What does organizing coffee have to do with teacher training?
Last week 14 teachers split up into 4 teams and had to categorize and explain 20 types of Vienna coffee. Now you may ask what in the world does that have to do with teacher training at a theological school?
Great question, I am sure many of the teachers thought the same thing. Last week Christoph Windler and I lead a faculty workshop where we were providing tips and tools for the teachers to understand how to grasp the core issues of a subject, focus on them and be able to communicate this. We used the various coffees of Vienna as an example. They were split into groups with the task of being able to tell a non-coffee drinker the differences. It was suggested, next time to have taste testing as apart of this activity.
This was just one of the activities we had for the day.
The training was centered around concepts of a book,Viel Stoff Wenig Zeit (Lots of Stuff, Little Time) written by a professor here in Vienna. I had a lot of fun working with BAO’s president, Christoph Windler as we planned and co-lead this day. This was one of the biggest presentations I have done in a long time and am pleased with how it went.
We have many quality teachers who teach at the Evangelical Academy. The way they participated in the day was encouraging. Many had a learners attitude and I am sure will put to use some of the things they learned. Many instinctively already used some of the methods we taught but the way in which we presented we were able to make the concepts easy to remember next time they prepare a class.
The Evangelical Academy has a unique position in training current and future leaders for the Evangelical church here in Austria. With evangelicals in the minority, less than 1% of the population, many who are learning at the Evangelical Academy already have influential positions. It is our desire that the students learn how to think biblically and theologically about the ministries and daily contexts they are involved in. Not only that but that they would be equippers and coaches for men and women to grow in the knowledge of Christ and know how to reach their nation for Christ in practical and effective ways.
Here is a picture of all the teachers that took part in the training day. We appreciate your prayers for these people as they teach, guide and mold the future leaders of Austria.
Here’s an informative infographic on the different types of coffee.
