To see an example of a practice application, please work through the Doctrinal Mastery practice videos, located at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Scroll half way down and look for Doctrinal Mastery Practice Application, example 3 and Doctrinal Mastery Practice, example 4. As you watch, look for how the teacher helps students practice using all three principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge.
You can adapt the scenarios and the suggested questions or other learning activities as needed to better meet the needs of students. You can also vary the order in which students apply the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge. Be sure that any adaptations still give students opportunities to practice applying the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge and the doctrine to a realistic situation. If adapting scenarios, try to preserve the main question or concern of the scenario. The questions or concerns at the heart of each scenario have been carefully planned for all four years of seminary.
For ideas on how to make appropriate adaptations to practice applications, consider watching one or more of the following videos located at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. They are about half way down the page.
These are the four videos to watch:
“Adapting doctrinal mastery curriculum: inviting students to make the scenario more relevant.”
“Adapting doctrinal mastery curriculum: adjusting scenarios to address specific needs.”
“Adapting doctrinal mastery curriculum: helping students view themselves in the scenario.”
“Adapting doctrinal mastery curriculum: creating activities to help students use all three principles.”
Define
Sharing or having students share a reason for doing a doctrinal mastery activity can motivate students to engage in it. It can also allow the Holy Ghost to teach them about the activity’s importance. After you share what the class will be doing, share one or two reasons why you are doing the activity or ask students to share why they think the activity could be helpful.
Model
“Class, for the next few minutes we are going to explain the doctrine we learn from Luke 2:10–12, that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. One reason we are doing this is to help us be able to confidently respond if someone we know asks us why Jesus Christ is important to us.”
To see an example of how this could be done, watch one or more of the following videos located at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Please scroll half way down and review the following videos:
“Sharing a reason for a doctrinal mastery activity”
“Helping students discover a reason for a doctrinal mastery activity”
“Helping students share reasons for a doctrinal mastery activity”
Choose one of the following prompts and complete the sentence by clicking reply below.
“Let’s do an activity that will help us memorize the doctrinal mastery reference with the key phrase. One reason we are working to memorize this is …”
“For the next few minutes, we are going to review the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge. Knowing these principles can help us …”
“We are going to practice using the three principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge. Using these principles can …”
What are you learning as you practice explaining the reasons for doing a doctrinal mastery activity? Share below by clicking reply.
As you prepare to have students practice a doctrinal mastery activity, write down at least one reason it can be of value to students and share below by clicking reply.
As you regularly review the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge with your class, the Holy Ghost can help students remember and use the principles in times of need. You can invite students to review these principles before you share a scenario or while students are working through the scenario. These invitations include an opportunity for students to review at least one principle, instructions for how long they should review the principle, and an opportunity for them to share what they learned. By doing this, students will be better able to use the principles as part of the practice application. For ideas on how to do this, see the “Reviewing Principles of Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge Ideas” in the appendix of the seminary teacher manual.)
“Today we will review the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge from the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2023). We will divide into groups of three. Each student in the group will review a different principle.
“Take three to four minutes to read and prepare to share with your group one way your principle can help someone who is facing a difficult question or circumstance.”
For an example of a way to help students review the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge, watch “Provide students opportunities to review all three principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge,” located at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. (It is about three quarters down the page)
Write down another way you might invite students to review the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge and share by clicking reply below.
What are you learning about extending invitations for students to review the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge? Share below.
As you prepare your next Doctrinal Mastery Practice lesson, plan how you will invite students to review the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge.
After students review the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge, share with them the scenario and invite them to verbalize in groups and later with the class which principles they feel might help with that scenario. Doing so can help students build their confidence in using these principles in their own lives.
After reviewing the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge and introducing the scenario, you could ask questions like the following:
“Which principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge do you think could help in this scenario, and why?”
“How could these principles help you when facing a question like the one in this scenario?”
For an example, watch one or both of the following videos located at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
“Doctrinal mastery practice application, example 1”
“Doctrinal mastery practice application, example 2”
Write down a few questions you could ask that might help students verbalize how the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge could help them respond to their friend in the following scenario.
One of your friends who is not religious recently saw a pair of missionaries talking with some people in the park. Your friend asked you, “Why do missionaries from your church go out and preach about Jesus? It seems like you’re trying to force your beliefs on other people. Why can’t you just let them be happy as they are?”
Share below by clicking reply.
Why do you think it is important for students to verbalize how they might use the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge?
How do you think using the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge might influence students’ lives?
Share below by clicking reply.
What can you do to help students verbalize how the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge can help them and others when facing a difficult question or circumstance?