Coaching Small Groups to Enrich Our Lives    coach011        Contents   Bot   Prev   Next 

Mark 3: ¹⁴Then he chose twelve of them to be his apostles, so that they could be with him. (CEV)

Luke 10: ¹⁰ Later the Lord chose seventy-two other followers and sent them out two by two to every town and village where he was about to go. ²He said to them: A large crop is in the fields, but there are only a few workers. Ask the Lord in charge of the harvest to send out workers to bring it in. ³Now go, but remember, I am sending you like lambs into a pack of wolves....
    ⁷Stay with the same family, eating and drinking whatever they give you.... Don't move around from house to house. ⁸... "God's kingdom will soon be here!" (CEV)

Problem Solving as an Adult Motivator
    Most adults, by habit, economize their energy and exert themselves most when solving immediate problems. We find that adult motivation for learning rises dramatically in the presence of a problem. Thus, if adults face an obstacle or quandary, they give energy to learning. In the absence of that kind of challenge, they may be willing to be entertained, but in most cases they will feel they've learned enough already. [76-77]
    Experience shows that adults learn best if you can get them first to commit to an assignment. Then furnish problem-solving training as needed. The key issue is not the content of how to prepare leaders but the sequence.
    You then delay the problem-solving training until the new leader (or leaders) says, "I'm doing pretty well except I don't know what to do when Bob starts dominating the conversation." When a leader voices those words, or anything similar, a learning readiness has developed. The person who is supervising this leader can then respond, "Yes, that's a problem. Would you like to talk about it?" Thus begins the coaching process. Over time a competent supervisor will walk this leader through almost every skill needed. The supervisor can do so by one-on-one coaching: "Can I phone you tonight, and we'll talk about it?"
... the supervisor is now working with a motivated leader, addressing the kind of things this particular leader wants to hear.
    In developing appropriate assignments, know that simply attending a class is not a leadership assignment. Rather, a leadership assignment is "Here's what's got to be done. If you need to take a class to fulfill that assignment, then we'll help you enroll." In the Bible, the assignment-before-training sequence happens all the time. Abraham says to his servant, "Fetch a wife for my son." The servant says, "What am I going to do? I guess I'd better pray like crazy." And ultimately God gives a wonderful answer (see Genesis 24). Sometimes God gives the assignment: "Go, join yourself to that chariot" (see Acts 8:26, 29) or "Go to that man's house and do not give him static because he's not Jewish" (see Acts 10:17-23).
    The assignment-before-information idea is similar to the Navy's system of swimming instruction: Put everyone in a boat, row to deep water ten meters off shore, and throw everybody in. If the recruits need help getting to shore, you offer to enroll them in a beginning swimming class. Next week you repeat the same process twenty meters off shore. Soon each person will learn to reach shore without help.
    In summary, the traditional model of adult learning, even if sensitive to the learner's needs, may be summarized as "teach, assign, do." The preferred leadership development sequence is "assign, do, teach" If an adult accepts an assignment and begins working on it, at that point you can offer training ("What would you like to learn about how to do your responsibility better?"). That person will be, in most cases, a highly motivated learner. [78]
    I also feel that we do too much entertaining and too little "hard" Bible study with some of our people. And I am aware that the Holy Spirit is present to help people learn the truths of the Bible (John 14:26, 16:7-15; Matt 11:25-30; 1John 2:27), with or without the help of human teachers. But what would happen if Bible teaching were available primarily to those who are willing to use whatever they learn in their ongoing service to God? [80]

Four Guiding Principles of Adult Learning 1 Adults generally have a deep need for self-directed learning, even if that need varies among adults. 2 Adults increasingly appreciate learning that takes place through experience. 3 The learning readiness of adults arises primarily from the need to accomplish tasks and solve problems that real life creates. 4 Adults see learning as a process through which they can raise their competence in order to reach full potential in their lives. They want to apply tomorrow what they learn today. Malcolm Knowles

The above from pages 75-92 , Chap 5 The Coming Church Revolution by Carl George

Please study the questions and references and add your comments and applications:
1. How does the supervision concept square with the way Jesus trained his Apostles?
2. In what ways have you personally experienced the teach-assign-do sequence?
3. How can you give these ideas a wider application in the small groups you serve?
4. What advantage could the supervision-problem-solving model be to your church?
5. Why does the presence of coaches help make the leaders and groups more family like?
 
 

Philippians 4: ⁶Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. (CEV)
 

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