I have had inquiries about two recent blog posts; Conversational Pause and Wait for a Response. The following is a portion of one conversation and response to one of those inquirers.  In a teaching setting as Sunday School or other Bible study group, you have great opportunities to use this teaching technique. A study the gospels, reveals Jesus using these techniques.

Questions are one of the greatest teaching tools God has given us. Learning to use properly formulated questions is critical in effective teaching for true life changing learning. As a student of the question and its proper usage for effectiveness I enjoy using and teaching others the art and benefit of using properly formulated questions.  Unfortunately, in churches (Sunday School) the one type of question most often used produces little or no learning. (You can read more about this in Teaching That Bears Fruit, chapter 4, The Art of the Question). Learning to formulate good thought provoking questions will change your teaching as well as the atmosphere of your class and produce life-changing learning.

I write about questions in response to your inquiry because using the right formulated questions will build in automatic opportunity for pause. Example: In your class you could ask, “What day of the week is today?” As soon as someone answers “Sunday.” All thinking stops. This question only calls on the listener to use static recall, not in-depth thinking (what I refer to as Higher Order Thought Processes). Everyone knows it is Sunday. There is no opportunity for learning.

Instead of that question why not ask, “What does Sunday mean to you personally?” Everyone in the room must use higher order thinking to process this question. When one person, John, speaks, everyone processes what John is saying with what he or she is thinking. No matter how many people speak to the question, everyone’s thinking remains engaged processing each new piece of information until you, the leader, say it is time to move on. The pause is critical in creating this learning experience.

Formulating the right question is part one of the teaching experience. Part two comes in allowing the listeners to become learners. You do this by pausing, allowing each one in the room to process the information. This is one of the greatest downfalls of many Sunday School teachers – not pausing to allow the higher order thought processes to engage. I’ve sat in classes as a guest and listened as a teacher asked what I thought was a brilliant question for a learning experience. Yet, the teacher did not slow down. Without even taking a breath she/he kept on going without allowing the listeners to realize there was a question or a potential learning experience available.

Questions are not the only method of arriving at conversational pauses, but they are perhaps the easiest and most natural way to arrive at a pause geared for learning. You can also learn to use statements to create the same type learning experience. Example: It has been said that the Reverend Billy Graham has stated that 50% of the people sitting in church on Sunday morning are not born again Christians. – There is an implied question in the statement. Perhaps more than one. First, it probes every person to consider his own spiritual walk. Second, it should probe “How can we help change that statistic” conversation among the class. Another example: Studies have shown that the percentage of churched teens and unchurched teens experimenting with drugs, alcohol, and sex is virtually the same. That is a statement, but think of the probing it could lead to in your listeners.

While using statements can produce those same type learning experiences as questions, in a Sunday School class it may be best to use a follow up question to steer the thought processes; a question as, “What does that statistic say to you?” The key is to learn to pause and not to speak or give an answer without waiting for an answer. It is becoming comfortable with the discomfort of silence. Occasionally, not often, you may want to insert a little humor to lighten the tension brought on by the silence: something light like humming the Jeopardy tune or saying ‘tick, tock, tick, tock. It is also good to let your listeners know their input is valuable and needed for everyone to learn and live according to scripture.

Conversational pauses create vital learning experiences. It takes practice, but I believe anyone can learn to use this effectively. In the small group setting the learning part (for those listening) is instinctive. The teacher on the other hand has to re-learn how to teach by adding this to his repertoire. However, once you learn it and practice it with regularity, you will see a change in your teaching style, in the class atmosphere, and in the life-changing learning of those in your class.

For more on this topic contact George Yates and purchase your copy of Teaching That Bears Fruit.