Amy Petersen Jensen spoke at the final Inspiring Teaching Workshop of the fall 2023 semester on December 1. Jensen is the associate dean in the College of Fine Arts and Communications at Brigham Young University, and her message was titled “Becoming New Creatures Again and Again.” Before the lecture began, there was a vocal performance of “All Creatures of Our God and King” by Diane Reich, director of the BYU School of Music.
To introduce her message, Jensen shared 2 Corinthians 5:17, which reads, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Jensen has felt the call to become a “new creature” throughout her career as an educator. Even with 21 years of experience, she still feels stretched and challenged as she seeks to become a better teacher. As Jensen teaches theatre and media arts to future teachers, she feels an urgency to help her students grow their faith and keep the first and second commandments to love God and their neighbor. Two important methods Jensen has used to accomplish these goals include curation and witnessing.
Curating Class Curriculum
Jensen considers the curation of class curriculum a sacred work. Choosing what materials to present in a class is a key element in making the class a success. Some time ago, Jensen noticed that though her student ratings were generally strong, the “spiritually strengthening” rating was consistently the lowest out of her various class ratings. She regularly prayed and discussed gospel topics during class and wasn’t sure what else she could do to improve the spiritual content of her courses. Determined to raise this rating, she asked her students to provide specific feedback about the spiritual content of class and how she could improve.
While some feedback was helpful, other responses left Jensen feeling frustrated. For example, one young man commented they should pray at the beginning of class, which they had been doing. This student either hadn’t noticed, or always showed up late. As Jensen pondered on this feedback, she remembered the student who left this response had been going through some personal difficulties, and her frustration turned to compassion. Jensen realized she had been more focused on demonstrating her own spiritual strength than on truly helping her students.
This experience inspired Jensen to reshape the way she was teaching her classes. The first class she revised was one the same young man would be taking the following semester. Jensen wanted to provide him and his classmates with greater spiritual support. The class would now be focused on critical thinking, creativity, and spiritual resiliency. She modified the way she would communicate with students and how students would communicate with each other. A spiritual prompting inspired Jensen to focus less on modeling spiritual strength and more on providing opportunities for students to find their own spiritual strength. The story of the good Samaritan became a key focus of the class.
As part of this class, Jensen’s students were teaching theatre arts in teams of two at secondary schools. Each week she asked them to answer the question, “How did you practice something or learn something new about the parable of the good Samaritan this week?” As Jensen’s students looked at their experiences through this lens, they felt more empathy for their fellow educators and those they were teaching. They saw the kindness and generosity their students demonstrated. In the end, the “spiritually strengthening” rating was still slightly below the others, but student comments were more positive and specific. By focusing on her students and curating the right content, Jensen was able to spiritually strengthen the members of her class.
Witnessing
A painting called “Words and Hands” by Fidalis Buehler hangs in Jensen’s home. The painting draws Jensen’s mind to the young people she loves. She thinks about who they are, where they are feeling the Spirit in their lives, and when they are contributing in ways she didn’t imagine. This deep observation and consideration of students is what Jensen means by “witnessing.”
One example of witnessing comes from BYU art professor Joe Ostraff. During winter 2023, 12 art majors from BYU and 16 history majors from Georgia Southern University collaborated on a project to research and share their personal genealogies, which resulted in the creation of an art exhibition.
Of the project, Ostraff said, “I witnessed an evolutionary process as students from diverse backgrounds worked to find common ground. The exhibition, held at the Averitt Art Center in Statesboro, Georgia, drew over 200 attendees from the university and local community, creating an electric atmosphere with people asking questions and sharing personal stories and genealogies. It was like no other art opening I’ve ever attended. Lives were changing before my eyes and our students were at the epicenter, radiating all the kindness, friendship, and compassion spoken of by our Savior. I was standing on holy ground.”
As illustrated by this story, when teachers provide an environment where students can develop and demonstrate their spiritual strength, students will often rise to the challenge. Jensen believes witnessing makes room for students to have their own personal conversations with the Spirit.
Taking Action
A few years ago, Jensen wanted to deepen her own conversation with the Spirit. Inspired by the example of a colleague, she decided to study the scriptures looking for examples of what Jesus Christ physically did for the people around him, and what they physically did. In one instance, a leper used his voice to show his faith, and Christ put forth His hand to heal him. When Christ healed a young girl, she responded to His touch and His voice by rising up and walking. In these stories, those healed by Christ spoke, ministered, and moved their bodies, and these actions were the manifestations of His miracles. Jensen believes an approach focused on taking action could improve the practice of gospel methodology at BYU.
Jensen said, “We need to invite our students to speak out when they witness divinity. We need to call on them to minister to others within our disciplines. We need to give them confidence that they can use their bright minds and good hearts, and move their bodies in the world. I believe in practicing these actions, students might embrace the spiritual resiliency we long for them to possess, and these can be the manifestations of Christ’s miracles.”
To close her message, Jensen encouraged each member of the faculty to become new in some way for the benefit of their students. She asked the faculty:
- What are heaven’s angels calling you to witness?
- How can you in your unique ways move your body?
- What is the new creature that you can become?
Jensen testified that God loves each one of them and that as they ask for help, He will continually help them be the teachers their students need.
To learn more about helping students develop spiritual strength, review the slides below.