Information to Transformation

How to write and teach lessons
that move from information to transformation.

by Neil MacQueen for Rotation.org

I originally wrote about this subject for my software website in the early 2000's. An earlier version of it also appeared for many years here at rotation.org and was often referenced as a source of help by other writers. So I have updated it here for our new "Pulling Back the Curtain" forum, and it is one of the articles we have new Team members read before writing with us.

This article discusses the problem and offers many practical examples of things you can do in your lesson to move towards transformational teaching. 

I hope that it helps your teaching and welcome your feedback.

Neil MacQueen
Writing Team Lead Writer
2019

What is "Information to Transformation"?

Teachers can do a lot to stir their kids' spiritual awareness and faith formation.

• We can nurture their love for God's Word and for being with God's people.
• We can help them learn how to sense God's presence in and between the lines of scripture.
• We can teach them the spiritual practice of examining their lives in the light of scripture.
• And we can teach them how to respond to and grow in God's love.

Unfortunately, a lot of lessons and teaching don't do these things. Lessons get "stuck" in the necessary "information" of a Bible story, as if simply learning about the story is enough.

Information is the facts, figures, and general insights of the scripture passage and lesson. Even the moral take away to "be like Jesus" is merely information. 

Whereas, "transformation" is that moment when the story has not only captured my attention but has begun to grab hold of my heart. It is that moment when I feel the story, or lesson, or sermon is beginning to speak to me. 

Traditional teaching has gotten pretty good at transmitting the information, even creatively so. But it is transformation that is the holy grail of teaching. And in the rest of this article and its example, I will share some of my insights and teaching examples about how to get from information to transformation.

Where the phrase "Information to Transformation" came from and what I think it means...

Years ago, Christian educator and author Scottie May shared these transformative words with me...

"We teach for transformation, not just information."

I pinned them to my bulletin board and brain where they became a touchstone for my ministry as a teacher, lesson writer, and software developer. Over the years, I've written and taught many hundreds of Sunday School lessons, and had a lot of experiences and time to think about Scottie's words. Here's where I am today:

"Information to Transformation" is the about helping to create the conditions, content, language, and activities through which students start to hear the story speaking to them, and begin to sense through our guidance the presence of God opening their heart and calling them forward.

As teachers, we can be agents and catalysts of the transformative process.

• Transformative teaching begins when students learn to expect something special when they enter our classroom.
  
  
• Transformative teaching speaks to the heart of each student, helping them begin to understand that God is speaking to them through the story and activities.
  
  
• Transformative teaching is heavy on life application and reflection. It nurtures a student's relationship with God, and does not merely teach the text.
  
  
• Transformative teaching sends students back out into the world with a desire to share and practice what they have learned.
  
  

Transformational teaching is easily undermined by a number of things seen too often in Sunday School:

• boring activities and environments
• low expectations
• teachers who emphasize "what?" over "so what?" (or just emphasize fun over learning)
• lesson activities that bear little relation or importance to the story or its meaning
• and lessons that are easily forgotten

Last but not least, you can't be an agent of transformation to kids who don't want to come, be there, or come back.

Some Insights about Transformational Teaching

Here are some observations about transformational-teaching moments:

1. Transformational teaching is when you illuminate what God is doing in the story, and where each of us is in the story.  

Too often teachers reduce scripture to moralistic conclusions, "be good and play nice." A transformative teacher, however, helps the kids see where and what God is doing in the story, and reveals where we are in that story and what God is trying to say to US.  Transformational teaching transforms the story into a story about you and God. Yes, it's also about others, but like Moses at the burning bush, first it's about Moses and God.

2. Transformational teaching is about opening people's eyes and hearts to what they may not have originally seen or understood. The feeling of "a ha!" is a transformational opportunity.

Take the Feeding of the 5000, for example. On first pass, it looks like Jesus is teaching a parable about "sharing" and compassion. But is Jesus really trying to feed people? Or open their eyes to his transforming presence --the One promised to them by God? (John 6:14)  In case you missed it and thought it was a cute informational parable about the importance of sharing with others, Jesus explains it to us in John 6:35:  I AM THE BREAD he says  ---you need me or you will go hungry. Now that's a transformative mind-blower if I ever read one.

3. Transformation can happen when you see yourself in the story and realize that God is speaking personally to you through the story. 

The transformative teacher asks: How does the story expose you, challenge you, surprise you, and call you to change?  Everybody wants to identify with the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but transformation is when you realize that you are the prodigal or the older son.

Transformation tends to happen when you realize that you are the lawyer trying to evade Jesus, the one holding the rock, the soldier nailing Jesus to the cross, the Pharisee, or the snake. It can start with the twist, the revelation, the confession.

 Jesus stilled the storm -- that's the information. The transformative moment comes when we see ourselves in that boat. Why don't we trust Jesus? And what is his response to us?

In the Exodus, the plagues are just information. It's Pharaoh's resistance that holds the transformational key -- because he is us, hard-hearted, selfish. And too, the manna isn't really the big story, it's that God gave it to them even after the people complained -- that's the transformative angle on the story. 

The information is that Jesus searched for and found the lost sheep. The transformational moment is when you admit YOU are the lost sheep and think about what it means to be lost and found.

4. Information sticks in your head. Transformation sticks in your heart. (And you need both.)

You may not remember the details (info) about your own wedding or the funeral of a close friend, but you probably can remember how you FELT as you took part.  So while it's important to teach the basic information of the story, we need to also capture its emotional content to really make it stick. --Not only the emotional content IN the story, but in our REACTION to it, how it speaks, convicts, and moves us. Yet so many lessons amount to little more than a heap of DRY BONES.  

5. Transformational teaching asks for commitment and action.

Information asks "what should we do in response?"  Transformation asks why should we do it, and will it be easy, and how we can make sure we follow through. 

Transformation doesn't leave life application up to the student's imagination. It doesn't leave reflection to the last 3 minutes of the class. 

6. Transformational teaching alerts students that Jesus' living Spirit is with us in the classroom and wants to speak to us through the scripture, activities, each other, our words and actions.

We call him by name, and ask for his insight and strength throughout our time together. No matter what part of the Bible we're in, we recognize he's in with us...

How many of your students know Jesus is with them in class? ...or do they think he's in heaven looking down from afar? How often do we teach Jesus like he's in the past, dead and gone?

7. Transformational teachers share their faith stories, excitement, and questions.

Students feel Jesus' presence through your actions, personal insights, and care. They see you as a role model for the person of faith they want to become. Transformational teachers share their stories of transformation and ask students about theirs.

8. Transformational teaching recognizes the importance of engagement and joy in learning.

A student who doesn't want to be there or who isn't enjoying being with you will miss transformational opportunities. This is why I dedicated part of my ministry to teaching with software --because it takes away the desire to be somewhere else!  And it's why I love the Workshop Rotation Model for Sunday School. Because we create spaces and fun learning activities that allow kids to relax and open up ....and if we didn't get the story/opportunity right in one week in a certain workshop, we have several more weeks and workshops for the Spirit to do its thing through us.

Examples of Moving from Information to Transformation

Remember those two disciples on the road to Emmaus with Jesus?  They heard him explain the scriptures, and their hearts burned with his words. But it wasn't until they realized JESUS was with them that they turned it around. In our teaching of the story, our job is to put our kids in the sandals of those disciples. To put them on the road.  So we might ask the students, "What road are we on?" and "What are we confused about with God?"  "What direction are we headed? Away from or towards life as a disciple of Jesus?" Students might make road signs leading in various "directions." They might come up with questions they'd like to ask Jesus on the road before he disappears again.

Another Example:

Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is talking about the birds of the air.  He says, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"  

An "informational" teacher would have the kids read that passage and then conclude, "you are valuable to God, now lets get out the construction paper and make some birds and a sign that says that...." (Oy)  Or they might show a video or picture of what Jesus was talking about, or walk the kids through a re-enactment of the passage ---then move on to another activity.  

A transformational teacher, on the other hand, would ask, "WHY are you valuable to God? What makes you valuable to God? How do you show how valuable God is to you? A transformational teacher might ask each student to come up with a list of things about them that God values in them, and things that would make them MORE valuable/helpful to others in God's Kingdom. A transformational teacher might ask kids to list what God sees as "valuable" in a fellow student. The transformational teacher would then have the students use their reflections as a subject of the art project or skit.

Transformation/Application can happen at every step of the lesson, and shouldn't be left for the end.

Transform their Expectations as they walk in... How you greet them, treat them, engage them, make them feel wanted and feel comfortable being around others. You are the agent of God. You are the scripture. You begin to help transform their perspective from one of "I had to come" to "I'm glad I'm here."

Transform them by how you Introduce the Lesson Are you excited or harried? Do you open with talk or some form of engagement?

Share Your Personal Investment in Today's Scripture I always tell my students up-front why I think the lesson is important, how I've experienced it in my own life, why I need to hear these verses.  Faith rubs off.

I call this,"the buy-in." It's where you make the case that they should care about what the lesson is all about, and it often happens when they sense that the lesson touches you.

Transform their experience of scripture by approaching its reading creatively. When the Bible reading is done in a memorable way, that makes each student feel the message to be alive and vibrant, not dead and boring.

When you've led them to find something SURPRISING going on in the story.  Surprises are sticky. They create memorable moments. In almost every story, there's what we think we see, and then there's the thing we didn't see the first time through it.

Transformation is helped by multiple-intelligence informed activities and media. The activity is not what you do to relieve boredom. Too often, a lesson activity is designed to be "the fun thing" rather than the bearer of the story's meaning. You see this in a lot of craft projects which come across as "the thing to keep the kids from falling asleep, and keep their hands busy".  This is one of the things I love about our software --the story and its content are presented through the software, which is the very thing they can't keep their hands off of.  The software isn't what we do to revive them or take a break from talking.

Reflection can be transformative, but it often gets turned into merely "a summary of the information."  (See the examples below for using reflection and prayer earlier in the lesson too!) 

Tips for Transformative Teaching with Preschoolers

Many teachers and churches are happy just to read a Bible story, doing a craft, and having playtime.  But we know through experience that older preschoolers and non-readers can develop a sense of holiness (special-ness), and often have no trouble articulating that the presence of God is with them. Our job is to nurture those feelings and encourage their expression. 

Suggestions:

They can easily feel and act out the emotions of a story, if you help them. They love to dress up and imagine themselves in the story. They can do art (that puts them in the picture), and not just crafts that construct some object or display about the information in the story.

They can be reminded to respond and do in the name of Jesus. They can practice being kind, caring, sharing in the classroom in the name of Jesus. We can teach them the practice of prayer.  (BTW: "Godly Play" curriculum does a good job of all these things.)

A Random Listing of Transformative Lesson Techniques

Here are a few techniques I used in my lessons to give transformational teaching a boost.

THE OPENING "WHY"

One of the first things I do in Bible study with my students, especially older ones, is tell them why the story is important to me, and why I think it should be important to them. -What it says to me. -What I need to hear in the story. -What I wrestle with. -An experience from my own life that this story speaks to. I share my emotional and spiritual investment in the story.

I also tell them what I hope they'll learn today, what's "good" about the news in the lesson. Too many teachers 'save' the point of the lesson until late in the lesson. I tell them what I want them to be looking for!

Teachers are role models and mentors, and that requires that they see your heart.

Put God at the center of the story, and not the "moral" takeaway.

Ask: Where is God in the story? What is God/Jesus doing, thinking, feeling, trying to say? God is the main character and subject in every scripture, even if his name or point of view is not explicitly mentioned or provided. There are many scriptures where God's point of view needs to be drawn out.

• What and why does God want us to hear this?
• What do we learn about God's character, personality, and values from this passage?
• What did you expect God to do, vs. what actually happened?  (Jesus stories often need this question.)
• If God had a "line" in this story, what would it be?  A good example of this is the story of Jacob stealing Esau's birthright. God isn't mentioned, but surely God has a point of view. What would God say about the idea of one person stealing another's blessing? What would God say to Isaac?
• What is God thinking when Jonah jumps overboard?
• What do you think God says to Peter in his heart after Peter betrayed Jesus?
  
  

DRAMATIZE THE READING

I'm a big believer in dramatizing the reading of scripture to make it jump off the page. Emotion, humor, inflection, and tone are strong memory hooks.   Even a simple passage can be re-read in various character voices and enhanced with props. Even in the computer lab, I often start my lesson with a dramatic reading around the table. Unfortunately, many of our traditions and practices have us reading the Bible FLAT, without feeling or emotion or inflection. And yet these are the very things which often make the Bible come alive and sound real.  

You can learn a lot by debating "what tone" Jesus should be speaking in. Or God's, for example, when he speaks so patiently to Jonah.

When Peter yells "I'm sinking" -we really yell it.  In fact, we take TURNS yelling it!  When Jonah complains to God, the reader will shake his/her fist and try to sound as gruff and whiny as possible. When John the Baptist addresses the "Vipers Brood" ...we might go around the table to see who can say it with the best disdain.

Exposing and practicing emotions through drama is a great way to start to open that heart.

Humor, by the way, either in the story, or about the way we are attempting to dramatize it, is another great way into the heart. And it's a great memory hook for your lesson.

USING REAL ART PROJECTS instead of "assembly" crafts.

Transformation requires memorable and impressive ideas and expressive activities that leave an indelible impression. Art is an expressive medium. Craft is a "make it look like this" medium. Craft lacks personal investment and insight. If my lesson plan calls for a quick craft, such as making a puppet so we can dramatize a story, then I'm fine with it. But if the main "art" activity is merely a quick craft, then Houston, we have a problem. Another problem with many art or craft projects is that they focus on the Information found in a story, rather than work on expressing the MEANING found in a story. Here's an example of an art project (I've used it before):  making wire sculptures of the Prodigal Son and Forgiving Father. The kids can pose and bend their sculptures to represent attitudes, feelings, outcomes.  Here's the craft project version found in traditional curriculum:  cut out the picture of the Prodigal Son and paste him on a popsicle stick, or make a pig puppet.

Feeling and Moving Your Way Through a Story Reading

"Mining the Emotions" of a story is another way to move from information to transformation.  Emotions are all something we can internally relate to, and emotional content STICKS at a deep level in memory.   "Have you ever been embarrassed, or felt like all eyes were on you?" "How did the man feel when Jesus told him to get up and walk? What was going through his head?" "What risk did the man's friends take by bringing him up to the roof and cutting a hole in it? What might the townsfolk or owner have done to them?" "What were the disciples back in the boat thinking about Peter?"  "How do you suppose God felt about Pilate when Pilate condemned Jesus to death?"  "How did Elijah feel when he finally got to the cave at Horeb?" "What do you think Elijah really wanted to say to God at that moment?"

Processing the Scripture through new words & creative media helps a lesson move from information to transformation.  

This is the lesson of Pentecost: using different "languages" to share the Gospel.  This is also good multiple-intelligence-informed teaching: we learn through many learning senses, not just teacher-talk. Video, software, art, movement, drama, gaming, writing, singing, listening --these activities light up the student's brain, literally & physically transforming their brains from dull to interested. 

Visual images, in particular, can have visual impact.  These can be shown, created with materials, photographed, make a video, posed.

Opportunities for Reflection are often missed by the improper use of media.

Drama lessons that are heavily scripted, merely recapitulate the story, and place the emphasis on correct performance allow no room for reflection until the drama is over. When leading a drama, the teacher should be able to "pause" the performance and talk to the characters. Retelling the drama in modern terms begins to unlock the story for each of us. Simply playing a Bible movie without pausing is INFORMATION, not transformation. In my video manual, I remind the teacher to pause often, get inside the characters' heads, motivations. Rewind to look at a character's reaction and ask, "What could the Pharisee have done differently?"  This is harnessing the MEDIA -- images, the dialog, the acting -- to help stoke reflection. And yet, many teachers simply let it run, waiting for the media to be over so they can talk.  They do the same thing with software, "wait until the kids are done" ...and then start talking.

Getting kids to "reflect" can be challenging.

It's even hard with adults!  But it is one of the reasons I like teaching with software. Software drops barriers. At the computer, kids are less self-conscious and more open. They are distracted from focusing on themselves.  They'll express themselves a little more freely when they're not put on the spot in front of everyone. --When the teacher isn't staring them directly in the eye.

In our software, I have tried to include expression and reflection in the software activities, rather than simply producing stories on the screen and giving the teacher 5 questions to ask after the software is done. 

Reflect with activity, not just talk.

Here are some great all-purpose reflection questions for use during your Bible Study:

• Circle the one word in this passage that makes you feel good, sad, mad, etc.
• Circle the most important word to you in this passage.
• If you had to pick the most important/strangest/hardest verse in the passage, what would it be, and why? Read it out loud to us.
• What's the most surprising thing in this scripture or behind the story?
• How could this story have turned out differently if __________ had done/said something differently?
• Name one thing this passage is telling you to change about yourself,  the world, our church.
• Condense this passage into just 3 or 4 words keywords chosen from the verses, and share them. (Why did you choose them?)
• What's the Good News in this passage about God?  What's the Bad News about people?
• If you were ________ in the story, what would you have done/said differently?
• What would you have said to ________ in the story?
• Which character in the story do you identify with?
• Look at the worst person in the story and think if you've ever acted like that person.  Have you ever seen a person like that at your school?
• VOTE: On a scale of 1 to 10....  how easy/difficult would it be to do what Jesus said, at home, among friends, at school, at the mall.
• How would you tell your little sister what this story is about?
• What's the most unforgettable thing in this story?
• What one thing can I do in my life to show God I understand these verses?

And here's the thing: no matter WHAT a student says, I'm going to affirm something in their comment and follow up on it with a follow-up question.

Table Technique: "Writing Out the Talk"

aka  "Follow that Marker!"

It is a really powerful way to teach when you illustrate your discussion and talking point on the TABLE in front of the kids, and then invite them to participate in the noting and illustrating.

This technique can be used to open a lesson, mine ideas, read and respond to scripture, and reflect...

Sometimes I'll cover our study table in butcher paper, and put a can of markers in the middle. Then, during the study/questions, I'll illustrate my words and theirs. It's a nice visual focal point and memory helper.

As kids speak, you then WRITE DOWN KEYWORDS and PHRASES which your students have spoken. This affirms their participation and encourages them to offer more. Even more importantly, it gives everyone a visual reference and record of everyone 's comments that you as the teacher can begin to connect.

Some kids don't feel comfortable looking at an adult when they are speaking, but will follow that purple marker!   Even non-readers will follow that marker. Toss a few props and puppets onto the tabletop and you can create a map of the story. Add question marks, add emotions, add extra dialog, and then draw a big arrow pointing to the central point:  a large empty circle marked:  "So What?"  that they must help you fill.   There are a hundred variations on this practice, and each of them is far more interesting and transformative than sitting around staring at blank faces staring back at you.

A lot more could be said. I hope you've found this discussion helpful to your own.

Neil MacQueen is a Presbyterian minister (PCUSA) who specializes in Christian education. He launched www.sundaysoftware.com in 1996 and www.rotation.org in 1997. This article originally appeared at his software website and he was asked to update it for Rotation.org.