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Participants at the Effective Teaching Series Training Conference

A TRULY AMAZING VISIT

Rev R J Frisken

Solomon Islands -- The Conference Opening
The five and a half day conference started on Sunday afternoon with an opening service at which the Assistant Bishop of the SSEC, Rev. Andrew Fanasia, spoke on "Teaching Christianly in SSEC Christian Schools". In his address Andrew asked "What is the difference between teaching in Christian Schools and teaching in other schools?" His answer was that the essence of a Christian school was that God becomes the centre of the school and He is presented in every subject. He said that the ultimate result of teaching christianly is that students are led to faith in Christ. He said that in order for the above to take place, some kind of shift must take place in the mind set and heart of Christian principals and teachers. He said that there were four shifts that had to take place
1. Shift from short term purpose to eternal purpose Luke 12:15
2. Shift from contemporary value system to eternal value system - 2 Corinthians. 4: 18
3. Shift from physical perspective to spiritual perspective of students- Ephesians 2: 1-2
4. Shift from being just a presenter to being role models for students- Matthew 10:24-25, Luke 6:40
He concluded by saying that we cannot teach christianly if we don't first imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1) and that since God is the best teacher of all (Job 36:22), He must remain the centre of all our teaching which is what teaching christianly all about.
Introduction to Effective Teaching
The evening period started with a period of worship and a word from the Lord given by one of the participants. The team then introduced themselves and Bob concluded the program by outlining the central theme of the course. According to Joash this was a moving address that helped participants understand the changes that needed to be made.
Daily programs
The program each day started with a Devotional period conducted by the participants which included praise, prayer and a short address. These were a great blessing and God spoke through the participants in these sessions.
There were two teaching sessions each of two and a half hours. A break of thirty minutes was provided in the middle of each session.
Evening sessions
In addition to the introductory session (Sunday Evening) there was a session on Servant Leadership on Monday evening which was shortened down and two practical sessions to allow participants opportunity to have a micro-teaching experience. On the Tuesday Evening the micro teaching was for the designated trainers and on the Thursday evening the Principals who were attending had their turn while the Trainers had a meeting with Joash Maneipuri and Bob Frisken
On Wednesday evening Judy Fitzmaurice assisted by Joy Dyer and Prema Maeato held a session on "Community Health Evangelism" This fitted in well with the theme of "Educating for Change" which is seen as involving Christ centred education, community development and better health provisions.

Three of the Team Mr Andrew Waters, Dr Judy Fitzmaurice and Rev Bob Frisken. Mr Peter Vandershoor arrived a day later than the rest of the team

The Team
The team was led by Rev Bob Frisken, NHI President, and included Dr Judy Fitzmaurice (Board Member Pacific Hills Christian School), Mr Andrew Waters (Assistant-Principal Pacific Hills Christian School) and Mr Peter Vanderschoor (Past-Principal, Channel Christian School). Although Judy is not an educationist, she is an experienced lecturer with a deep understanding of Melanesian culture gained from 12 years missions experience in PNG in a healthcare ministry.
Bob took the majority of the lectures and the remaining lectures were divided among the teams

Judy Fitzmaurice The Holy Spirit and the Teacher A Christian Worldview Community Health Session
Andrew Waters Being a Christian Teacher Christian Classroom practice
Peter Vanderschoor The Authority of the Bible Biblical Foundations for Education

The SWIM base provided a wonderful environment for the training. Group discussions were held oyt of doors.

The Venue
The Seminar was conducted from Sunday afternoon to Friday afternoon. It was shortened somewhat because participants needed to get to the Banks on Friday afternoon. It was held at the S.W.I.M. base which easily and very comfortably accommodated the sixteen participants and the four lecturers.
The food was good and sufficient, though perhaps some of the men could have eaten more than was provided at some meals. The younger men enjoyed playing volleyball each afternoon and this provided a valuable outlet for them after an intense day of study.

Education Director Joash Maneipuri and his wife Roselyn.

Evaluations
The evaluations were all of the open ended variety and they were on the whole extremely positive. Joash Maneipuri Education Director for teh South Sea Evangelical Church was very impressed with the work that was done. The Micro teaching opportunities were perticularly helpful. There were a number of recommendations that came from the evaluations.
1. The seminar should be longer (2 weeks was commonly reported)
2. Discussion groups were appreciated but it was felt there was more time needed particularly to work on questions in the Teachers’ Textbook. The extensive use of large group discussions was time efficient but did not allow the less vocal to be as involved.
3. Judy’s use of Melanesian examples in the Worldview lecture was appreciated.
4. A few commented on the lack of connections between the units. This was probably because of insufficient training time beforehand for the presenters who, apart from Bob, were all new to the course. Peter had no training for the seminar because he came from Tasmania and arrived on the Sunday afternoon
5. There were a few comments that more practical examples would have been useful. One person suggesting that having the seminar in a school could have allowed for more connections. (This would be difficult during term time but could be appropriate in school holidays.)