Teacher Observation for Psychology

Relief Society Lessons

A question that has intrigued me ever since I began to teach and learn about teaching in a public school setting is that of “church teaching.” I learn so many great things and get so many ideas that I can use in a classroom full of children, but how can I successfully implement those into a regular family ward Relief Society or Sunday School lesson full of mostly elderly people who can’t hear and move the same way children do? I believe that we all learn like children. We all appreciate engaging lessons that apply to our lives and get us thinking. Nobody likes to sit still for an hour.
This past Sunday I gained some enlightenment into my question. As I sat in Relief Society my eyes caught view of a beautiful poster board. It was a work of art with pictures and words. I was intrigued before the lesson began. Anyone who cared enough to put this amount of time into a visual must really care about her material. Throughout the lesson, this teacher shared with us her talent for art with different visuals. You could see her enthusiasm for the topic, and her love for us as she was willing to share her talents to help us learn.
I don’t think this teacher planned her lesson thinking, “I’m going to be sure to implement a constructivist learning approach as opposed to a behaviorist approach. She didn’t probably think in terms of labeling her methods like we have to in our college classes.. Her approach was based on the pure principle of love. She loved the topic, the gospel, the “students,” and she did everything in her power to let that love show and touch the audience.
There might be some things I would do differently if I taught this same lesson. I wish I could do it exactly the same—it was so effective—but everyone is different. I couldn’t duplicate that artwork if I tried. I might bring myself into the lesson in a different way, perhaps through music, but my goal would be to show love as she did.