Discovery Learning & Gospel Movements
by Alan Howell
Director of Church Relations
In 2009, I went to a seminar in Rwanda that MRN helped coordinate about Disciple-Making Movements. One of the things we learned about there was how to lead a Discovery Bible Studies (DBS). This way of engaging in scripture involves three main ingredients:
Reading the text and getting familiar with it
Putting the text into your own words
Considering what you need to do to obey it and committing to it
Some people will turn a piece of paper sideways, folding it into three parts and dividing the page into three columns: copying the text, paraphrasing the text, and making “I will…” statements about how to obey what was learned.
While this approach to Bible study is great for people exploring faith, it also can work to facilitate learning in an existing church, too. Unfortunately, the way preaching and teaching is usually done (even when it’s done well), makes hearers into passive recipients of the biblical texts instead of inviting hearers to be active participants, or partners with the text in their contexts. It is like the difference between watching ice skating on television (seeing a religious professional or qualified layperson interpret the text) and actually lacing up a pair of skates yourself and getting out in the rink (having to maintain balance and progress while sliding along). When done well, it encourages both individual responsibility and group connectivity. By studying passages in groups, each person gets to share what they heard and how they could obey, and by sharing that with the group, the community can help correct and guide the individual if their interpretation or application is off.
A few weeks after that seminar in Rwanda, I was back home where we were living in Mozambique and spending the weekend at the southern edge of our province in the village of Masha. When asked to speak that Sunday morning, I decided to test out a discovery learning approach. We divided the 60 or so adults into groups of 4 or 5 and asked them to read from Deuteronomy 6. The leaders made sure that each group had someone in it who could read, and I asked them to read the text two or three times until they felt like they understood it. After a few minutes, I asked for a few volunteers to tell everybody what they heard in the text and a number of people from different groups offered up the pieces they understood as we stitched the passage back together in our own words. Then, I asked the groups to meet again and talk about what each person would do to obey the text. After some time in small group processing, I posed this question to the whole group: one man said he needed to teach God’s word to his children.
Then something fascinating happened: an older woman slowly stood up, she was ready to share. She said that she understood now from this text that since there is only one God, in order to really obey what she heard, she was committing to give up doing divination. A bunch of us were shocked – divination (using magical rituals to determine the cause of things like illness) was a massive problem in our part of Mozambique! And it was powerful to hear her note that as the step that she needed to take and was committing to. It was obvious to me that if I had been interpreting and teaching that text (Deut. 6) just on my own, I would not have noticed what she did regarding the contrast with divination. But by wrestling herself with the Scriptures together with some of her peers, this woman was able to name something in her own life that clearly needed to change.
This was a powerful pedagogical moment for me – I saw a dynamic demonstration of the power of discovery learning.
And I’ve been hooked on using discovery learning ever since! I believe it is a prime way that we can participate in and prepare people for Gospel Movements.
Now, when I was first trained in how to do Discovery Bible studies, I got the impression that there was only one right way to do it. And while that “classic format” is useful, it’s not the only way to help people dig in and discover. In working with oral learners, for example, they didn't always resonate with that level or type of structure. Over time I've realized that there are different types of discovery learning that can be leveraged in different situations.
But, one element that is crucial, whether it is a one-time study or a classic DBS journey of 6-12 weeks, whether you are working with pre-believers, new Christians, or experienced disciples, is to make sure that what is discovered is linked to action and accountability. The advantage of a highly structured DBS approach is that it makes sure to get all of the elements and nutrients. But, too much structure can be stifling. Both high and low structure though should still include discovery and doing elements. So,leading others in discovery learning means we need to not get so distracted by where the conversation takes the group that we forget to help them take it home and put that learning into practice: moving from good intentions to actual implementation.
Another common adjustment for leaders of discovery learning has to do with preparation. Preparing to teach using discovery learning still involves work – but it is a different kind of preparation. It involves more practice listening, clarifying the structure you'lluse, and importantly, deciding on guiding questions. Ahead of time, you’ll really need to soak in the text yourself and be familiar with it (don’t try to just wing it!). A key difference hear is being able to bring things to the conversation to contribute as needed, but to hold back and hold your observations loosely. Give people space for silence and reflection, make sure they can receive the gift of getting centered. Taking the time to be still and able to really hear and notice really matters. For groups that haven’t done this type of learning before, it may feel awkward at first. But, when people buy in, beautiful learning can happen, insights and action steps can be unlocked, and everyone involved can be filled and fed and finding areas of growth and being further fit for kingdom service.
A core question for kingdom workers is: What type of discovery learning is needed here? Is it a simple DBS? Is it a highly structured DBS? Does this collection of people need some small group connection time that then leads to a time of digging in and discovery? Is lectio divina a good fit? Or is it more of a targeted, directed focus? Maybe it shouldn't surprise us, but leaders of discovery learning will need to find the right approaches in the right situations. And giving ourselves the freedom to experiment and discover an appropriate approach is important. There isn’t a silver bullet, one-sized-fits-all approach that will always work like magic. Instead, we need to find what fits us, those we serve, and what is needed. Facilitating discovery learning, then, that digs in and develops pathways for obedience will intentionally cultivate awareness of how and where action and accountability will happen. This is a powerful way for us to partner with God in sowing the seeds of and spreading Gospel Movements.
For more on different types of discovery learning, check out the accompanying video as well as the example Soaking-in-Scripture (SOAK) page. And please reach out to us as we’d love to help you discover even more ways you can work towards Gospel Movements locally and globally.
Alan Howell - alan.howell@mrnet.org