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I put this in the quotes thread, but thought you might like to discuss it too: Next time you’re teaching Sunday School and told to stick to the manual:
Quote:“Be judicious in your use of commentaries and other nonscriptural sources of information.”
“Judicious” means: “having good judgement or sense.”
So the sentence could also read: “Use good judgement in your use of commentaries and other nonscriptural sources of information.” That means nonscriptural sources are acceptable as long as you, the teacher, use good judgement in selecting them. It doesn’t even require you being able to say you’ve received inspiration/revelation in selecting them. Just that you have used good judgement and sense (you’ve been judicious).
Here are the pertinent points from the introduction.
Quote:“When preparing for Gospel Doctrine class, it is important that you seek inspiration and guidance from the Spirit of the Lord…
While preparing for class, pray for the Spirit to help you understand the scriptures and the needs of class members. The Spirit can also help you plan meaningful ways to discuss the scriptures and apply them to the present (1 Nephi 19:23). With the help of the Spirit, you will become an effective instrument in the hands of the Lord to teach his word to his children.
This manual is a tool to help you teach the scriptures…
During class, keep discussions focused on the scriptures. Be judicious in your use of commentaries and other nonscriptural sources of information. Class members should be taught to seek knowledge and inspiration from the scriptures and the words of the latter-day prophets.
The lessons have been designed to contain more information than you will probably be able to teach in one class period. Seek the Spirit of the Lord in selecting the scripture accounts, questions, and activities that best meet the needs of class members.
…Seek the Spirit’s guidance in deciding which questions to ask, how to organize them, and how to develop them. Class discussions should center on matters that help members come unto Christ and live as his disciples.
Covering all the lesson material is less important than helping class members better understand the scriptures and commit themselves to increased discipleship. If class members are learning from a good discussion, it is often helpful to let it continue rather than try to cover all the lesson material.”
Yep, it says it right in the instructions – very clearly. I knew that, but I had forgotten the exact wording. I tend to go with this universal law: it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission. 🙂 In any case, like y’all already pointed out, the manual says you can use stuff outside the manual. So both bases are covered.
Judicious is the key here. I agree – make wise choices on appropriate material. Don’t go too far out otherwise some will lose the message. What’s with the ban on electronics though?
SamBee wrote:Judicious is the key here. I agree – make wise choices on appropriate material. Don’t go too far out otherwise some will lose the message.
What’s with the ban on electronics though?
What ban might that be? As far as I am aware the church has embraced technology and encourages its use. This is very apparent in the seminary and new youth curriculum.
DarkJedi wrote:SamBee wrote:Judicious is the key here. I agree – make wise choices on appropriate material. Don’t go too far out otherwise some will lose the message.
What’s with the ban on electronics though?
What ban might that be? As far as I am aware the church has embraced technology and encourages its use. This is very apparent in the seminary and new youth curriculum.
I’m guessing Sam’s talking about the fact that the instructions talk about using “magazines” for additional reference, but not the website.
If that’s the question, my guess is these intros were probably written before the website became such an amazing archive of information. Nearly everything on lds.org has (at some point) appeared in a magazine, so I simply add lds.org to the list of good sources.
Yeah, just an editing oversight. DarkJedi wrote:SamBee wrote:Judicious is the key here. I agree – make wise choices on appropriate material. Don’t go too far out otherwise some will lose the message.
What’s with the ban on electronics though?
What ban might that be? As far as I am aware the church has embraced technology and encourages its use. This is very apparent in the seminary and new youth curriculum.
Well we seem to use church made videos here (yes videos – those cassette things) and DVDs very occasionally, but powerpoint etc are a no-no.
General Conference itself could have been filmed a hundred years ago, bar a few minor alterations in the tailoring! Just get on a stand and read.
SamBee wrote:DarkJedi wrote:SamBee wrote:Judicious is the key here. I agree – make wise choices on appropriate material. Don’t go too far out otherwise some will lose the message.
What’s with the ban on electronics though?
What ban might that be? As far as I am aware the church has embraced technology and encourages its use. This is very apparent in the seminary and new youth curriculum.
Well we seem to use church made videos here (yes videos – those cassette things) and DVDs very occasionally, but powerpoint etc are a no-no.
General Conference itself could have been filmed a hundred years ago, bar a few minor alterations in the tailoring! Just get on a stand and read.
From all I understand, there is no church sanctioned ban on technology and the opposite is true. The only restriction I am aware of is use of video, media presentations, etc., in SM and I believe that has to do with maintaining reverence in the meetings and so as not to become like some evangelical meetings which are so different from ours (I’m not saying they’re wrong – there are obviously people who love and want that type of worship service). Conference is conference and you’re right, it hasn’t varied much over the years – I think it’s meant to be that way (even though it bores me to sleep sometimes), and conference is not SM, and neither of them are SS, PH or RS. Perhaps your local leadership needs to take a little closer look at the manuals – both what they do and don’t say.
The Sunday School manuals now encourage the use of technology. General Conference uses technology, in some cases, to illustrate points in the talks.
Just another thought, SamBee. Is it a ban? Are your leaders saying you can’t do it? Or is it a reluctance on the part of teachers/presenters to do it? Not using it and banning its use are different. I’ve said it before. You can correlate the manuals, but you can’t correlate the contents of my head. When I am called to teach, the simple fact is that I read and know a lot of things, and I’m going to mention those in discussions when they are relevant. Even as a class participant, this is the case. Some wards have declared war on “outside materials” without really thinking through what that means. The Q12 quote from Broadway musicals and use stories from outside sources all the time! We all do it in talks, too, unless Merriam-Webster has been canonized. I’ve been questioned for using outside sources by a leader who was zealous about it, specifically for using a print out of the lesson from lds.org and also for using a printed copy of the original Wentworth letter (vs. the snippets provided in the manual). I believe this is because when I was first teaching I shared information about the other versions of the First Vision, in a faithful rendition. Now the church has done an official write up that nearly matches what I talked about in my lesson. But for being ahead of the church on it, I got taken to task.
Most leaders would not care about those things, but I got into someone’s cross-hairs at some point. I’m not currently in a teaching calling, but this kind of thing varies based on ward leadership in my experience.
You CAN use non-manual resources in teaching. And they CAN release you if they’re not happy with it. (Ray preaches that, and, darn it, it’s true.) It seems to me that most of the time both parties are striving for the happy medium. You wouldn’t have accepted the calling in the first place if you didn’t want a good experience for the class. I don’t understand instructions that lead to featureless, rote, predictable, boring testimonies and lessons, when, like hawkgrrrl says, GA’s don’t talk that way. No one we want to listen to talks that way.
DarkJedi wrote:Just another thought, SamBee. Is it a ban? Are your leaders saying you can’t do it? Or is it a reluctance on the part of teachers/presenters to do it? Not using it and banning its use are different.
Who knows? We thought women were banned from giving prayers in GC, then someone helpfully informed us it wasn’t the case.
Maybe it’s because we’re led by old men who don’t like most technology for generational reasons.
However, there are changes. I really like mormon.org but each ward should have its own website, but doesn’t.
hawkgrrrl wrote:We all do it in talks, too, unless Merriam-Webster has been canonized.
If the dictionary is off limits, how on earth would the youth speakers prepare their talks?
😆
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