nurturing servant leaders in religious education - Scholarly ...

I like the idea that we are equals here in New Zealand. That you can share and not
feel ashamed that you too don’t know everything…And you really have to work
with them here in South Auckland. I can speak for those in South Auckland. Once
you teach, you make sure you hammer it, you just keep hammering away,
chiselling away until finally you find that one thing that they’re pricked with.
They just seem to take to that. You see that influence them and you know that
once you can get them again and again and again, they’re coming. I mean, it
happened to me. When I started falling in love with the Gospel, it just happened, it
kept going and going. We try to do that for whoever we’re teaching (VT3).
I think that a lot of our learners like to be involved, and hands on, because that’s
just how they’re brought up. Books and everything, it’s not really the way they
like to learn most times, but more so talking to people, gaining their experiences,
and doing hands on things. That’s why I think teaching in New Zealand, I served
my mission here and everything, I think it’s just a different type of people and
atmosphere. You have to supply teaching to provide for that (VT5).
I was just thinking of this American missionary that I served with. He was telling
me a joke about cereal. And you know in America cereal is quite big, and my
companion laughed, but I just didn’t understand what he was talking about. The
thing I like is when I say something to do with experience, or the experience that
I’ve had, or when I teach my class something about something that I’ve been
through, they know it’s real (VT4).
It’s easier to listen to something when it comes from someone that you can relate
to. And because we’re all locals here, and we’ve lived here our whole lives, we
can relate to the people that we teach…And I think the people in our area, they
need a lot of help because, I think we could all say we come from poor socioeconomic
backgrounds. And people have grown up with the thought that
mediocrity is alright. And, I think hopefully the examples that we’ve set for them
show them that we can strive for higher than that. And that’s what the Gospel does
too, it helps you to aim to be your best, and to reach your full potential. And it’s
people who are striving to live the Gospel. That’s hopefully what our students see
too is that hey, we’re here, but we can be up here (VT2).
Relationships of cultural appreciation
Participants were asked for their perceptions of what made teaching in the CES in
Aotearoa/New Zealand unique. This question naturally set up a comparison to other
peoples, and many participants drew on their mission experiences or overseas
experiences where they were exposed to other nationalities and/or the CES in a
different context. All sixteen volunteer teachers gave an example of their feelings in
comparison. Participants also indicated that they had had interaction with other
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