Life Preparation lessons provide opportunities for students in seminary to learn how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can help them navigate the challenges of mortality. As you teach these lessons, be aware of the following cautions:
Every Learning Experience Should Be Christ-Centered, Scripture-Based, and Learner-Focused
Balance the Number of Life Preparation Lessons as Outlined in the Curriculum
Utilize the Curriculum Regardless of Your Level of Experience
Remember Your Role as a Teacher
Every learning experience in seminary should help accomplish the Objective of Seminaries and Institutes of Religion. This means that they will always be Christ-centered, learner-focused, scripture-based, and guided by the Spirit. Life Preparation lessons can easily become imbalanced. For example, a teacher may have a great deal of experience in one of the topics and could decide to focus extensively on making the experience learner-focused, emphasizing many skills and strategies for how to address a need students have. However, in the process, the teacher could easily overlook the need to connect students to Christ and to teach them from the words of the scriptures and prophets.
Case Study: Sister Jones has extensive experience with financial planning. Sister Jones decides to teach her students many skills about financial planning in a very learner-focused way.
What are some of the potential consequences of Sister Jones approaching the lesson this way?
There may be some lesson types or topics that some teachers would like to spend more or less class time on than others. Keep in mind that many people, including those from other Church departments, counseled together to determine the number of lessons in each category. Even a topic that might seem less interesting for a teacher may be very valuable for certain students. Spending more class time on some lessons than is outlined in the curriculum can lead to underemphasizing other important learning outcomes. The “Create a Pacing Guide Training” recommends that typically there should be more Scripture Course lessons than Life Preparation lessons in your pacing guide. The number of lessons for each Life Preparation category also indicates a suggested balance. Follow these guidelines with very few exceptions.
Case Study: Brother Hendricks is thrilled that there are finally deliberate efforts in seminary to prepare youth for missions. Rather than teaching only five lessons on mission preparation, he spends two weeks teaching these lessons as well as several he created on his own.
What are some of the potential consequences of Brother Hendricks’s approach to teaching missionary preparation lessons?
Similar to the number of lessons, each lesson purpose was also determined in collaboration with many people, including members of other Church departments. These departments often relied on research completed by the Correlation Research Division of the Church for the input they provided. As with all S&I curriculum lessons, the Correlation Department of the Church has carefully reviewed the Life Preparation lessons for doctrinal accuracy and appropriateness. The lessons are designed to be a simple approach to the topic they address, not a comprehensive course on the subject. If you are experienced in the topic, you may feel that important ideas have been left out. Be very cautious about adding something that is not already included. Regardless of how much or how little experience you have with a given topic, use the curriculum as a foundation for the learning experience you will provide. Begin by adopting the lesson before making decisions about what to adapt. For more on this, see the “Adopting and Adapting Seminary Curriculum Training” found in the Seminary Curriculum Training.
Case Study: Sister Benson is a licensed clinical social worker. She is currently finding a great deal of success with a new approach to helping her clients with addiction. She decides to teach her students skills associated with this new approach instead of one of the emotional health lessons.
What are some of the potential consequences of Sister Benson’s approach to the emotional health lessons?
As you teach Life Preparation lessons, remember your role as a seminary teacher. Students may share with you challenging situations they face. Your role is to direct them to their parents and priesthood leaders, who can guide them to the help they need. For help with situations that may involve abuse, please see “Abuse” in the Seminaries and Institutes Emergency Response Guide.
Case Study: Sister Benson has found that after teaching her lessons, many students are staying after class. They want to share with her some very personal details about their lives. She meets with them individually in her office after class and after school.
What are some of the potential consequences of Sister Benson’s interactions with her students?