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WRITING FOR T.E.E. A HANDBOOK FOR TRAINING AUTHORS by Dr. Hartwig F. Harms
Hartwig F. Harms was born in 1939 in Hamburg (Germany), and studied Classics and Theology at Tübingen, Heidelberg, Göttingen and Hamburg universities, He is a Dr. of Theology in Missiology (Heidelberg 1971). hartwig also studies at Fuller Theological Seminary School of World Mission 1977/78. he was a Missionary in Ethiopia 1972-1993 within the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus: Harwig was involved in training of evangelists and pastors, since 1975 also in TEE work. Hartwig iniated a contextualized TEE program in the Oromo language at Onesimus Nesib Seminar Aira (Wollaga), Since 1987, he was involved in TEE programs of Mekane Vesus Semi in Addis Ababa (Award level in Amharic, Diploma level in English). Hartwig taught various courses for TEE leaders and authors. Since 1993 he has been resident in Hermannsburg (Germany), with regular visits in Ethiopia, continuing involvement in TEE work, also initiating a TEE program for a German Lutheran church (Theologischer Fernkurs der SELK). Harwig was married in 1966 to Dr. of Medicine . Susanne Keller, who died in 1994. He was re-married in 1998.
Send correspondance to: ©Copyright, Hartwig F.
Harms, September, 2003 This handbook may be downloaded, distributed, and copied without charge as long as it is not sold for remuneration. The content of this manual may not be altered or published for remuneration without permission from the author. Rev. Harms requests notification to him if you use the material. Writing for Theological Education by Extension Theological Education by Extension (T.E.E., now mostly abbreviated ’TEE’) has become a widely accepted tool in the training of voluntary and of professional ministers in the church. It has its strengths and its limitations. Certainly it is no less quality training than residential training in seminaries and Bible schools. What is different is its approach: TEE is more oriented to practice, it makes wide use of the ongoing experience and growing insights of the learners and puts less emphasis on academic input and library research. This does not mean that theology and theological books are of less importance for TEE. It is undisputed that the Holy Bible and Christian theology must be the basis of home study, regular group discussions and practice in the congregations. It means, however, that theological input in the study materials must always be related to the life and service of the participants. This needs to be carefully chosen so that it will help the participants in their congregational ministry. It also has to be skilfully presented so that it will concentrate on the main issues and not be side-tracked by matters irrelevant for their present ministry. In other words: out of the vast field of theology those areas and issues are emphasized which have direct bearing on the present and future ministry of the participants in their context. In order for the TEE teaching materials to be able to fulfil these tasks, they must be well planned and carefully prepared, and they must be tested before being made the basis of the daily self-study of the participants. This handbook is meant mainly to help instructors of potential authors to guide others in writing self-study materials for use in TEE programmes. It grew out of 25 years of experience with theological distance education, with different forms of self-study materials and a number of workshops for training of TEE writers and co-ordinators. While the author gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness to Ralph D. Winter and Ross Kinsler who started the TEE movement 1963 in Guatemala, to Fred Holland under whom he has done studies in TEE at Fuller Theological Seminary in 1977/78, to Patricia Harrison with whom he conducted a workshop at Debre Zeyt, Ethiopia, in 1984 and to other colleagues with whom he co-operated in a series of TEE courses at Daystar University College in Nairobi, Kenya, from 1986 to 1991, he has developed his own approach in different TEE programmes of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, as an author, editor and administrator. He has learned a lot from Programmed Instruction which in the early years tended to be identified with TEE, but has seen that other forms of self-instructional materials can bring the same good results. Therefore, a choice of different forms will be introduced in this handbook. In a way, this is a sequel to “Training T.E.E. Leaders: A Course Guide“, edited by Margaret Thornton [Evangel Publ. House, Nairobi 1990]. This was meant as a handbook for training group leaders or tutors and was the outcome of a course for TEE enablers at Daystar University College in which this author participated. While continuing the basic approach and understanding of TEE as outlined in that Course Guide, the author has concentrated in this Handbook on the preparation of good teaching material for use in TEE programmes. He hopes that it will be found useful as a guideline both for trainers and authors. Many thanks to my colleagues and successors in the TEE programmes of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus for their feedback and encouragement; special thanks to Sr. Mary Cableway of Health Care Christian Fellowship International, South Africa, for checking the manuscript. Hartwig F. Harms Hermannsburg, Germany September 2003 1. What is the aim of this Handbook?
The Handbook sums up the
experience of many authors and years of TEE writing and has three
aims:
1.1
It is meant in the first place to be a guide for instructors of TEE
writers.
1.3
It is meant as a self-study guide for potential TEE writers. 2. Outline of the Handbook 2.1 The opening unit reminds us briefly of the basic aims and philosophy of TEE and sets it in relation to other forms of theological training. It focuses on two questions: first, for whom is TEE meant? - for mature adults, active as co-workers and ministers in the congregation; and second, how does this influence our writing? 2.2 In the second unit, the three ways in which learning takes place in TEE - self-study, discussion and practice - are explained and set in correspondence with the three domains of learning. It is one of the marks of TEE, that all three domains are given balanced attention. 2.3 In the third unit, the levels of learning are discussed. They are presented in three groups so that they can be related to the three ways of learning. 2.4 In the fourth unit we look at the different formats which can be used for TEE self-study materials. 2.5 As our learners are adults, it is good to be aware of the psychology of adults and of the ways they learn best. This is dealt with in unit five. 2.6 The sixth unit is concerned with the subject matter to be taught. Not every interesting topic can be presented. Which of the many important themes in theology should be selected and discussed in TEE? We endeavour to find ways and criteria according to which the selection should take place if the programme is to be useful and acceptable to the churches we want to serve. 2.7 The next unit deals with the intended outcomes of the TEE courses. What do we want to achieve? Clear aims and objectives are not only desirable, they are essential for writing good teaching materials in general, and still more for TEE. The art of formulating clear objectives is of utmost importance. We need them at every stage of the course, and for all domains and ways of learning. 2.8 Hints are given in unit eight as to how to find the content necessary to teach the selected subjects and to reach the intended outcomes. This refers to library research as well as to consultation with persons knowledgeable in the subject matter. 2.9 After the research, research notes and your own ideas need to be organized and arranged in a way fitting for your TEE programme. You will find a discussion of the options and the most important principles of arrangement in unit nine. 2.10 It is advisable to present the teaching in roughly equal portions which can be studied in a day. Format and organizing principles of such daily lessons are discussed in unit ten. While the format of Programmed Instruction will not be used by many, some of its concepts are also helpful for other formats. 2.11 Good questions are important in order to achieve active learning. Questions make the learner think about the new information and reinforce the point made. For TEE purposes, we focus on three kinds of questions. This is done in unit eleven. 2.12 While much of the TEE self-study material is self-contained, i.e. includes the complete teaching, it is also possible to make use of textbooks and other available materials and to combine them with companion study guides. These are described in unit twelve. 2.13 Testing during the time of writing and development of the course is essential in order that it is of good quality and fitting for the people for whom it is meant. This is described in unit thirteen. 2.14 In order to prepare the manuscripts or typescripts for printing, editing by one or more editors is needed. A lot has to be considered here. 2.15 From time to time materials need revision. Before that is done, they need to be evaluated. The points to be considered are found in this unit. They are largely identical with those considered for the editing work. 2.16 The learning will make an impact only if it helps people in their problems and fits their situation and context. How can we make the teaching contextual? This important question is considered in the final unit. Have you been asked to write teaching materials for TEE? It will be useful for you to be reminded for whom TEE is meant, what it is meant to achieve, how it works, and what this means for writing TEE materials. That is our task in this unit. 1. For whom is TEE? TEE is an approach to decentralized training of committed Christians for their services in congregations. When it was started 1963 A.D. in Guatemala, it was meant as a means of training local pastors in their home areas in order to prevent their becoming estranged from their home congregations which so often happened when they received their training in the seminary in the capital city. So, the Seminary extended its services to where the need was: educating those who, because of their commitment and natural qualities, were the actual leaders of the congregations, so that they might become qualified church ministers. In contrast to the young men who usually were sent to the seminary, these natural leaders normally had a family and were unable to leave their homes for longer periods. Therefore, training had to be devised which would allow them to do most of their studies at home. That led to the inception of TEE: theological training which can be undertaken by staying at home and is aimed at providing ministers for the congregations. Often those persons whom the congregations preferred as their leaders did not enjoy high school education. They had no university entrance level which was a prerequisite for theological training at a seminary. So, the extension training had to be designed in such a way that it gave quality education without necessarily demanding academic qualifications. This became possible through preparing self-study materials which provide room for learners of different educational levels: those with little formal education would take their time to master them, the ones with higher education could use the same material, but finish it in shorter time - each one at his own pace. ‘Programmed Instruction’, which at that time was a new educational tool, became the means to provide teaching for people of a wide range of educational levels. The decision to aim at more mature people to be prepared for congregational ministry implied the need for two other features to be designed for the training. First, as most of those selected were already serving their congregations it was for them ‘in-service-training’, and the theological teaching had to take that into account. Secondly, the people to be trained were no longer young students, but mature adults with a lot of life experience and with a respected position in their congregations. They had to be treated accordingly. On the other hand, their experience could be used for making the teaching practical and relevant. The result was the concept of ‘Theological Education by Extension’ which teaches theology to mature leaders, trains the people where they live, aims at continuing and improving congregational services of the participants, and draws on their experience in life and congregational ministry. This has proved to be an effective way of theological training ever since. Many churches have experienced that in TEE they have received a potent tool of training leaders for their congregational ministries. Occasionally Christian Education for all members of a church has been termed ‘TEE’. The approach of TEE - self-study, discussion and practice - certainly is useful in many areas of education and some TEE materials can be helpful also for Christian Education of adults. However, we prefer to use the term ‘TEE’ for Theological Education only - that’s what the first two letters of TEE stand for. That means: TEE trains people for ministry in the church. This includes not only pastors, but also preachers, evangelists, catechists, voluntary co-workers, group leaders and others involved actively in the congregation in this term. Together they do the ‘ministry’. So, TEE is designed for the training of professional and voluntary ministers in the church. It can be used in many ways and for many different groups. There are many different TEE Programs in the world. Each one has its own way of doing TEE. The levels of teaching differ, the selection of subjects taught differ, the kinds of materials differ, and the length of the courses differ. TEE can be adjusted to the people for whom it is meant: the kind of congregation for which leaders need to be trained. We speak of the ‘target group’. How and what we write in the teaching materials depends on the needs of the group we are trying to reach: their tasks and roles, their level and aims, their situation and context. Therefore, before starting to write teaching materials for TEE, we will have to make sure for whom we are going to write and ask ourselves; what is the type or ‘profile’ of the future users, our target group? 2. What are the aims of TEE? As just mentioned, the main purpose of TEE is to provide congregations with mature leaders who are theologically sufficiently qualified for their ministries. This aim includes training for ordained ministry and for lay ministers, be they employed in the area where they are serving or do their service in their free time. In other words, it is training for leadership in the congregations. Such training involves three aspects. The first aspect is that of the personality. Good church leaders guide mainly by their personality and their example (1 Pet. 5:3). They are expected to be absolutely faithful and trustworthy (2. Cor. 4:2). They need to be mature persons who command respect in their own family and in the society by the way they conduct themselves what they expect from others (1 Tim. 3:1-13). Therefore, the growth of the personal faith and the deepening of good family relations, the ability to reach balanced judgment and to relate well to other people are part of the aims in the training of leaders. Growth in maturity of the character and in the depth of the spirituality is high on the agenda of TEE. The next aspect concerns the practical competence. Congregational leaders are expected to do and perform many things: to lead worship services and assemblies, to preach and pray, to teach children and adults in the basics of Christian faith, to counsel and to reconcile members, to manage the property and finances of the congregation faithfully. Each one will service in those areas which are assigned to him, according to the gifts entrusted to him (Rom. 12:6). Some of the gifts are natural skills, some are given by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:4). But all of them need to be practised, and many can be improved by experience. It is one of the tasks of theological education to do this, and it is one of the aims of TEE to help the present and future church leaders to improve their practical skills. The third aspect is that of sufficient knowledge. In order to grow in faith and personality, and in order to improve the practical skills, sufficient information and basic knowledge is needed. Of course, congregational ministers know about the way to salvation and the message of the Bible. However, for certain tasks - preaching, teaching, leading Bible studies - it needs deeper knowledge and insight of the Word of God and of the teaching of the church. For other aspects - like leading and counselling - it is helpful to have both knowledge of the experience of the Christian church as well as some results of psychology and sociology. Practice must be under girded by information and sufficient knowledge. To provide this is the third main aim of TEE. All three aspects - growth of personality, improvement of practical competence, and provision of the necessary knowledge - are together the concerns of TEE and need to be considered as we prepare the teaching materials for it. Again we will have to ask ourselves before starting to write TEE materials: In which aspects do the people whom we are going to train need to be strengthened most for their ministry? 3. How does TEE work? Learning takes place in TEE via three ways: through self-study, group discussion and field practice. They belong together. None of them can be omitted without seriously endangering the intended results. First there is the self-study at home with the help of self-instructional teaching material. It is designed in such a way that the learners can follow it and understand the presented teaching without additional explanations. This means, not only must there be clear and complete information, but also sufficient explanations and illustrations. Secondly, it must be prepared in such a way that the learners interact with the new teaching. They should neither feel bored nor overtaxed, but be encouraged that they can cope with the demands and happily go on. The self-study materials widely replace the teacher in providing the required knowledge and in encouraging the learners. The second way learning takes place is through the regular discussion which goes on in group meetings or seminars for which the TEE participants of an area come together. They consider in their discussions how far the new teaching is helpful for themselves, relevant for their congregations and applicable in their service. They get deeper insight and respond, either making it their own conviction or devising alternatives. Together they look for ways of using new insights in their special context, share related experiences and encourage each other in putting the teaching to the test. This part of the training is helping their faith and minds to mature. The third way of learning in TEE is the congregational practice. This provides the field experience which has two main functions. The first is to reinforce the learning: what we do and apply immediately after hearing something has the best chance of being remembered. It is well known that we remember only 10% of what we hear a teacher tells us, 50% of what we see and hear, and 90% of what we have done - in role play or practice. That has great implications for learning. It means that for most people, not the amount of new information they have received makes them knowledgeable, but the use of it. Applied to theological education it means, that the memory of new theological knowledge is enhanced by applying it. The second function of immediate field experience is to help the learners to see the relevance and practicality of the teaching. The aim of TEE is to improve skills for ministry. The teaching and suggestions must be put to the test, and they must be tested immediately in order to be able to reflect on the experiences together with the others in the group. That gives the opportunity to either correct their own approach, or to look for alternatives. A third function could be added: it is the chance for participants to find out their own gifts by practising, also in areas which normally would not be tried. 4. Consequences for TEE Writing What does all this mean for the preparation of TEE materials? 4.1 TEE is devised for training of Christians active in the ministry of the Church. That means, we have to teach all that is needed for doing this ministry. The emphasis will be on those aspects of theology which have a direct or indirect bearing on the practical challenges of congregational leaders and co-workers. This will influence the selection of topics and of examples. 4.2 TEE is devised to improve the ministry of leaders already active in the Church. Therefore, it will start at the level of the majority of those for whom the training is meant and take their potentials into account. 4.3 One of the aspects of the training is to help the participants to mature and grow spiritually. TEE materials will provide not only food for the intellect, but also for the spirituality. That will mean both stimulus for the personal prayer life and reflection as well as proposals for consideration of spiritual concerns in the group. 4.4 Another aspect of the training is the emphasis on field experience. In the TEE materials we will suggest ways the new things learned can be put into practice in the congregation. 4.5 The provision of sufficient knowledge for doing the ministry is the third aspect. That will include many fields and themes of traditional theology and Biblical interpretation. This is the main thrust for the self-study materials. In other words: Writing for TEE means in first place to provide the necessary knowledge for the training of congregational leaders in the self-study materials. But it will be done by keeping the other ways of learning through TEE in mind and will include also helps and suggestions for the group discussions and congregational experience. Questions for reflection and discussion
1. How will it show in
the teaching materials if a TEE author respects the fact that the users
are not inexperienced young men but mature congregation
leaders? Assignment For whom will you write? What is your target group? Describe the people whom you expect to be the most important group among the TEE learners of your TEE programme:
1. their present role in
church and society (family status, functions in the congregation, place in
the society, economic situation);
Write at least one full
page.
Kinsler, Ross, The Extension
Movement (rev. ed.), pp. 30-35 UNIT TWO - THREE WAYS OF LEARNING In this unit we will look at the three ways in which learning is achieved in TEE: self-study, discussion and practice. Each one caters specially for one of the three aspects of learning which are called the ‘three domains of learning’. This unit will help you to see that TEE is not a one-sided affair but a holistic way of training. 1. The three Domains of Learning Learning is not just a matter of acquiring knowledge and storing it in the memory. It is not a matter of the storing and thinking capacity of the mind only. Learning has also an emotional side: it affects our feeling and personality, and it is influenced positively and negatively by them. Finally, learning is connected with activities: we learn in order to do things and to apply new information in our lives. These three aspects are briefly summarized in the three words: KNOWING, BEING and DOING. In terms of educational psychology, we speak of the cognitive, the affective and the psycho-motor domains.
1.1
Cognitive domain
1.2
Affective domain
Ian MacKenzie, TEENET
Website Director
Megan Norgate, TEE College of South Africa
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