Monthly youth leaders column

One day in the staff room. . . .

Imagine you are in charge of teaching mathematics at a large secondary school. There are students every year who need to sit external exams. The stakes are therefore quite high.

At the first team meeting of the year you sit down and set out your stall to the maths staff. This is what you suggest. No more teaching from the front. No more setting of work and testing. Instead the maths teacher becomes a companion to each student on their journey towards full numeracy.

As a teacher you cannot insist on the right way to do something, you can only show the student what you have learned on your own arithmetical journey. In addition you may only share your experience when the student is ready. The student must indicate that they are ready to hear your story. As for the rest of your time, it is spent sharing time and space with the students, to build a relationship, in order that they may begin to take steps by themselves on the journey.

It sounds ridiculous, of course. Any maths department knows that there are facts that need to be taught and skills that need to be learned. Text books are helpful because of the concentration of information. Skills need to be conveyed to the students in an instructive manner. Certainly, good relationships with the class and individuals will enhance their learning, but the idea of just building relationships and waiting for the students to ask questions is ludicrous. There needs to be a result in an exam set for a particular day.

Fall behind with the curriculum at your peril.

A model for youth work?

We want young people to grow up knowing Christ. We want to equip them for their life ahead. No one would deny that Christian young people face some of the toughest times and pressures that Christians have ever faced. We would rejoice as leaders if we knew that the young people in our groups will still be Christians in five or ten years time. So why are we failing to equip them or worse, equipping them to fail?

The answer is that the prevalent methodology for youth work is the model outlined in the first paragraph. It is based on understanding and penetrating youth culture, building meaningful relationships with young people and waiting for the right time to tell your 'story' in the hope that it will be picked up on by young people who will then want to follow Jesus for themselves. It has been labelled 'relational' or incarnational', because at its core this model advocates 'being there' above anything else, just as Jesus was there for his disciples.

The next step in this methodology is to imitate secular youth work because what that offers young people is space and relationships, but on their terms. This is deemed to be good because relationships may lead to the Christian faith 'rubbing off' on them. Space allows young people to react to your story. The result of letting this view dominate is a church which values (in their youth leaders) secular skills and qualifications above biblical ones, and a programme that demands many hours running events at which evangelism is at best a secondary motive. All this, too, at the probable expense of the discipleship of those young people already Christians.

Teaching & learning

There is no question during the maths team meeting - the students need to be taught. Maths needs to be made attractive and accessible, yes, but information needs to be imparted and facts need to be learned. Even the educationalists tell us that we need to teach. The great 'experiential learning' experiment of the 1970s and 80s has failed. We are falling behind Europe in our academic studies and research. What's the answer? More government guidelines, league tables and attainment targets - all aimed at helping teachers and pupils achieve high standards of learning.

The Bible tells us the same thing. Time and again we see Christ in the gospels teaching people, teaching the disciples, taking the few chosen ones aside to help them learn and understand. Acts is about people hearing the gospel. The great commission is fulfilled through sermons and personal testimony. Paul in his letters places an emphasis on teaching the gospel. Ephesians 4.20-24 for example. The Ephesians had been taught Christ, taught how to put off the old self and taught to put on the new self (see last month's column). Please note that I'm not decrying understanding culture or building relationships, both are important. But by putting the Bible up front in ministry it completely changes our understanding of how and why we do both these things.

So why have we stopped teaching young people the Bible? Why is it that the majority of youth workers cannot or will not put Bible teaching at the top of their working agenda? Why is it that understanding the Bible for ourselves and exploring effective ways to communicate it are not things that are taught properly on most youth work diploma courses? Here's the challenge (from 2 Timothy 4) for all youth and children's leaders: get out there and preach - in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage the young people; do it with great patience and careful instruction.

Next month's column will deal with 'Moaning Lisa's' (or any other YP). If you have any pertinent questions about young people and children's work we can't promise any instant fixes, but . . .

Just like teaching maths

A model for youth work?

Teaching & learning

Roger Fawcett

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