CES Satellite Training Broadcast, January 2004

“All Things in One”

Steven K. Iba
Assistant Administrator

It was six men of Indostan The Sixth no sooner had begun

To learning much inclined, About the beast to grope,
Who went to see the Elephant Than, seizing on the swinging tail
(Though all of them were blind), That fell within his scope,
That each by observation “I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Might satisfy his mind. Is very like a rope!”

The First approached the Elephant, And so these men of Indostan

And happening to fall Disputed loud and long,
Against his broad and sturdy side, Each in his own opinion
At once began to bawl: Exceeding stiff and strong,
“Goodness me! but the Elephant Though each was partly in the right,
Is very like a wall!” And all were in the wrong!
(Adapted from “The Blind Men and the Elephant,” in
The Second, feeling of the tusk, Louis Untermeyer, ed., This Singing World [1923],
Cried, “Ho! what have we here 308–10.)
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear This poem, by John Godfrey Saxe, illustrates what
This wonder of an Elephant we have observed is happening too frequently with the
Is very like a spear!” Current Teaching Emphasis. Like the men of Indostan,
many are diligently moving forward to “satisfy [your]
The Third approached the animal, mind.” For this we thank you. We thank you for your
And happening to take willingness to try new things, to venture out beyond
The squirming trunk within his hands, traditional methods. However, some have only grasped
Thus boldly up and spake: on to a few small portions of the emphasis and have
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant assumed that the emphasis is “very like” those
Is very like a snake!” particular things.
For example, some have interpreted the
The Fourth reached out an eager hand, encouragement to “help students learn to explain,
And felt about the knee. share, and testify of the doctrines and principles of the
“What most this wondrous beast is like restored gospel” as meaning that they should simply
Is mighty plain,” quoth he; do more group work, more pair-and-share type
“’Tis clear enough the Elephant activities. We have recently observed more students
Is very like a tree!” talking with each other in small groups, but we wonder
if they are truly learning to explain the principles of
The Fifth who chanced to touch the ear, the gospel in their own words, or to share feelings
Said: “E’en the blindest man about those principles or experiences they have had
Can tell what this resembles most; with them. There is a difference.
Deny the fact who can, Others have grasped on to the portion of the
This marvel of an Elephant emphasis that states we are to encourage students to
Is very like a fan!” memorize key scriptural passages and have given less
attention to helping their students “understand and

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© 2004 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. English approval: 11/03. 23245
 CES Satellite Training Broadcast • January 2004 • Steven K. Iba
explain the doctrines and principles contained in those
passages.”
The Current Teaching Emphasis is not a wall or a
spear or a snake or a tree. It is not group work, or just
memorization, or reading charts, or cooperative
learning, or even effective lecturing. While it may
incorporate some or all of these, the Current Teaching
Emphasis should be viewed and experienced as a
whole, with each element essential to the success of
the other.
Mormon noted in 3 Nephi 23:14 that when the
glorified Jesus taught the Nephites from the scriptures
and words of the prophets, such as Isaiah and Samuel
the Lamanite, and “had expounded all the scriptures in
one, which they had written, he commanded them that
they should teach the things which he had expounded
[in one] unto them” (italics added).
That’s our desire for each of us as teachers with the
Teaching Emphasis: that we will be able to expound
and teach as one the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the
name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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© 2004 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. English approval: 11/03. 23245