Finding Teachers
This is the time of year when people look the other way as I approach them for conversation at coffee hour. Last week, after spending five minutes chatting with the father of two children in our Sunday school, his wife approached us as we continued to speak. “What have you signed me up for?” she asked him nervously. Her husband and I had been talking about episodes of The Simpsons, but it is true that I had this particular couple in mind as a Godly Play teaching team.
The ideal is to have the same two people teach Godly Play together throughout the school year. Just as it is best for the children to have continuity in teachers for their Monday through Friday learning, the same stability is reassuring in a Sunday School setting. Otherwise, the “substitute teacher” syndrome kicks in. On seeing a new storyteller in the Godly Play classroom, some children will want to test the limits of this new teacher. It is difficult for the children and for the teacher.
It is rare in our overscheduled lives for Sunday school teachers to be available every week. So at CHC, I am trying a compromise approach in scheduling Godly Play storytellers and doorpersons. If you look closely at my published schedule on this site, you’ll see that I have divided the year into three units of 12 weeks each. I plan to find three teachers to share the work of being with the children for each unit. Since the classic Godly Play teaching team consists of two co-teachers, one of the three teachers can be off each Sunday. The plan is for the Education staff person and clergy to teach the children once each unit. That means any individual teacher will only need to serve 6 times.
In Useful Godly Play Stuff, is the “recruiting document” I am giving to the teachers. It outlines a training and preparation schedule that is a far cry from the Godly Play ideal. For many of us, Godly Play is a spiritual practice that takes a lifetime to learn. In my experience, even Godly Play done under less than ideal circumstances is better than any other curriculum I have found. I also know from experience that many of the teachers I recruit for one unit will fall in love with Godly Play and want to teach longer.
Kathleen Capcara
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Reader Comments (2)
We were going to start a second classroom for the younger children last September. We started them off together, however, and by November, when the split was to take place, they had all formed such a loving community, that we decided to continue them together in one group. The older children help the younger children and model behavior in the story circle. We have an average of about 12 children each Sunday.
"Godly Time" is a term I have heard used for the older children's group.
Claudia Wells
Godly Time. Hmm. I like it. And, yes! I have also found that multi-age Godly Play classrooms work well. In my case, we have up to 14 children in the older classroom and up to 10 in the younger class. Neither of our spaces could accomodate the entire group of children when everyone is present. But there are some weeks when only 4 younger children are in class and maybe 8 older children. It is good to know that under those circumstances, or if a teacher is ill and no substitute is available, that all the ages can work well together.