'Every student is precious,' Elder Ballard tells CES instructors
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"Every student is precious," Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve told seminary and institute teachers during a Church Educational System broadcast on Aug. 3 in the Conference Center Theater on Temple Square. Although the broadcast originated from Salt Lake City, instructors all around the world were able to participate via satellite broadcast.
"Every young man and every young woman has a destiny in this Church to serve the Lord in some capacity," Elder Ballard said. "And in every seminary class, in every institute class across the world, you may well be teaching a future bishop, a future Relief Society president, a future Seventy, maybe even you're preparing and teaching a future member of the Quorum of the Twelve. A teacher doesn't know that.
"So, therefore, a teacher has to be really focused and helpful in the lives of each of the young people that you have responsibility for because you're not only trying to prepare them for the day when they may serve a mission, you're preparing them to become good fathers, you're preparing them to become good Church leaders, you're preparing them to be outstanding in whatever vocation they choose to go. If they have really grasped what a seminary or institute teacher can give to them, I think it is a giant step forward in their education."
In a pre-recorded round table discussion, Elder Ballard, Elder Paul V. Johnson of the Seventy who serves as commissioner of Church education, and Chad Webb, CES administrator of religious education, discussed ways instructors can become more effective teachers.
Elder Ballard spoke of the need for CES instructors to spend time in preparation in studying from the scriptures and in prayer to be worthy to qualify and have the Spirit in their teaching. He also spoke of individuals having their lives in order.
"I think things have to be pretty well in order at home," he said. "I think it's pretty tough for a teacher to have difficulty at home and then to try to step into a teaching situation and have this kind of power to convert and to convey the power of the Spirit into the hearts of the students they have."
Another way instructors can help students apply what they have learned is by asking effective questions.
"One of the keys is to actually realize how gospel things are internalized and that in order to do that they have to be able to — you hear from the scriptures — experiment on the word, ... and I think that action that students take is a crucial part," Elder Johnson said. "We're really hoping that it becomes part of their lives and changes their lives. So what we do in the classroom and outside the classroom should help bring them to that experimenting on the word to actually following through and living the commandments. That's what drives the gospel into their hearts."
Elder Ballard added to Elder Johnson's thought, comparing teaching and understanding to the role of a missionary.
"If a missionary teaches a principle, or a seminary or institute teacher teaches a principle, you've got to ask some find-out questions. Our experience has been when, particularly the missionaries or any teacher can really teach a principle clearly and then reaffirm that they have connected, that it's really got through, then it gets down into their hearts and it doesn't become just a mental exercise but it's something they internalize."
By internalizing what students are taught, they are also better prepared to teach as missionaries, Elder Ballard said.
"In preparing young men and young women for their missions, get them to fall in love with the gospel and get them to be excited about that day when they can be called to go into the world as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ to testify and witness of Him and the reality that He's restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the fullness of the gospel," Elder Ballard said. "When that starts in a young age, they're going to be a lot better prepared to be able to teach the way we would like them to teach."
Another powerful resource in helping students is communicating and working together with local Church leaders and ward councils.
"We love those young people, they love the young people, they have the keys," Elder Johnson said. "We're there to really help them make progress with their young people, we're there to bless them and to support them. … If we're accurate and timely in any information we give them, whether it's reports on attendance or enrollment, it's helpful for them as they make decisions on how best to address those things."
As instructors and priesthood leaders communicate and work together, they are able to work through enrollment issues, as well as help individual students.
"If we open up the idea that we are a resource that the bishops and stake presidents can turn to ... seminary and institute teachers become a very important resource to them on an individual basis," Elder Ballard said.
Other topics discussed included balancing life and learning how to support spouses. Sister Elaine S. Dalton, Young Women general president, and Brother David L. Beck, Young Men general president also spoke.
"The talking of seminaries and institutes throughout the world has helped ... instill in the young people a knowledge of the gospel and a testimony and the pattern of going out on missions. ... I can't help but be a little personal as I think about my own children and the influence that their seminary and institute programs and experiences have had on them," Elder Ballard said. "Spread that across the world and it's a powerful impact. This is a great system in order to bless the kingdom, and to help move the kingdom forward. We do it one student at a time."
