Resources

For several years the field of Second Language Acquisition has benefited from methods associated with communicative language learning. However, these benefits have largely been overlooked when teaching ancient languages, likely because the objective for ancient languages is literacy, not oral fluency. This article outlines an experiment that capitalized on communicative language methods to accelerate literacy for beginning students of Biblical Hebrew.

Finding ways to reduce students' anxiety and maximize the value of learning Greek and Hebrew is a continual challenge for biblical language teachers. Some language teachers use technology tools such as web sites or CDs with audio lessons to improve the experience. Though these tools are helpful, this paper explores the value gained from understanding first how students learn and then how technology tools best support that learning. Developments in cognitive psychology and neuroscience offer many insights concerning adult learning and retention. After a presentation of key insights, several ideas are suggested for enhancing the learning and retention experience of biblical language students.

Teaching religion and theology requires interpretation of the vast corpus of religious poetry that is found in every religious tradition, but students are generally ill-equipped to interpret this material. Therefore teachers would do well to teach the students how to interpret religious poetry. This article discusses some of the challenges of teaching this material to students and discusses techniques and exercises that have been found useful in teaching students how to navigate the terrain of religious poetry.

This essay discusses the process and findings of an experiment on the scholarship of teaching and learning conducted in a religious ethics classroom that utilized an experiential approach to teaching and learning about social justice. The first part lays out the focus of the investigation and the pedagogical principles drawn from experiential learning theory that provided the foundation for the experiment. The second part describes all of the components of the pedagogical strategy used in the experiment, the social justice action project. The third part discusses the qualitative methodology used to gather evidence and the findings drawn from that evidence. What the evidence shows is that an experiential approach to teaching and learning about social justice can be quite effective. The essay concludes with discussions of areas for further study and the implications for the practice of others.

This article explores the art form of dance as a metaphor for the teaching of theology. Employing the work of Maria Harris, the author contends that there are seven elements of dance than can serve as metaphors for teachers of theology: preparation, rhythm, movement, expectancy, response, embodiment, and performance. Each dance element is described in detail, and the correlations between specific elements of dance and how one might teach theology are presented as possible methodological steps for teaching.

This research report interprets data from a 1902 survey of directors of Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) programs regarding the competency of faculty members viewed through the interpretive lens of peer review. According to directors, faculty members are more competent in teaching theological reflection than in teaching social science methods, despite the expectation that such methods are part of D.Min. education. The article discusses implications of the data for improving faculty performance, and suggests how the concept of critical friendship might assist those who teach in religious studies to give and receive criticism from peers. The article concludes with suggestions for further research in D.Min. education.

Using an autobiographical approach for pedagogical reflection, the author raises questions about how to include "hospitable kinship" and "gift exchange" in teaching and learning. Her experience with a Zimbabwean community circle of hospitable kinship has prompted her to consider how this method of community formation might be employed in classroom situations. Definitions for hospitable kinship and gift exchange are woven throughout the narrative. Attention to the role of the teacher as host is provided as well. The essay prompts readers to turn their attention toward specific strategies that will aid in the formation of classroom community.

This paper explores the use of the educational pilgrimage as an active learning strategy in the introductory world religions course. As we study pilgrimages from different religious traditions throughout the semester using Victor Turner as our theoretical guide, students also plan their own campus pilgrimage, paying homage to sites that help them reach their educational goals. Using student comments and my own observations, I highlight the ways in which the educational pilgrimage both affirms and raises critical questions about Turner's theory of pilgrimage. In this way, the educational pilgrimage is an opportunity for students to enhance and clarify their understanding of theory through practice.

This paper explores the use of Peter Berger's theory of religion and its features of alienation and dealienation to lead students to the critical awareness of the role that human beings play in the construction of social worlds, including most especially our religious worlds. After summarizing Berger's theory of the alienating and potentially dealienating capacity of religion, the paper describes how the author used the study of certain biblical texts, the Wisdom of Solomon and the pericope of the controversy over clean and unclean foods, as presented in both Matthew and Mark, to explore both the alienating and dealienating aspects of religion as presented in these selected biblical texts. The paper also describes how the author encouraged students to embrace as the most responsible stance a dealienating stance toward religion, especially one's own.

Southern fiction writer Flannery O'Connor once characterized the South as Christ-haunted, and having taught in the South for eight years now, I have come to appreciate O'Connor's evaluation. Most of the students I encounter understand one predominant way to practice Christian faith: assent to propositional theology. Most of them either accept this view uncritically or reject Christian thought completely, seeing it as stifling. My goal is to introduce the diversity of Christian thought in a non-threatening way. Knowing story's potential to draw people into community as well as to transform consciousness, I believe story offers a less threatening way to invite students to explore diversity. This paper describes a course titled "Christian Thought and Contemporary Short Fiction," a course I developed to try to introduce students to a variety of ways to understand Christian thought and practice Christian faith. The paper describes development and facilitation of the course, including student responses to the course content and evaluation of the course.