Dr. Howard Hendricks has spent a lifetime teaching students in various disciplines and brings to his subject a wealth of experience. He aims his book, Teaching to change lives, mostly at those who teach in church settings such as Sunday School classes, Bible Study groups and those doing theological studies.
Though I’ve never met the author I imagine he speaks like he writes. The book is written with a great deal of passion and enthusiasm. You can almost hear his excitement which makes it easy to read.
Dr. Hendricks is keen to impart his love of teaching and help others to become better teachers. The book is structured around seven ‘laws’: The law of the teacher, of education, of activity, of communication, of the heart, of encouragement, and of readiness. In reality though there is much overlap between these ‘laws’.
His main points are engage the student’s mind and heart, that is, do more than impart information that can be parroted back to you. God’s Word is meant to change lives and teachers are change agents. Otherwise we are only entertaining or boring our audience. Encourage students to be self-learners don’t tell them everything you know, teach them how to make discoveries for themselves. Have a practical application of what you are teaching. If students are not able to put what they have learnt into practice they will quickly forget it.
Overall a useful resource.
