Stimulating Sunday School Discussion… But Not Too Much | An Interview with Julie Hillyard

Julie McAllister Hillyard was raised in Vancouver, Washington,
served in the Philippines Bacolod Mission, and graduated from
Brigham Young University with a degree in Psychology. She taught
classes to male inmates and mentored female inmates at the Utah
State Prison before and as she launched her career. Julie had the
privilege of working and traveling with Dr. Stephen R. Covey,
author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and worked with
him as he developed and wrote The 8th Habit. She joined him as he
consulted with leaders of countries and companies and helped him
prepare and deliver presentations to audiences around the world.
Julie has served in various teaching callings, including as an
Institute instructor, Relief Society teacher and president, Sunday
School and Gospel Doctrine teacher, and Young Women leader. She
currently teaches a stake adult religion class and the high school
seniors Sunday School class in her ward. Julie is married with
three fabulous kids, owns a pickleball paddle company with her
husband, and does consulting work in leadership and communications.
She is also a host on the Teaching Restored podcast. Links Teaching
Restored Podcast Teaching Sunday School with Questions | An
Interview with Kevin Jones The Power of Learner Councils | A How I
Lead Interview with Russell Rigby The Art of Gathering: How We Meet
and Why It Matters, by Pria Parker There is already a discussion
started about this podcast. Share your thoughts here. Read the
transcript of this podcast Get 14-day access to the Core Leader
Library Highlights 2:10 Kurt introduces Julie Hillyard, the co-host
of the podcast Teaching Restored. She shares what the podcast is
about. 4:00 Julie’s professional background and experience in
teaching. She currently teaches the adult religion class for her
stake. 6:20 She worked for Stephen Covey, the author of 7 Habits of
Highly Effective People. She shares her experience. 11:00 Julie’s
stake offers an adult religion class on Tuesdays and Julie teaches
it. It’s for people that want to dive more into the scriptures
together. It’s like an institute class for adults. 15:30 Inviting
discussion can be a vulnerable way to teach but invites something
special. Balance discussion and teaching. 17:40 Her class isn’t
about teaching all the content of Come Follow Me but setting people
up for further study at home. It lines up with the Come Follow Me
lessons. 20:00 Finding simplicity on the far side of complexity. As
a teacher you have to dig through the weeds to arrive at what you
need to focus on in your class. Discussions can be rich if they are
facilitated in the right way. 22:00 Best practices for teaching the
youth Be real. No fluff. Don’t talk about the superficial stuff.
Connect on a casual level before teaching them. Build their trust
with you first. 25:20 How to be real with the youth when teaching
them. Bring your vulnerability to get vulnerability back. Engage in
their vulnerabilities and empathize with them. Make every
individual in the class feel seen, heard, and valued. 27:50 Don’t
try to do too much with the youth. Julie recommends not breaking
off into groups but in pairs. It works better to get them talking
and so that people don’t hide in the background. 29:40 When your
problem is too much discussion and your lesson is going all over
the place. Balancing lecture and discussion. 32:00 Instead of a
teachers council create a learners council. Teach people how to be
better learners. Lay ground rules as the facilitator of the class
so that the conversation and discussion moves the class forward and
not all over the place. 37:00 We can create a culture in Sunday
school. It can be awkward depending on how the teacher responds to
comments and the questions they ask. 39:40 Set rules of gathering.
Have people consider if their comment is helping move the lesson
forward, how long their comment is, and how many times they
comment.