QUESTIONS?

FAQ's

Learn more about the International Orality Institute

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

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IS oral training primarily for the illiterate?

No, the oral strategy of learning is a teaching style that models the example of Jesus. He used questions and stories to teach his disciples. It is a socratic style of education named after Socrates and used to develop critical thinking skills. The teacher leads the class by asking questions rather than giving information.

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What is the curriculum based on?

The primary textbook for every class is the Bible. The stories of the Bible are learned, memorised and studied in depth. The curriculum provides questions for the teacher to use in the study of the text and it provides consistancy from one teacher to the next. In total there are 84 stories from the Bible in the first two years of curriculum.

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How can someone memorize so many verses?

Instead of focusing on memorizing individual words, the goal is to learn the text as a story. Our minds have an incredible ability to remember stories and it is easier to get the details acurate when we remember the events as they happened.

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What is the advantage of this method of teaching?

There are many benefits to the oral strategy used in the training. Most courses are taught by nationals rather than missionaries. The students study in their own mother tongue by an instructor who understands their culture. Classes can be held anywhere with an open space to meet, and the classes multiply with students becoming teachers, resulting in powerful Life Change Stories

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What causes such a great effect in the students?

The effectiveness of the training comes from the fact that the students are studying the Word of God. They spend two years immersed in God’s Word and they find that they themselves are just like the Bible characters that they are studying. The study and application questions dig deeply into what the text teaches us.

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How much does the training cost?

The training is taught by a volunteer instructor who was previously taught by another volunteer instructor. The training is free, but often there are small expenses such as transportation for the teacher, photocopies of the lessons, or other general administrative costs.

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