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7:1 God's Involvement in Education |
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Written by David Smith & John Shortt
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RICHARD MOUW'S RECENT book discussing the nature of God's involvement in human culture at large (He shines in all that's fair: Culture and Common Grace, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002) finds its starting point in what may at first seem a rather parochial backwater. It is not long, however, before Mouw's discussion of debates among Dutch-American Calvinists in the 1920's concerning the doctrine of common grace opens out into issues that affect any Christian engagement with the wider culture, including its educational practices and institutions. |
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7:1 From Formation to the Frontiers: the dialectic of Christian education |
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Written by John Sullivan
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THIS ARTICLE LINKS education with discipleship. In both, the first task is developing the human person. This task is incomplete until learners (and disciples) have been encouraged to reach out to others, especially those 'at the margins'. Christian education essentially involves two major movements: formation and work 'at the frontiers'. Both are necessary. Formation without work at the frontiers is inadequate to the gospel imperative to be inclusive; while work at the frontiers without sufficient attention to formation lacks the distinctiveness, specificity or 'salt' of Christian faith. These two movements are analysed and their dialectical relationships and reciprocal effects are explored. |
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7:1 Special Education as Reconciliation |
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Written by David W. Anderson
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THIS PAPER PRESENTS special education as a ministry of reconciliation designed to promote community and to recognize wholeness in the presence of disability. It is offered as part of an ongoing discussion of the need for an inclusive world view founded on Christian principles. Including the excluded - reaching out to those ignored or pushed away by society - was a characteristic of Jesus' ministry and must be a hallmark of Christian educators and churches. The hope is that the ideas expressed herein will foster collaborative efforts between general and special educators which lead to the creation of positive, caring classroom communities that value and promote unity and equality while also celebrating diversity. Christian teacher training programs must encourage and model an inclusive worldview in which individuals with disabilities are also recognized as God's image-bearers, and where there is acknowledgment of the abilities and gifts they bring to the classroom community. |
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7:1 The Bible and the Reader's Response |
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Written by Mark A. Pike
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READER RESPONSE THEORY, the broad range of literary perspectives which place emphasis upon the role of readers and their responses to texts, has contributed important insights to biblical hermeneutics and to pedagogy in literature education. Yet reader response theory does not appear, as yet, to have had as significant an influence as it might upon the way we teach individuals to read and respond to that most important of texts, the Bible. It is proposed in this article that Rosenblatt's transactional theory of the literary work offers valuable insights that can be applied to both the reading of the Bible and also how it can be taught in a range of contexts, in Christian and state schools, as well as in churches. Consequently, pedagogy informed by Rosenblatt's reader response theory may offer us a biblical use of the Bible as it can foster the spiritual development of readers by enabling them to engage with Scripture at a deeply personal level. It is suggested that Bible teaching must be responsive to the individual and to society but must, most of all, be responsive to the Holy Spirit. |
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7:1 An approach to Citizenship Education that includes faith as an integral dimension |
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Written by Chris Sunderland
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THIS PAPER ATTEMPTS to offer a way into Citizenship education based upon a philosophical and practical enquiry that acknowledges the importance of beliefs, values and commitments in every human society. It introduces four key conceptual tools, namely story, trust, power and success that together offer pupils and teachers an opportunity to explore the most fundamental human questions concerning knowledge, purpose and social systems. These concepts allow cross-curricular connection and a broad range of practical application that can meet the demands of the Citizenship curriculum. |
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7:1 The Religious and Moral Beliefs of Adolescents in St. Petersburg |
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Written by Fedor Nikolay Kozyrev
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STUDENTS AGED 15 to 17 years in state secular and non-state Christian schools in St. Petersburg were surveyed as to their opinions of religion. The study showed an extremely small proportion of consistent atheists. On average, less than 10% of the surveyed students in state schools answered with certainty that there is no God while just 4% decisively reject religion as such. 80% proclaimed themselves believers but only 2% visit churches at least weekly and very few know the Christian Gospel. The majority of students thought that religion is a personal matter. There were significant differences between the state secular and non-sate Christian schools so the survey supports the view that religious education strongly influences opinions and systems of ethical values. |
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Volume 7 (2003) 