Psychology Observational Learning

Last Sunday was my ward’s Ward Conference. We had the opportunity to hear from our Stake and Ward Leaders in Relief Society, Sunday School and Sacrament. I took this opportunity to pay close attention to how they taught. I paid particularly close attention to the Stake President as he taught during Relief Society.

I noticed how he incorporated many different styles of teaching into his lesson to keep the attention of the class and try to reach everyone on some level. He shared personal stories which captured everyone’s attention and also had a few different people prepare a few thoughts to share. This was a smart tool that prevented the class from getting bored just listening to him speak the whole time.

Another great, unique tool he used in his lesson was music. From time to time in church lessons people will play a CD or recite lyrics, but our Stake President actually sang a song for us. To have him teach us in both spoken word and song was a great tool to allow us to all get something out of his lesson. Particularly in the gospel, there is a unique quality that music has to convey messages that spoken words sometimes cannot.

He also did a great job of showing a genuine love for the class. Even though he did not know each of us by name or on a personal level, he still asked us our names when we commented and made it a point to respond respectfully to each comment shared. This class involvement is always a great tool for teachers to use as well. It allows others to share their insights and share a thought that perhaps the teacher had not even thought of. It includes the students in the learning process which is what every teacher should strive for. I hope that when I am in charge of my own classroom I am able to use these multiple methods of teaching to create a meaningful lesson for my students. I enjoyed this experience. It provided me the opportunity to look at my teachers more closely and pick out different techniques that may be helpful to me in my future teaching.