Students Reading Aloud in Class?

[Jamie_Burns]

I serve as a volunteer catechist, teaching 10th Graders on 24 Sunday evenings in the school year. I don’t have any formal training as an educator, other than the occasional formation opportunities/workshops offered by our parish and arch-diocese.
The lesson plan that I have formed over the years includes heavy use of passages from Sacred Scripture, along with other tools and activities, but there is a heavy emphasis on the essential questions we discuss having an answer in the Holy Bible.
Every other catechist, and catholic school teacher, and workshop presenter has insisted that when sacred scripture is presented in class, the model needs to be one student (or a series of students for longer passages) reads aloud while the others follow along in the Bible.
This doesn’t seem right to me — and I think that before I started following this “rule” the students connected better with the scriptures.
I get it, that they should be both hearing and reading – some learn better visually, some learn better aurally. But the students reading aloud never deliver the message as effectively as an adult who is familiar with the text delivers it. There is more to delivering meaning than just pronouncing the words.
What is more – this year I have a group of students who don’t seem to WANT to read aloud for the class. None volunteer, I even had one student refuse. If I think the learning process is better served by reading it to them, why fight it?

 What I hear from other teachers is "but they need to learn to read the Bible aloud."  Why?  The class is about the Faith, not about how to proclaim, a ministry that not everyone is called to.    In fact, if they are called to proclaim the Word, then after they are confirmed they are always welcomed to come to the training for Lector ministry -- which is given by me in this parish.
 I would be happy to hear some opinions from experienced catechists or professional educators.  I  also admit that I have seen a couple of articles on education websites that seem to agree with me that having students of this age reading aloud in class is not the most effective way to teach the material.

Moderator: If this is the wrong sub-forum for this thread please feel free to move it.

 

[psalm90]

I have no teaching experience, but from Bible study classes, I usually get something from hearing someone else read the passage. They may put some emphasis in a different place or in a different way. (Of course, I would have already read the passage and prepared for class.)

I think there’s an enormous benefit from hearing the students say the words of scripture. I don’t know what you do next, after the reading, but you could re-read it, with perhaps more informed inflection and emphasis, to give the students a chance to absorb the passage or maybe just a portion of the passage that you want to emphasize.

 

[Confiteor_Deo]

I’m a student in public school and I used to be in a catechism class and I will say that, for me, students reading aloud did not help me at all to better understand the material. A lot of times, the student would get tripped up on the words or would just not read very well. If the teacher called randomly on students, I’d be too worried that I’d get picked (I hate reading aloud in class) for me to pay good attention to what was being read by the other students. I often zone out when students read, too, so I end up reading it to myself to catch up. The student that does the reading often doesn’t absorb what he is reading even though he’s saying it aloud which has been my experience and my English professor recently mentioned that during class as well. If you do have the students read, I’d say that letting only volunteers read would be best just so that those who don’t want to read don’t have to.

 

[jmcrae]

I have more than 30 years of experience working with young people. My suggestion: ask the kids what works best for them. Explain your instructional goals to them and make them collaborators in the mission. Listen to their ideas, and let them drive the learning. Every group is different; every student is different. There are no cookie cutter solutions.

 

[boldlygo]

I have more than 30 years of experience working with young people. My suggestion: ask the kids what works best for them. Explain your instructional goals to them and make them collaborators in the mission. Listen to their ideas, and let them drive the learning. Every group is different; every student is different. There are no cookie cutter solutions.

……

I’ve been a catechist for more than 30 years, and prior to that, I was involved in Scouting as an adult, in various capacities, for twenty years . I agree with jmcrae. You’re dealing with young adults who could have vastly differing life experience. It’s to your advantage, and theirs, to allow them to participate in the process.

 

[kkollwitz]

I’ve been catechizing since 1998. My experience as teacher and student is that having anyone not already familiar with a given text read aloud in class is an ineffective waste of time. You do the out-loud reading, and then ask good questions.

And kudos to using the Bible in class.