A lively group of seven education majors from Colorado Christian University recently made the trek to Hope Haven Rwanda to spend three weeks observing and serving in Rwanda. One unseasonably cool night, early in their trip, the group huddled around the fire pit on campus.
“During this trip,” their leader, Professor Lynn Fisher, spoke up, “we’re going to end each night telling our stories. Focus especially on how God has impacted your life story, because He is the reason you are all here in Africa tonight. I’ll go first.” With that introduction, Lynn began to share her powerful life story, with the incredible ways that God had prepared her to sit around a fire in the heart of Africa with a group of education students.
Lynn currently serves at Colorado Christian University (CCU), Jefferson Country School district and sits on the Governor’s Board for Education in Colorado. She is particularly gifted in the practical aspects of education such as student teaching and vocational training and serves as a Trustee for Hope Haven Rwanda. The purpose of this trip was to observe Hope Haven teachers in action, help model “best practices” in class and host a Teacher Training Conference for the district.
Lynn was demonstrating a leading training model, frequently used in medical and vocational training contexts. This model is often referred to as “See One, Do One, Teach One.” This ancient biblical standard is described in Ezra 7:10, where we read Ezra “set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel” (Ezra 7:10).
The Prophet Ezra applied all three learning domains: Study. Practice. Teach.
Or, put another way: Learn. Do. Model.
During our regional Teacher Training Conference, the students from CCU and Hope Haven teachers put this model into action. As students, they have observed and studied effective methods of teaching primary and secondary school students. They also have had the opportunity to practice those methods in their own classrooms. Finally, the Hope Haven Rwanda Teacher Training Conference gave them the opportunity to complete the last step by allowing them to share their experiences and tactics with other teachers.
The Teacher Training Conference was just one more beautiful example of God bringing the right people, to the right place at the right time to advance His Kingdom and to benefit the Rwandans we love!