WORKING EFFECTIVELY WITH YOUR TEACHERS

Q&A

• How many of you know ALL your teachers by both name and surnames?
• how many know HALF your teachers by name
• Are you close with your teachers? Do they see you as a friend?
• Do you know the dreams, struggles or needs of some of the individual teachers?
• When was the last time your teachers were in your home?

The reason for these questions is to bring us to the fact that teachers of the kid’s kingdom are the soul of the mission. No matter how good you are as a coordinator, your worth will not shine through without the teachers. To build a great Kid’s Kingdom ministry that will impact the children, we need to be all things to all teachers.

In 1998, my husband and I were called to coordinate the KK in the then Mangrove Region. We’d never done a thing like that and felt its quite Herculean a task for us. But we had able coordinators in Dr. Phil and Stella Osagie and soon learned from them eventually we were able to forge close relationships with the teachers, several of whom remain good friends till date. I’d like to share a little of what we learnt and how it worked out. These are traits we must imbibe.

1. BE SENSITIVE AND SHOW EMPATHY: The teachers are here to serve God and the kids in His church. They are not our slaves. We need to address them with respect even as we call them to serve.

Key into their personalities and seek to understand how each one of them thinks. The bottom-line is to encourage. Never run anyone down. Work with the natural talents but do not ignore a teacher who persistently comes to class late or fail to grasp their lesson plans properly.

2. BE INVOLVED : It’s easy to simply dole out reproducible pages and go to sleep till the next week. That method fails always. Because the curriculum was new in 1998, we had to study it a week closely with our teachers. We would invite them to our homes each Saturday, have a short devotional and then work with them, planning and preparing the classes.

There was always a promise of refreshments and we did this continually till we left the kid’s kingdom in 2002. I learnt to make great zobo (local fruit drink) through out those meetings. The bonus was that we soon identified excellence in some teachers-who later grew to become coordinators themselves-Michael Bolajoko and Valentine Obule.

3. GO BEYOND YOUR BRIEF : Hold meetings- devos. , prep meetings or just “hang out time” with your teachers as often as is convenient for the group. Get to know and understand each person. Share about your life too. Buy materials from your own pockets too when necessary- don’t always wait for the church office.

4. LAY ON THE PRAISE : Teachers need constant encouragement to be the best. Celebrate excellent work. Motivate the struggling minority. Be patient and persevere. Training is ongoing- never assume they know what to do. Be lavish with reminders- send text messages, notes, and announcements. Let the people around them- spouses, family group leaders, etc know they are doing well.

5. LOOK OUT FOR TALENTS: Expect results. Be on the look out for leaders who are passionate, have skills, are dedicated and who are diligent. These ones you may give added responsibility and also groom to become future coordinators. Teel them how much you expect from them. Paul expected a lot from Timothy and Titus and he let them know in certain terms in his letters.

Brothers and sisters, being coordinators is special job- you can make it even joyous by loving and motivating your teachers to be the best. Happy teachers mean happy kids which imply a happy ministry and to God be the glory at the end. Amen.

Joy Essien