trainer at a large eastern suburbs dog obedience club.
What I had not expected was how similar the pedagogical skills are. Of course, any experienced teacher is going to say, “Well, der; that’s so obvious – it applies to every student”. But much of it was new to me, whether broad principle or particular tactic.
For example, it was emphasised that with any group, the lessons should be interesting, accessible, engaging and enjoyable – something I didn’t really appreciate as a philosophy tutor at Melbourne University 30 years ago – with plenty of questions to keep students alert and involved.
And, to cite an example of the particular, in both classes I am advised not to stand behind and look over the student’s shoulder because it can be distracting and intimidating to human and dog alike.
Marie, the Marquise de Sevigne, wrote in the 17th century: “The more I see of men, the more I admire dogs.”
This is a generally sane and sound axiom but at obedience club, we are not training dogs but their handlers. In a class of 12 dogs for an hour a week, we can’t teach individual dogs; we try to teach their people to teach them (and get them to practise during the week).
One of the most critical attributes in both classes, which I had underestimated, is patience.
Jesus is the perfect model as a teacher: infinitely patient and gentle with those who want to learn, yet equally authoritative and wise, as we see in biblical anecdote after anecdote. His ability to discern what individuals need, and then meet it, is incredible.
For example, the rich young ruler likes Jesus’ answer about eternal life, until Jesus tells him, “sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven”. But he is deeply dismayed because he owns much. Jesus goes unerringly to his problem.
Or take the way Jesus upends convention with the parable of the good Samaritan, in which he extends the notion of care and compassion to its ultimate conception.
The Bible is full of God’s tender patience with his people, and the disciples make it a priority for teaching. Peter writes to the first Christians that “God is patient, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance”.
Paul instructs his disciple, Timothy: “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction.” The only possible unexpected word there is “patience”, yet it is key to all.
Barney Zwartz is a senior fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity. This article was first published in The Age.