Not Everyone Learns Alike
Roberta Hestenes
Every class is diverse. I will never know all the mysteries of people's souls. But by God's grace, I can effectively address that diversity.
—Roberta Hestenes John lays floor tiles for a living, eight hours a day, day in and day out. He's not much of a reader, but he's eager to learn, and he's looking for something from the class I'm about to teach. Peter is a lawyer, driven, compulsive, and a bit of a snob. He is a reader, and a skeptical one at that. In fact, he's vowed that if this class doesn't grab him, he probably won't bother with another. Joanne's husband left her a few months ago, and now she's trying to support herself and her two children on a clerk's salary at Penney's. This is the first job she has had in twenty-five years. She doesn't think she's capable of anything better, and she feels absolutely powerless. Michael owns his own small corporation; he's pretty much in charge of his time. He talks flippantly about time pressures and taxes, but he knows he's got it good. But he's feeling a vague sense of guilt about what to do with himself outside of his job. These people and more sit before me as I'm about to begin a church school class. Only some vague attraction to the topic, a Bible study on Romans, binds them together. For a brief moment, I despair: Each of these people comes with unique concerns and unique situations. How can I possibly communicate with all of them? This great diversity is one of the most humbling realities for the teacher. So over the years, I've learned to depend increasingly on the Holy Spirit to touch the diverse lives of my students. I've also learned that by God's grace some teaching techniques can address that diversity. Variety in the classroom is of two types, and we must concern ourselves ...
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