Retooling

One aspect of a sabbatical is to “retool” for the future and so I was encouraged by a former colleague and mentor, Dr.  Larry Dinkins, to attend a three day seminar that he was leading  on orality.  A large percentage of people in this world are either preferred oral learners, barely literate or illiterate.  A preferred oral learner is someone who does read but prefers to learn in an oral method or a method other than reading.  This has nothing to do with intelligence.  Some who are not literate are very intelligent but they may have lacked the opportunity to learn to read. 

Many cultures in the world enjoy stories.  Stories can be easily learned and transmitted to others.  The majority genre of the Bible, by a large margin, is narrative yet we in the West tend to teach everything in an analytical manner and often miss the simplicity of the story.  We get so bogged down analyzing the details that we can miss the big picture.  So, the seminar focused on learning to teach in an oral, story-telling manner and to encourage those listening to participate rather than to just sit and listen.  I had a great time learning with the rest of those attending the very “hands-on” seminar.  We were not allowed to take any notes and so we had to rely on our memory which is what oral learners do.   I will seek to incorporate what I have learned in the near future. 

 Larry Dinkins in action

 We got together for dinner with Larry.

 The Orality training I did in Bangkok was in English but then we went to Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) where I got to participate in an afternoon session in Thai.  These are members of the group in which I participated.

            Larry working with a group.

      I came away with an even greater admiration for Larry than I had before.  He has returned to Thailand after ten years in the U.S. in which his dear wife, Paula, battled cancer.  Paula fought valiantly but was finally called home to be with her Savior.  Larry could have returned to his former post as a professor and cruised along teaching in the same manner as he did in years before.  He finished a PhD in Education during his time in the U.S. so he likely has a LOT more info to teach but instead Larry is someone who keeps pushing ahead to learn and grow.  Rather than doing what is easy and comfortable he wants to find out what is truly most effective in helping people to learn.  He is setting a wonderful example of someone who is not afraid to change direction and is always striving for excellence.  Thank you, Larry, for being a huge blessing to me along my sabbatical journey.