Get insights on how adults learn for when you are teaching womens ministry classes and other Christian women’s classes. Allow me to geek out and share some of what I do professionally. In addition to being a pastor’s wife, for over 28 years, I have been a training facilitator for workplace learning. Here I will share some interesting facts about how adults learn. I think they will be very useful as you plan your next women’s ministry training class!
First, let me say the way most adult learning experiences take shape is all wrong. Unfortunately, we mimic those in church settings, so we have boring Sunday school and ministry classes. It’s not due to our own fault; it’s just that we were taught in ways designed for children. Those methods don’t necessarily work for us as adults.
First, let me ask you: Did you know some theories suggest experimental psychologists influenced traditional learning systems?
It’s true!
They assert that many of the same approaches used to train dogs and animals are used to teach children, too.
It’s all rooted in an external rewards-based system. I think you know what I mean: a mouse goes through a maze and grabs the cheese (i.e., external reward). Similarly, it’s like Pavlov’s dog experiment to reinforce behavior that is rewarded will continue.
This is similar to when we are in school, and we learn so we can get praise or the “prize.” I’ll talk about the prize later.
This women’s ministry post (teaching womens ministry classes) covers:
Adult Learning and Teaching womens ministry classes
The behavioral sciences are about rewards and “gets.”
I’m going to discuss and challenge you to think about the “reward” concept as you’re leading a women’s ministry training or facilitating women’s ministry workshops.
I’ll also give you tips to help you define and amplify the actual reward for your women’s ministry adult learners.
What makes a good ministry class is a skilled facilitator: 1) who knows how to motivate adults to learn, 2) create a safe environment, and 3) knows how to balance facilitating the process with information delivery.
I am not going to teach you to write objectives or learning goals. You can find that information anywhere on the web. These links will help you get started:
Note: I’ve hyperlinked some useful resources above.
Think back to when you were in school…
What is the reward for a person in the traditional educational system? You got it! It’s a good grade. They work hard and apply themselves for the grade – not necessarily because they want to learn. They have to have that grade.
My problem is that this same approach has found its way into adult learning systems in workplaces and women’s ministry settings.
Sadly, it clearly does not work well outside a college classroom. In fact, it’s incredibly problematic when we don’t understand what motivates the women in our events or women’s ministry classes.
We have not grade to give when we are teaching womens ministry classes.
After all, they are NOT getting a grade to take home to their parents. As a result, we have to find other ways (s) to motivate our women learners.
To be clear, when I reference a facilitator, I’m thinking of a training facilitator. This could be a teacher or even a speaker in your women’s ministry setting.
As a speaker and trainer, I work long and hard on my content, and I create it for adults who value knowledge and will be rewarded by the consumption of it.
The reality of it is, however, that most people who come to women’s ministry classes or Sunday school classes may enter motivated to learn but grow bored by the delivery or disorganization of the class.
That’s not rewarding at all.
A New Approach to Women’s Ministry Education Experiences
Consideration # 1: Don’t copy bad teaching pathologies in women’s ministry
To be an effective trainer, I’m sorry to tell you, but you need to unlearn some of the things you think are solid training practices.
Why?
Because those practices are primarily rooted in an education schema, not in adult learning theory.
They won’t work with the adults coming to your women’s ministry events – even if they work with kindergartners.
Take a more collaborative approach instead of standing in front of the women as a keynote speaker.
Don’t be the “sage on the stage”. Be the “guide who comes alongside” and learns with the women.
Training is a learning vehicle to bring about change. Whether it’s changing behavior, performance, or even changing the way one thinks. It’s about helping people transform behaviors into desired actions/results.
Try not to be a “talking head” relying exclusively on lectures. Win over your learners.
Share learning outcomes with them so they know what to expect.
Then, craft activities with those outcomes in mind. Read my post on planning effective learning activities when working with groups or teaching women’s ministry classes.
“Learning for behaviorist is defined as changed observable behavior.”
B. F Skinner, 1971
Understand what learners want.
During a training encounter, again, adult learners crave the knowledge to be better and to do better. Your job is to provide information that helps them be better versions of themselves. The key is making sure they know how and why what you are teaching will do that.
So often, we throw out information without sharing why and how it is beneficial. Tell them expressly. Don’t leave that to change.
Write this point down in your notes: “I must make sure my learners know how the information will help them be better and what it will help them be better at.”
Take away: Your job as a women’s ministry teacher or facilitator of learning is to create good content to help the learners be excellent, and then you must tell them about it and how it will make them rock stars. Tell them overtly. Don’t trust them to connect the dots themselves.
A good idea is to create a pre-training learning experience. You use your Christian ministry website or social media to ask women what they already know about the topic.
Further, you can explore what they want to learn about it. This one step can go a long way toward building a connection with them before you even have the first class.
Respect their time.
Look, if there is one thing adults hate, it’s time-wasters.
Removing barriers to learning.
Common barriers to learning are:
- Bad slideshows with too much data or boring design.
- Uncomfortable rooms – too cold, too dark, etc.
- Feeling unseen or uncared for by the facilitator and other women in the room.
- Not considering their existing knowledge or past memories on the topic.
- An overall bad impression of the event (i.e., it’s unorganized, technology doesn’t work, etc.).
Your women’s ministry class should be a pleasure, a well-organized experience for them. Teaching women’s ministry classes means you’re prepared and ready when the class starts.
The slide show has lots of white space. The room is comfortable. Each woman was greeted when she entered – all of these contribute to a great learning experience.
As for existing knowledge, ask yourself: How can women relate this subject to their lives? Better yet, how can I structure this so they can relate it to what they already know?
For example, if you’re teaching about prayer during a women’s Bible study.
Ask plenty of questions about how they learned about prayer.
How they witnessed prayer as a child.
The misperceptions they used to have about prayer. Inquire about who they admire as a prayer warrior.
More about past knowledge
How can you create an activity in which the women share what they currently know about a subject? Let’s continue to use prayer as an example.
Maybe you can do a small group discussion on prayer so the women can exchange ideas and then share them later with the large group.
Maybe you can hang chart paper or use a whiteboard and ask the ladies to do a “brain dump” on everything that comes to their minds about prayer. Limit it to 1 – 2 minutes.
Another idea could be a reflection activity. Ask the women to think about a time when they had trouble praying or learned about prayer.
What you’re doing is asking the women to think critically about prayer. They will build mental models around it so they can fully emerge into the content and be more likely to remember or retain it.
Help them learn with their hearts.
Create ways the women can emotionally connect to the content.
You can ask them how they “felt” about the various scenarios in the above examples. This is the affective domain I discuss in planning women’s ministry activities. Click to read it.
Women and people, in general, can forget what you say but will never forget how you make them feel.
Figure out how to garner good feelings around the content you want the women to learn during the ministry event.
I’ve been in the market or somewhere and often notice someone who looks familiar. I usually can’t remember their name (because I’m terrible with names), but I often feel a “fondness” or gladness about those people who gave me a “good feeling” at some point in time.
Give the women a good feeling about the content you are teaching them in your women’s ministry class.
The easiest way to accomplish this is to link the content you’re teaching to core values women have.
We all want to be good Christians.
We want to be effective human beings.
We want God to use us.
We want to be examples of Christ’s love and power.
We want to be like Jesus.
Finally, take another approach to Christian teaching and training
Don’t teach the way you were taught in school. This may not engage the women in positive and immersive ways.
Secondly, the women come because they want to get something from the experience. They want to be better.
A great way to help them be better is, of course, to do your due diligence and gather good information.
Make them care about the content – show them how it will help them in their endeavor to be stronger, powerful Christian women.
After that, you have to make it easy for them to learn, connect to what they know, remove barriers, and help them feel good about the overall learning experience.
Read more:
- A Guide to Small Group Prayer
Prayer is the heartbeat of a thriving faith community, yet leading a small group prayer time can sometimes feel intimidating. Whether your group consists of seasoned prayer warriors or newcomers who feel nervous praying aloud, creating a welcoming, reverent, and intentional environment makes all the difference. What is effective small group prayer about? Well, it isn’t about rigid rules … Read more - 50+ Ice Breaker Questions for Bible Study (Plus a Leader Help Guide)
Leading a small group can be incredibly rewarding, but those first ten minutes of a session? They can feel like pulling teeth. Whether you are launching a brand-new group or gathering with a crew that has been together for a decade, breaking the ice sets the tone for your entire discussion. The right icebreaker questions for … Read more - 5 Fun Games for Women’s Ministry
Women’s Ministry Game Night Guide If you’ve ever watched women arrive at an event and immediately sit beside the people they already know, you won’t have the relational cross pollination that makes a women’s ministry thrive. Relationships make minsitry and ministry makes community. Games for women’s ministry – like these – can help. I hope … Read more - Women’s Gift Exchange Ideas They’ll LOVE
We have all been there as women’s ministry leaders and as women’s ministry attendees. You leave a holiday party or a ladies’ night exchange with a plastic trinket, a generic scented candle, or a joke gift that goes straight into the trash. I have plenty of time, so I’m writing this women’s gift exchange ideas … Read more - 50 Powerful Scriptures for Women’s Day (Beyond Proverbs 31)
Looking for Fresh Women’s Day Scriptures? Every year, churches across the country celebrate Women’s Day by honoring the women who faithfully serve God, their families, and their communities. While Proverbs 31 is often the go-to passage, I’m tired of it. It seems we always focus on the Proverbs 31 woman when we think of women’s … Read more - Church Women’s Day Checklist and Timeline
Planning a Women’s Day service involves coordinating many moving parts to ensure a seamless and meaningful experience for your attendees. This page is devoted to helping you plan and create a church womens day event. Phase 1: Planning & Logistics (4–6 Months Out) Phase 2: Design & Content Development Phase 3: Communication & Promotion Phase … Read more
