St. Augustine of Hippo was a 3rd and 4th-century Christian theologian and philosopher. He dedicated a significant part of his religious work to preaching and teaching Christianity. During this time, he wrote a book, Instructing Beginners in Faith, in which he outlines seven principles that are relevant in pedagogy, or any mentoring field today (Immerwahr, 2008). In particular, these principles can be applied in a business setting. Moreover, while St. Augustine’s principles are based on Christian values, their practical applicability is not limited to Christian leaders’ businesses: they hold universal appeal.
The Seven Principles
The central theme that unites St. Augustine’s principles of pedagogy is that of the dynamic nature of the teacher-student relationship. In modern terms, they can be formulated thus:
- The teacher-learner relationship is vital.
- Creating a positive learning environment is even harder than getting the content right.
- Know your students and customize the class for them.
- Understand student fears and help overcome them.
- Constantly reset the students’ attention.
- Connect learning to the student’s own experience.
- Find the joy in making the old things new.
These principles have found broad application in current pedagogy, sometimes informing key principles in the field. In particular, creating a positive environment where students are encouraged to learn and maintaining their motivation are viewed as necessary to effective teaching (Sieberer-Nagler, 2015). St. Augustine’s advice is applicable not only in a traditional classroom setting, however, but in any situation where teaching occurs, such as business mentoring or workplace instructions.
St. Augustine’s Teachings as Business Guidance
Business mentoring is a significant part of developing one’s business skills and knowledge. It involves a more experienced employee imparting some of his or her experience on a colleague, and has generally shown positive outcomes for the mentee (El Hallam & St-Jean, 2016). However, the mentor can lack the instructional and teaching skills that make his or her teaching effective. St. Augustine’s teachings can be used as a base for such a mentoring tool set. In particular, the scholar’s suggestions related to connecting with one’s student on a personal level can help in developing trust, which has been shown to be a predictor of better mentoring outcomes (Kunaka & Moos, 2019). This relation points to the value of the same principles in a mentoring context.
In a broader sense, St. Augustine’s teachings place significant value on positivity in the teaching environment. This same positivity, however, is shown to be a beneficial quality in workplace training and business leadership alike (Grant et al., 2019). The principles outlined above can be easily expanded to cover workplace and leadership relations. Positive leadership in general is an emerging field of study, exploring the impact of various types of positivity in organizational leadership (Blanch et al., 2016). In these models, spiritual leadership is one approach where the development of spiritual qualities such as faith, hope, and moral conviction is encouraged (Blanch et al., 2016). These qualities align with Christian teachings in general, and St. Augustine’s in particular. However, positive or spiritual leadership is not limited to Christian values or overtly religious workplaces. As such, St. Augustine’s principles of creating a positive environment and adapting it to each individual student or employee can see greater applicability in pedagogy, or business. In the latter environment, they can expand to create the base for mentoring, workplace training, or even leadership strategies.
References
Blanch, J., Gil, F., Antino, M., & Rodríguez-Muñoz, A. (2016). Positive leadership models: theoretical framework and research. Papeles del Psicólogo / Psychologist Papers, 37(3), 170-176.
El Hallam, H., & St-Jean, É. (2016). Nurturing entrepreneurial learning through mentoring. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 21(02), 1650012.
Grant, A. M., O’Connor, S. A., & Studholme, I. (2019). Towards a positive psychology of buildings and workplace community: The positive built workplace environment. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 4(1-2), 67-89. Web.
Immerwahr, J. (2008). Teaching in The Inspiration of St. Augustine: Seven Augustinian.
Kunaka, C., & Moos, M. N. (2019). Evaluating mentoring outcomes from the perspective of entrepreneurs and small business owners. The Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, 11(1),.
Sieberer-Nagler, K. (2015). Effective classroom-management & positive teaching. English Language Teaching, 9(1), 163-172.