Howard Hendricks: Law 2, The Law of Education

THE LAW OF
EDUCATION
Pages 38-53

“The true function of the teacher is to
create the most favourable conditions
for self-learning...True teaching is not
that which gives knowledge, but that
which stimulates pupils to gain it. One
might say that he teaches best
who teaches least.”

John Milton Gregory

Effective teachers:
•Know their content
•Know those whom they teach
•They do not simply inculcate principles
•They want to infect people

The Law of Education
The way people learn
determines the way you
teach

John Milton Gregory called this The
Law of the Teaching Process
The key idea is to stimulate and
direct the learners self activities

Hendricks further defines the law in this way:
“The teacher must excite and direct the
learner’s self-activities, and, as a rule,
tell the learner nothing - and do nothing
for him - that he can learn or do for
himself. Therefore, what’s important is
not what you do as a teacher, but what
learners do as a result of what you do.”

The teacher: primarily
a stimulator and
motivator...not the
player but the coach
who directs the players

The learner: primarily a investigator a
discoverer and a doer

The Ultimate Test of teaching is not
what you do or how well you do it, but
what and how well the learner does.

Good teachers are not focussed on what
they are doing, but what their students
are doing.

BIRTHDAY LINE
This is a nonverbal exercise - You must
communicate without words or sounds (no lip-reading,
notes etc. are allowed).
The group is to form a single straight line, according to
birthdays.
January birthdays will be at the beginning of the line,
earliest dates first followed in order by later
dates. December birthdays will be at the end of the line.
When the line is completed, each person will shout out
his/her birthday, beginning in January.

A young man who had been badly injured in a car
accident has been brought into a hospital's
accident and emergency department. The doctor
determines that emergency brain surgery is
required. Accordingly, the brain surgeon is paged.
Upon seeing the patient, the surgeon exclaims, ‘I
can't operate on that boy! He's my son!’
That is so, but the surgeon is not the boy's
father. How can the apparent
contradiction be explained?

George got up, turned off the radio and went into
the next room.
He turned on the light and shot himself.
What had happened?
You may question the teacher to try to answer the
question.
Each question except "What had happened?" will
be answered honestly and as correctly as it
possible.
You can ask up to three questions.
Time limit 5 minutes

CROSSING THE
BRIDGE
Alice, Brian, Carol and David
have to cross a bridge in 17
minutes. The bridge will
collapse if there are more than
two people on it at the same
time. It is dark and it is too
impossible to cross the bridge
without a torch. There is only
one torch.

Alice can cross the bridge in 1 minute. The others
are wounded or injured to varying degrees which
means that it takes:
Brian 2 minutes to cross the bridge;
Carol 5 minutes to cross the bridge;
David 10 minutes to cross the bridge.
If there is more than one person on the bridge,
the bridge can only be crossed at the speed of the
slowest person. How can they cross the bridge in
17 minutes?

Alice(1 min) and Brian(2 min) cross the bridge. 2
Alice(1 min) takes the torch back to the other side. 3
Carol(5 min) and David(10 min) cross the bridge. 13
Brian(2 min) takes the torch back to the other side 15

Alice(1 min) and Brian(2 min) cross the bridge. 17

DRAWING SKILLS

Partners sit back to back and decide who will be the
“listener” and who will be the “talker”.
Each “talker” has a copy of a diagram.
The Listener must sketch what they hear
described, and is not allowed to speak or ask
questions.
There will be 4 minutes allotted for this round.
Partners compare drawings when finished to see
how close they came to the original.

DRAWING SKILLS

Partners switch roles, still sitting back to back.
The pair together must try to improve results.
The talker gets a different diagram, and the
listener can speak and ask questions.
After the 4 minutes has passed, partners
should compare results again.

Hendricks further defines the law in this way:

“The teacher must excite and direct the
learner’s self-activities, and, as a rule,
tell the learner nothing - and do nothing
for him - that he can learn or do for
himself. Therefore, what’s important is
not what you do as a teacher, but what
learners do as a result of what you do.”

Plato said,

“What is honoured in a
country is cultivated there”

What do you honour - or want to - in
those you teach?

those you teach?
Do you just look for right answers
and repeated truths?

those you teach?
What impresses you in a student (or a
person in general)?

those you teach?
What impresses you in a student (or a
person in general)?
Knowledge, wisdom, understanding,
application?

“Many people who have never sat in a
inside a college classroom are brilliantly
educated. They are men and women of
wisdom, and they have received - and are
receiving - an education. They may not
know everything, but what they know they
live - and God is using them as his
instruments to accomplish his purposes”
Hendricks (page 40-41)

THE TENSION

Abraham Maslow pointed out 4
levels of learning (though he is
best known for his hierarchy of
needs);

The learners beginning
point - everyone starts
here - unconscious
incompetence - you are
ignorant and you don’t
know it

The next level -
conscious
incompetence - you
know you don’t know. How
do you find out? Someone
tells you, or you find out.

The next level -
conscious Competence
- you have learned
something, and are
consciously aware of it as
you do it - e.g. When you
have learned to drive a car

The final level -
unconscious
competence - you are so
competent you don’t have
to think about it any more.
Much of the time you can
spend thinking about
something else

The art of teaching - and the difficulty of
learning - is getting people to place
themselves at the beginning of this cycle so
that they can start the learning process.
This is not easy -for the teacher or the
student
Without this tension there is no
development, no learning, no
growth.

Too much tension leads to...

Frustration, anxiety, stress

Too little tension leads to...

Too little tension leads to...

So God periodically comes in and
disturbs things - in order to develop us

If it was good enough for Jesus...it will be good
enough for us

During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered
up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears
to the one who could save him from death, and he
was heard because of his reverent submission.
Although he was a son, he learned obedience
from what he suffered

Hebrews 5:7-8

Do you let people in your class feel comfortable?

Do you disturb them so that they realise...I’ve
got to study God’s word more and think
more; I’ve got to try this out in real life

What are the advantages and disadvantages of
both styles - when would each be most
appropriate / inappropriate?

ROLE PLAY
In 2‘s - Role play:
A skit about Jonah
A pastoral visit to a dying person
An argument between husband and wife
Presenting the Gospel to a difficult, non-believer
Or another scenario of your choice

WHAT IN THE WORLD
ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?

Hendricks tell the story of getting up to
preach, going into the pulpit and finding a
sign facing him,
“What in the world are you trying
to do to these people?”

He later asked the pastor about it. He said,

“Hendricks, I’ve been preaching for 12
years without an objective, and it finally
dawned on me one day that if I didn’t
know what I was doing, there was a good
possibility they didn’t know what they
were supposed to do. So I’ve started
coming into the pulpit with clear
objectives.”

Do you have clear cut objectives for
teaching?
Do you know how to give a true
education?
3 Basic goals are suggested - don’t just
buy them but thin about them, interact
with them - then they might become your
personal property and you can change
future generations

GOAL 1 - TEACH PEOPLE
HOW TO THINK
If you want a person to permanently change
you have to change their thinking - not merely
their behaviour.
They have to understand why they made the
change - if not change will be superficial and
short lived.
Parable of the sower - what is the major
variable?

Your task as a teacher is to stretch the
human mind - which like an elastic band
once stretched never quite returns to its
original form.
Warning: There is no danger of
overuse of a brain

In the Hospital the relatives gathered in the
waiting room, where their family member lay
gravely ill. Finally, the doctor came in looking
tired and somber.
I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news," he said
as he surveyed the worried faces. "The only
hope left for your loved one at this time is a
brain transplant. It's an experimental
procedure, semi-risky and you will have to pay
for the brain yourselves."

The family members sat silent as they absorbed
the news. After a great length of time, someone
asked, "Well, how much does a brain cost?"
The doctor quickly responded, "$20,000 for a
Baptist brain, and $200 for a Pentecostal
brain."

A man, unable to control his curiosity, blurted
out the question everyone wanted to ask, "Why
is the Baptist brain so much more?"

The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and
so to the entire group said, "It's just standard
pricing procedure. We have to mark down the
price of the Pentecostal brains, because they've
been used."

A priest, a Pentecostal preacher, and a Rabbi all
served as chaplains to the students of the
University of Montana in Missoula. They would get
together two or three times a week for coffee and to
talk shop.
One day, someone made the comment that
preaching to people isn’t really all that hard. A real
challenge would be to preach to a bear.One thing
led to another and they decided to do an
experiment. They would all go out into the woods,
find a bear, preach to it, and attempt to convert it.

Seven days later, they’re all together to discuss the
experience.
Father Flannery, who has his arm in a sling, is on
crutches, and has various bandages, goes first.
“Well,” he says, “I went into the woods tofind me a
bear. And when I found him I began to read to him
from theCatechism. Well, that bear wanted nothing
to do with me and began to slapme around. So I
quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him and,
Holy Mary Mother of God, he became as gentle a
lamb. The bishop is coming out nextweek to give
him first communion and confirmation.”

Reverend Billy Bob spoke next. He was in a
wheelchair, with an arm and both legs in casts, and an
IV drip. In his best fire and brimstone oratory he
claimed, ” WELL brothers, you KNOW that we don’t
sprinkle! I went out and I FOUND me a bear. And
then I began to read to my bear from God’s HOLY
WORD! But that bear wanted nothing to do with me.
So I took HOLD of him and we began to wrestle. We
wrestled down one hill, UP another and DOWN
another until we came to a creek. So I quick DUNKED
him and BAPTIZED his hairy soul. And just like you
said, he became as gentle as a lamb. We spent the rest
of the day praising Jesus.”

They both looked down at the rabbi, who was lying
in a hospital bed. He was barely conscious, in a full
body cast, with IVs and monitors running in
andout of him.
The rabbi looked up and said, “Looking back on it,
circumcision may not have been the best way to
start

GOAL 1
PLANT SEEDS

Don’t simply rearrange
their existing ideas - or prejudices
Plant seeds - let them germinate - and bear
fruit (who knows what form the fruit will
take!?)
Often students are impacted by things you
think are ‘nothing’

Remember if you want
to teach your students
to think - you must be
able (know how) to
think for yourself
The Thinker (French: Le
Penseur) is a bronze and marble
sculpture by Auguste Rodin held
in the Musée Rodin in Paris. It
depicts a man in sober
meditation battling with a
powerful internal struggle.

[Jesus]...answered, "You shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your
strength and with all your mind,
and your neighbor as yourself."

Luke 10:27

HOW TO LEARN

Create learners who will perpetuate the
learning process for the rest of their lives.
Learning is a process - it goes on all the time
“Every moment you live you learn; as you
learn, you live. Stop learning today, and
you stop living tomorrow.”
Hendricks p.45

“Often in churches the people who most
need to learn are those who seldom try”
Hendricks p.45

Learning should be a logical process - ideally
with 3 steps;
It goes from the whole - to the part - back to the
whole
This is called synthesis
synthesis
combination or composition, in particular the combination
of ideas to form a theory or system : the synthesis of intellect
and emotion in his work | the ideology represented a
synthesis of certain ideas.

Synthesis moves from the big picture to an
analysis of the parts - breaking them down,
seeing their meaning in the light of the whole -
to putting them back together so everyone
walks out the door thinking, Now I
understand it and can use it
To get people involved in the process of
learning, first, give them the big picture

Many people in church life do not know the big
picture because we specialise in breaking it
down into small parts.
What use is a detailed study of Ephesians if you
have no idea of the whole theme and flow of the
Bible?
Many people have no idea how to study the
Bible for themselves - when they do they find it
is exciting, encouraging and stimulating.

CAN YOU BRIEFLY
SUMMARISE THE
WHOLE BIBLE?

THE BIBLE IN 50
WORDS

God made Bush talked
Adam bit Moses balked
Noah arked Pharaoh plagued
Abraham split People walked
Joseph ruled Sea divided
Jacob fooled Tablets guided

Promise landed
Anger crucified
Saul freaked
Hope died
David peeked
Love rose
Prophets warned
Spirit flamed
Jesus born
Word spread
God walked
God remained
Love talked

THE BIBLE IN 7 MOVES

1. Eden to Ur


1. Eden to Ur
2. Ur to Haran


1. Eden to Ur
2. Ur to Haran
3. Haran to Israel


1. Eden to Ur
2. Ur to Haran
3. Haran to Israel
4. Israel to Egypt


1. Eden to Ur
2. Ur to Haran
3. Haran to Israel
4. Israel to Egypt
5. Egypt back to Israel


1. Eden to Ur
2. Ur to Haran
3. Haran to Israel
4. Israel to Egypt
6. Israel to Babylon


1. Eden to Ur
2. Ur to Haran
3. Haran to Israel
4. Israel to Egypt
6. Israel to Babylon
7. Babylon back to Israel

HOW TO WORK

Never do anything for a student that
they are capable of doing for them self.
If you do you will make them an
educational cripple - a
pedagogical paraplegic.
Hendricks p47

Teachers have to develop self
directed, disciplined, who do
what they do because they
choose to.
Hendricks suggests (p48),
“...you spend more time
questioning answers
than answering
questions”

“Our job is not to give quick and easy answers,
patent medicine solutions that never work in
the realities of life. It’s far, far better to have
students leave your class scratchig their heads
with questions they think and talk about, and
with problems they’re eager to find solutions
for...then you know you’ve got some education
going on”
Hendricks (p48)

BASIC SKILLS

Teaching students to think learn and work
requires helping them to master 4 basic skills:
Reading - we have talked about this enough!
Writing - creative assignments are given
Listening
Speaking

Hendricks (p 48), “The
problem with the average
guy coming out of
university is that he can’t
read, can’t write, and he
can’t think. And if you can’t
read, write or think, what
can you do?”
Someone answered,
“Watch television”

Listening is a great art - and crucial to
attain
Who do you know that is a good
listener - the best listener you
have ever experienced?
Why do you think they are a
good listener?
Who has ever taught you to
listen?

THE FOUNDATION OF
THE LEARNING PROCESS

The disciples learned through failure
Luke 9
12 sent out - v.6 healing everywhere
5000 fed - v.10ff
Transfiguration - v.28ff
Can’t cast out a demon - v. 40
Mark says - this type only comes out through
prayer - failure is a learning experience

BREAKING THE RULES

The principle: never tell or do anything that a
student can learn for themselves
Exceptions:
•Saving Time
•Students with special needs for
encouragement and help - failure here might
make them give up

•When a student is so highly motivated they
take in everything you give and still come back
for more.
•A word of warning - though it might take
time, once a student gets over the barrier and
into the joy of discovery and learning, they can
never again settle for education that is less
exciting.

THE ALTERNATIVES TO A
RENEWED MIND
1) A Debased Mind
"And even as they did not like to retain God in
their knowledge, God gave them over to a
debased mind, to do those things which are not
fitting."
(Romans 1:28)

2) A Blinded Mind
"Whose mind the god of this age has blinded,
who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel
of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine on them."
(2 Cor 4:4)

3) A Futile Mind
"You should no longer walk as the rest of the
Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind."
(Eph. 4:17)

4) A Hostile Mind
"The carnal mind is enmity against
God, for it is not subject to the law of
God, nor indeed can it be."
(Romans 8:7)

5) A Double Mind
"Let not that man
suppose that he will
receive anything from
the Lord; he is a double-
minded man, unstable in
all his ways."
(James 1:5 - 8)

6) A Feeble Mind
"Now we exhort you,
brethren, warn those
who are unruly,
comfort the
fainthearted (lit:
feeble-minded), uphold
the weak, be patient
with all."
(1 Thess 5:14)

The Need for a
Renewed Mind

1) The Key To
Transformation
Romans 12: 1 - 2

2) Important in
Spiritual Warfare
2 Corinthians 10:4 - 5
3) Necessary for Faith
James 1:5 - 6

4) For Ongoing
Spiritual
Development
Ephesians 4:17 - 24
5) To Know the Will
of God
Romans 12:2

6) For A Proper
Knowledge Of Self
Romans 12:3
7) Inward Peace And
Stability
Philippians 4:6

THE PROCESS OF
RENEWAL

Regeneration Isaiah 55:7, Psalm
51:10 - 11

Deliverance Mark 5:15

Responsibility Ephesians 4:22 - 23

Direction Joshua 1:8, Romans 8:5 - 6

Concentration Philippians 4:8

Discipline 1 Peter 1:13

Trust Philippians 4:6 - 7

Howard Hendricks: Law 2, The Law of Education

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