Let Your Hearts Be Filled With Charity
Teaching is an essential learning component. At BYU-Idaho, students teach to learn and learn to teach. When students teach diligently, they receive deeper insight and are instructed more perfectly (see D&C 88:78). When learners and teachers view one another charitably, they create safe learning environments where all can stretch and stumble without fear. All learners (students and faculty) serve others through diligent preparation, cooperative effort, and teaching one another; thus, charity replaces competition.
Insights From Students
Time for Others
Additional Resources
"He that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified." D&C 50:22
"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."Matthew 22:36-40
"Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?" Romans 2:21
"Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly... in all things... that are expedient for you to understand; And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom." D&C 88:78, 118
"Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege. See that ye love one another... learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires.... cease to find fault one with another... And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace."D&C 88:122-125
"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."Matthew 22:36-40
"Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?" Romans 2:21
"Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly... in all things... that are expedient for you to understand; And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom." D&C 88:78, 118
"Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege. See that ye love one another... learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires.... cease to find fault one with another... And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace."D&C 88:122-125
Dallin H. Oaks, "Why Do We Serve?" Ensign, Nov. 1984, p. 13-14
" 'Charity is the pure love of Christ' (Moroni 7:47). The Book of Mormon teaches us that this virtue is 'the greatest of all' (Moroni 7:46).... Our service should be for the love of God and the love of fellowmen rather than for personal advantage or any other lesser motive."
Boyd K. Packer, "That All May Be Edified", 1982, p. 84
"In this life we are constantly confronted with a spirit of competition. Teams contest one against another in an adversary relationship in order that one will be chosen a winner. We come to believe that wherever there is a winner there must also be a loser. To believe that is to be misled. In the eyes of the Lord, everyone may be a winner. Now it is true that we must earn it; but if there is competition in His work, it's not with another soul it's with our own former selves."
Robert D. Hales, BYU-Idaho Devotional, February 20, 2007
"Share your gifts and talents so that you can tutor, mentor, be in a study group, or participate in the classroom.... I give you a promise... you will find that both the giver and receiver will be better off for their interaction."
Virginia H. Pearce, "The Ordinary Classroom: A Powerful Place for Steady and Continued Growth," Ensign, November 1996, p. 12
"A skilled teacher doesn't think, 'What shall I do in class today?' But asks, 'What will my students do in class today?' Not, 'What will I teach today?' Rather, 'How will I help my students discover what they need to know?' The skilled teacher does not want students who leave the class talking about how magnificent and unusual the teacher is. This teacher wants students who leave talking about how magnificent the [subject] is!"
David A. Bednar, BYU-Idaho Faculty Meeting, August 21, 2001
"Success will be defined by what a department or major does to strengthen other departments and majors across the campus."
" 'Charity is the pure love of Christ' (Moroni 7:47). The Book of Mormon teaches us that this virtue is 'the greatest of all' (Moroni 7:46).... Our service should be for the love of God and the love of fellowmen rather than for personal advantage or any other lesser motive."
Boyd K. Packer, "That All May Be Edified", 1982, p. 84
"In this life we are constantly confronted with a spirit of competition. Teams contest one against another in an adversary relationship in order that one will be chosen a winner. We come to believe that wherever there is a winner there must also be a loser. To believe that is to be misled. In the eyes of the Lord, everyone may be a winner. Now it is true that we must earn it; but if there is competition in His work, it's not with another soul it's with our own former selves."
Robert D. Hales, BYU-Idaho Devotional, February 20, 2007
"Share your gifts and talents so that you can tutor, mentor, be in a study group, or participate in the classroom.... I give you a promise... you will find that both the giver and receiver will be better off for their interaction."
Virginia H. Pearce, "The Ordinary Classroom: A Powerful Place for Steady and Continued Growth," Ensign, November 1996, p. 12
"A skilled teacher doesn't think, 'What shall I do in class today?' But asks, 'What will my students do in class today?' Not, 'What will I teach today?' Rather, 'How will I help my students discover what they need to know?' The skilled teacher does not want students who leave the class talking about how magnificent and unusual the teacher is. This teacher wants students who leave talking about how magnificent the [subject] is!"
David A. Bednar, BYU-Idaho Faculty Meeting, August 21, 2001
"Success will be defined by what a department or major does to strengthen other departments and majors across the campus."
- Begin and end class on time.
- Strive for the capacity to view and treat each member of each class as a child of God.
- Create a learning environment where students and teachers think of others before themselves.
- Seek to use peer-to-peer or other methods in which students regularly teach each other, both in class and in small groups.
- Create experiences that allow faculty and students to be both teachers and learners.
- The teacher invites a student who says, "I don't understand," to prepare a lesson and teach the class the next day. The student comes back with a lesson prepared; but before teaching, she says she still has several questions. After teaching, she never asks questions. The teacher asks what the questions were. The student says she received answers to her questions while she taught.
- Teachers ask questions that invite meaningful, thoughtful study and response.
- Faculty pursue integrated projects that result in new materials, new modules, new courses, and new understanding that allow students and faculty to more effectively serve and teach one another.
- Does the edification that results from teaching come from things that are taught or from the process of teaching?
- What practices can I incorporate in the classroom to create a climate that allows risk-taking?
- Why is teaching such a critical aspect of learning, including learning the gospel?