Mentor's Manual

122 For the Nex t Generat i on: The Urban Mi n i s t r y I ns t i tute ’ s Mentor Manua l

students, and be careful of the tendencies to make a TUMI class an academic environment and not a leadership development environment.

Absenteeism or Student Dropout As much as we seek to enthusiastically encourage students to achieve in our classes, we must be careful not to make the corollary mistake of gross sentimentalism. As one of the most common practices among instructors toward those who have been susceptible to underachievement, sentimentalism is that patronizing position where we deliberately or unthinkingly behave toward our students in a condescending manner, as if they are not able to perform. The worst thing a mentor can do is to manifest this condescension by constantly excusing the absence of students from class, or their premature exit from a class. As a mentor, you must neither, on the one hand, treat them harshly and unfairly, or, on the other hand, behave as if they cannot accomplish excellence in their work. Simply put – not all students will complete their training, and some may even exit our class offerings altogether. Our TUMI pedagogy sees the classroom component as an essential element of an overall development strategy of a student, a strategy which also includes the domain of their personal Christian walk among their family, associates, and peers, as well as their life and ministry through their local assembly. You should be aware that students will face a vast array of contingencies during a class which may alter or change their ability to stay in the class. No student will enter our classrooms with the leisure and ease enjoyed by many students who summarily skip classes on their college campuses. Pressures of time, money, family, children, ministry will unavoidably encroach on the lives of your students, and, in some cases, impact their absenteeism. You must therefore be encouraging, but also open to the Lord’s leading with your students and their classroom environment. Let students leave, if they must or if they wish. The Spirit endows our students with challenges, gifts, opportunities and resources, all of which are integrated into the tapestry of their lives and ministries. Our classes are an essential thread in that tapestry, but will never be the entire tapestry. We can contribute to their development, but we cannot nursemaid them into maturity. To change the metaphor, we are spiritual midwives to their spiritual birthing and

in the Classroom

Dealing with Difficulties