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going through content may not assist so much in the process of memorisation.
" If you fall behind, get back on schedule as soon as you can. Allocate anything as yet
uncovered to homework and/or self-study.
" Use Student Worksheets and Homework Questions to help students in their regular
self-study (please see pages 66 & 67 for more details). This helps promote our Aim of
Responsibility for Learning and eases the task of the teacher.
" Remember to cover all of our Aims in roughly the right proportion (refer to page 37).
" Select Learning Experiences that best deliver the Aim we have in mind. Refer to the
comprehensive list on page 65.
68
Preparing Yourself
You, as the teacher, are the most important resource. It is therefore essential to keep
yourself in good shape, physically, emotionally, academically and spiritually. The following
guidelines may be useful:
" Get sufficient rest.
" Don t overeat, especially just prior to a lesson.
" Dress appropriately.
" Maintain sound sadhana. Especially beware of skipping the morning programme in
order to specifically prepare for the day s lesson(s).
" Regularly read Srila Prabhupada s books.
" Be vigilant and look for material that could be useful in teaching. For example, make a
note of personal experiences or what you notice as current topical issues.
" Try to consistently improve your professional skills (teaching, interpersonal skills, etc.)
and seek advice and training whenever you can.
" Monitor your own attitude. Do you consider yourself a servant? Are you the teacher
or a fellow learner ?
" Consistently evaluate your performance in previous lessons in order to improve and
prepare for the next.
" Use visualisation; see yourself positively responding to the situations you may find
difficult.
" Live your life based on scripture and try to see through sastra.
" Be exemplary in all aspects of life.
You may wish to add further notes below:
69
Keeping in Mind the Big Picture
It is essential that as teachers (or as self-study students) we keep in mind an overview of
the course rather than simply hopping from lesson to lesson and considering each in
isolation. Variety between lessons should not be dictated solely by differences in the
respective subject matters. Remember that we are not merely interested in content but in
realising our Aims.
These will tend to run as strands throughout the course, though not all will be covered
explicitly in each lesson. Some Aims (e.g. Knowledge and Understanding) will be relevant
to practically all lessons. Others will only be touched upon sporadically. This is shown in
the following diagram, where the darker the squares, the more deeply or at length that
particular Aim is delivered.
Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson
Aim 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Knowledge
Understanding
Personal Application.
Preaching Application.
Theological Application
Authority
Academic Integrity
Faith & Conviction
Mood & Mission
Resp. for Learning
Evaluation
Sastra Caksus
Please note:
1. Although the teacher may plan to fulfill certain Aims in a particular lesson, others may arise
automatically, e.g. if in a discussion, one devotees uses poor arguments, you may see this as
an opportunity to explore Academic Integrity .
2. Responsibility for Learning is something to keep in mind throughout all lessons, though it
should be explicitly addressed in the Orientation Lessons. After that, it will be delivered mainly
implicitly, though you may need to, for example, remind students of our Aims once in a while.
3. Although certain Aims are important for all lessons (e.g. Knowledge) this does mean that the
teacher has to ensure that the corresponding learning goes on during lesson time.
Memorisation is one example of learning that students should be able to cope with by
themselves (as adults, at least). As the teacher trains students how to study then they can
fulfill more and more of the Aims outside of the classroom. This allows the teacher to use
classroom time more effectively as he or she focuses progressively on higher Aims and
Objectives. An effective teacher is modelling effective learning.
4. The teacher will want to ensure a suitable balance between our Aims and avoid over-
emphasising some and neglecting others (for more details, please refer to page 37).
5. Very often the teacher will cover a large number of Aims for any given content. For example,
he or she might give some information, then promote a discussion by asking questions. Then
they might ask students to relate personal experiences that illustrate the topic. Finally the
teacher could say, All this is well and good. But I d like to ask you now, How does this verse
relate to your own life? Despite this, it may be useful to identify a prominent Aim (keeping in
mind that they tend to be nested for example Preaching Application presumes a degree of
Understanding, and Theological Application tends to go somewhat deeper than Preaching
Application. (For more details, please see page 25.)
70
Continuity and Progression
As we have discussed, it is desirable that both students and teachers feel a realistic and
accurate sense of progress. This will be achieved not simply by going from Chapter One
of the Gita to Text Eleven of the Nectar of Devotion, but in covering all of our Aims in a
balanced and integrated fashion.
It is equally important to ensure continuity and progression for each Aim. This means
that we are careful to build on previous learning. For example, in the chart on the previous
page, the teacher has covered Academic Integrity in Lesson 2. This Aim is revisited
again, in this case, in Lessons 8. And then again, for Lessons 28 and 42. This will not
usually be on the same level. Lesson 8 should pick up where Lesson 2 finishes
(continuity) but should build on it (progression). This is shown in the following diagram:
L e s s o n s O b j e c t i v e s
Lesson 42 List and explain another 3 common
ways of misusing scripture
Lesson 28 List and explain 3 common ways of
misusing scripture
Lesson 8 Compare and contrast results of
using with not using
Lesson 2 Define Academic Integrity
You will notice that, as shown above, progression is achieved in two principal ways.
1) Covering different content for the same Objective.
2) Meeting more advanced Objectives in successive lessons:
Keep in mind that number 2 is far more important. Let us consider, for example,
Understanding , which is applicable to all lessons. Rather than students understanding
one verse or passage, then the next, and so forth, we will want to see that their
competence to grasp the subject develops; perhaps also their ability to formulate clear
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