Seminary Curriculum switching to Come Follow Me.


Jane_Doe
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16 hours ago, carlimac said:

then why are there different standards for Utah/idaho kids and the rest of the world? Just have the kids go to their ward buildings at  6 Am and divide up into classes just like they do everywhere else?

Oh sure, next you'll be expecting a bunch of Utah kids to stop drooling on themselves and licking the windows.

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20 hours ago, Vort said:

There are not different standards. There are different ways of meeting the (one) standard. I disagree with EM that "release time is really the only option"—I don't see why every stake in Utah couldn't operate its own early-morning seminary, just like almost every other stake in the world not located in the Mormon Corridor—but that is not the issue.

In Utah and Idaho, many children have the option of attending seminary during their regular school day. When this can be an option, why would anyone seek to disallow it? How does it hurt you or your children if the children of Utahans attend seminary in the middle of the day instead of early morning? It's more convenient for them, they want to do it, and the schools are willing to accommodate. Where's the problem? If they offered release-time seminary around here, I expect almost all the kids in the stake (including mine) would want/have wanted to attend.

Here's the dig. When students out here complain about having to get up so early for seminary they are told by stake and some ward leaders to just buck up. " It's helping you develop character."  So why isn't it administered evenly around the world if this is something that will help Latter Day Saints teens develop character? Doesn't the Church want all it's youth to have the same opportunities? Why do the kids in Utah and other western states have seminary handed to them on a silver platter without any sacrifice?  Not only that, but (I know this from my own seminary experience growing up in Utah) that daily seminary classes taught by professionally trained teachers during released time tended to start feeling like  EFY everyday with a really big emphasis on performance and entertainment rather than education. And it mattered so much who was in your class and which teacher you got. Everyone wanted the "cool" teacher. 

To become a seminary teacher in the released time system it seems there is a certain level of charisma and charm required to cut it. (We had two seminary teachers in our Idaho ward and they both had oodles of this schstick. One of them used to sing his testimony on Fast Sundays.)  It seems to feed the "cultural Mormon" phenomenon:  appearances, competing for popularity ( who can achieve the most popular teacher status), who is most righteous and a sort of fake "we're all that" persona.  I suppose this goes on in EMS too, to a certain extent, dependng on the people called to teach. Who doesn't want to be adored by the teens in your ward and stake? No one wants to be labeled "boring" by their students. But at least the ones who are "called" rather than choosing it as their profession have to develop the same character as the kids,  getting up early, taking time away from work and home responsibilities to study and prepare. It takes greater humility, I believe, to be called to teach rather than choosing it.  

It's all a bit nebulous and I'm sure there are many who would argue this with me. But basically, I think all teens would be better served by the EMS system. 

Actually I think they would be best served by a home study program that is optional but highly rewarded-  it could factor in even more heavily on BYU applications than it is now. That way only the ones that really wanted to learn would be taking  it and there would be less guilt and negativity attached if some kids chose not to do it. And less peer pressure if someone really isn't interested.  Maybe group lessons once a week to discuss the topics. I personally feel it's overkill  to have daily classes so early in the morning and that most teens don't get nearly as much out of it as supposed. 

 

Edited by carlimac
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Also I believe there is  more incentive to be "entertaining" and judged positively by the students when a teacher is being paid.  I know they aren't paid much but they do get a salary and benefits so they will try harder to put on a good show when they are being evaluated. 

It's different with Institute teachers because the people who take their classes are more mature and really want to learn the subject since it's truly optional. ( There may be some trying to find a spouse, but that's legit at that point in life. ) I think the topics are discussed more seriously in Institute so there is less of the entertainment factor. 

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