By Jan Cagno

"Stop, Look and Listen," that’s good advice for the adults in your Sunday school. In this fast-paced world, listening is an art that is disappearing. Adults in the Sunday school often give the appearance of listening while their minds are actually "miles away." It is often evident that minds are wandering even during conversations between two people.

There are three things that I think we should understand about listening:

1. Real listening is an ACTIVE, not passive thing. When one is genuinely listening to someone else or something else, concentration is taking place. The mind, as well as the ears, is working.

2. Real listening means INVOLVEMENT. Almost any time we are truly listening, we are involved in forming an opinion about what is happening or what is being said.

3. Real listening brings RESPONSE. Some people will more readily make that response audible than others, but response is the natural consequence of the listener, whether it is voiced or not.

How can teachers develop listening skills in their adult Sunday school classes? First, they must catch the attention of the student and then they must have a means of holding that attention. This means that they must be interesting. What is said must be worth listening to. It means that they must use a variety of teaching methods. People respond to something new or unexpected. It also means that the student should be involved. Good specific questions that can be easily answered or that will motivate discussion should be asked throughout the lesson and assignments should be made. Students who become involved in the lesson will be good listeners.

Good adult classes in which students truly listen and participate require hours of preparation and effort on the part of the teacher. It requires ingenuity to devise assignments for various class members to complete. Teaching with variety necessitates research and tracking down certain objects or teaching aids, such as a map or chart or newspaper articles or pictures, or an audio tape containing information to be shared. If a teacher wishes to be interesting, interesting information must be ferreted out and presented well. This means extra work. And finally, to achieve real success, a teacher must make a practical application of the Bible truth that is taught. Only then can that truth be put to work in the lives of adults in the Sunday school. Listening adults produce good results in the Sunday school.

(This article appeared in the "Fall, 1993" issue of "The Herald.")