The Problem/Mystery of Preaching: Part 2—Embracing Mystery Posted on February 10, 2014 by David LoseThe basic practice and patterns of preaching we’ve employed in recent decades—and, truth be told, for centuries—are essentially sound. They don’t need to be redefined, only revised? A problem, according to this point of view, is a challenge or need that has a recognized context, involves set limits and variables, and presents itself for solution….
The Problem/Mystery of Preaching: Part 1—At a Crossroads Posted on February 3, 2014 by David LoseI’ve been preaching now for nearly twenty-five years and teaching preaching for a little more than half that time, and the refrain I’ve heard from preachers from across Christian traditions and from every generation is the same: preaching is broken. This is usually followed by an earnest plea: Fix it! …
Performance and the Classroom: Part 2—Community of Learners Posted on January 24, 2014 by David RhoadsYou never know where ideas might come from to enhance the teaching-learning experience—a choir concert, a kindergarten teacher sharing her philosophy of child development, a grade school instructor excited about a new way to teach math, a middle school tutor for special education, a CEO talking about new structures of management….
Performance and the Classroom: Part 1—My First (Misconceived) Effort Posted on December 24, 2013 by David RhoadsI got the idea to incorporate performance into the classroom from the choir director at Carthage College. I went to the annual concert of the choir, a magnificent Christmas concert held each year in December. The concert was repeated several times on the weekend and drew thousands of people from the college and from the area. As always, I was awed by the quality of the student performances….
Posing Questions—Part III: Nourishing Great Questions Posted on November 8, 2013 by David RhoadsHow can we create a hospitable atmosphere in which question-asking is an integral and valued part of the classroom experience for students and teachers alike? Maybe we need to be absolutely clear that we actually, really, honestly do want questions! To try and generate an atmosphere hospitable for questions, I have sometimes said, “You may have had a bad experience in the past asking questions in class. But I want you to know I welcome them. I know you may feel they expose what you do not know. But that is the whole point of learning. . . .