The Law of Review

 The Sunday School Teacher 16

We turn now to the seventh law or principle of good teaching, namely, this: you must periodically remind them of what they have already learned.

Repetition is not review, though review often includes repetition. Repetition is a helpful tool in teaching as it places an emphasis in a similar manner to bold or underlined print. But repetition alone risks becoming a mindless, almost rhythmic recitation of rote facts. There are too many Rs in that sentence, but you get my point. A student does not have to think to repeat something. A review, on the other hand, should prompt not just recall, but thought.

We can see an example of the difference in how Jesus handled Peter between the Resurrection and the Ascension. In English, the King James Version shows us Jesus asking Peter the same question three times in succession: Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? …Feed my lambs. …Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? …Feed my sheep. …Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? …Feed my sheep. (John 21.15-17) Yet the fact that he used questions, and in the original language worded them differently, reveals a master teacher at work. Christ was not just drilling Peter via repetition, rather He was provoking Peter to intense inward examination. He forced Peter to think, and at the same time deepened His emphasis on Peter’s responsibility to love Him and feed the sheep of His pasture.

A good review both widens and deepens our perspective on knowledge. In the process of being reminded of other related aspects of truth, we gain insight. To see the connecting threads again reveals both the importance and standing of the truth most immediately in view. It can also allow us a more informed glimpse of where we are going. A map that says, “You are here,” is better than nothing, but a trail showing how you got to where you are allows you to hypothesize where you are going.

One way a review does this is by bringing former truth back to mind, but in a different setting than we encountered it last time. I have, on rare occasions, read the same book decades apart. What my eyes encountered was information I had already seen and assimilated, but this time I looked at it differently. My life experience shone new light on the old information.

Think, for example, of how God has structured our religion. We are given a Book that is divinely inspired, and thus inerrant and infallible. We are told to read and study it often, indeed, daily, if I understand the Word aright. As of this writing, I have been reading the Bible intentionally for thirty-eight years. Literally, every day I read something I have already read before. But that review gives me a deeper and wider grasp of God’s truth, deeper for its depth is infinite, wider due to the fact that my own perspective has been broadened by decades of service and study.  

I recognize, of course, that a Sunday School class that teaches the Bible is not the same as reading the Bible. Nor does any mere human teacher’s instruction carry the same weight. But if review is a necessary part of all teaching, and it is, such is even more true about biblical teaching. Philosophically, practically, and spiritually, review is a vital component of teaching the Word of God.

Now then, let me offer you four brief practical thoughts on applying this in a Sunday School context.

First, you should review any relevant material at the beginning of a new lesson. It does not need to be in depth, but it does need to be sufficient to connect the new material to the material they have already learned. Of course, many Sunday School lessons, even in a series, are not directly connected to previous ones. But some are. If they are, taking time at the beginning of the class period to review the truths that led to this one is time well spent.

Second, it is wise to briefly review the main thoughts of your lesson at the close of each class period. This can be done in a written fashion via a fill-in-the-blank sheet. It can be as simple as including a skeleton of the entire outline in your summary as you draw to a close. However you do it, know that a review at that point will help the information you have labored to give them have a better chance of sticking.

Third, review anytime a new lesson touches on an old one. I do this often in teaching. For example, if I am going to mention the Day of Atonement I will say something like, “Now you will remember, we spent quite some time looking at the Day of Atonement in our series, Christ In Shadow. There, we saw that…” followed by the mention of some pertinent point I have already taught them that will help them here. Sometimes, I will even briefly recap the entire outline in just a couple of sentences if I think it will help. In addition to connecting new information to old information, you are also reminding the student again that passages in the Word of God are not isolated; they are joined together, bound by an uncountable number of integrated circuits.

Fourth, vary your reviewing style. If you routinely use handout sheets, change it up by asking questions directly and giving a piece of candy away for the right answer. Launch a group discussion, perhaps. If your review is generally jammed in as the bell is ringing at the end of class, instead begin the review ten minutes early. Do not always use the same method. Do not always call on the same people. Different subjects need to be reviewed differently. In addition, people are unique. What works for your class one year may not work the same way the next year, when you have a new crop of students. The old saying, “Variety is the spice of life,” is applicable here.

Reviewing is not idiot proof. It generally fails to implant a concept that has already bounced off the student previously. Further, time is a thief that steals knowledge from all of us. You are not a failure if your students do not remember some key point or other. What you are is a wise teacher, first for showing them the shallowness of their learning, and second, for endeavoring to help them fix it.

Reviews do not change a life. That takes the student's application of truth in the power of the Holy Spirit. But application cannot happen in any meaningful way via forgotten truth. Study the truth. Tell them the truth. Remind them of the truth. And ask the Lord to enable them to live the truth.

Reviewing is a necessary step on the path that leads to a changed life.