Resources

This essay draws on insights from studies on learning to explore the role of formation in the classroom. Studies of intellectual development, learning styles, and the physiology of learning are reviewed. Methodologies and models for encouraging formative learning in seminary classrooms are explored. This essay was written to address one of the issues that have focused the attention of the participants in the Lexington Seminar on Theological Teaching for the Church's Ministries, a project sponsored by Lexington Theological Seminary and supported by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. It will be included in Practical Wisdom: On Theological Teaching and Learning, edited by Malcolm L. Warford, a collection of essays intended to (1) affirm the teaching ministry of theological educators, (2) raise up and discern the diverse ways in which issues of teaching and learning present themselves in institutional contexts, (3) evoke new perspectives on the challenges facing individual schools, and (4) encourage faculty to make conversations about teaching and learning a crucial part of faculty life. Peter Lang Publishing will release the book in fall 2004. Additional information about the work of the Lexington Seminar is available on the Lexington Seminar's Web site .

This study ventures to sketch the dimensions of stress in religious thinking among young Muslims studying theology in Turkish universities and the ways in which these tensions are handled in educational institutions. As a result of a review of related literature, together with the use of a questionnaire with 382 respondents and interviews with 15 participants, the extent of experienced intense religious stress, the source, the content, the ways of resolution, the duration, and the period of religious stress were identified. Finally, the cognitive, educational, theological, and socio-cultural challenges to which young Muslims were exposed were delineated and possible ways to overcome these problems were outlined, with some suggestions for educational settings.

Participants in a Wabash Center consultation on vocation discussed the variety of expectations, opportunities, and challenges that create contexts for teaching as they move through careers. These essays emerge from the experiences and reflections of four participants about different stages of careers in diverse contexts. Tom Massaro writes from the perspective of one who recently navigated the challenges leading up to the tenure review in a Jesuit theological school and notes common patterns amidst the diversity of challenges. Phyllis Airhart ponders vocational fidelity in the transitions to new roles and responsibilities at mid-career in a Canadian university. Barbara Brown Zikmund deals with what she calls the 'mature years' and traces a major shift in her career from administration in an American school to teaching in Japan. Raymond Williams reflects on vocation during the process of preparing for retirement from teaching in a liberal arts college, attempting to respond faithfully to the inevitable question, 'What are you going to do when you retire?' Vocation is a thread that runs through each essay as reflection on the integrity and continuity of careers. The authors raise issues and make suggestions that may help others reflect on their vocation as teacher.

Mentoring new faculty into vocations of teaching falls squarely on the shoulders of those entrusted with setting the course for the next generation of faculty. Often the role of new teacher development is assigned to senior faculty. In this essay the author provides an autobiographical account of experiences both as a mentor and as one who had been mentored. Carefully weaving threads of experience with pedagogical insight, the author crafts a tapestry that accentuates how mentors can play important roles in the maturation of newer faculty by attention to research and publication, teaching, and service. A list of recommendations pertaining to the beneficial aspects of mentoring for faculty and schools is provided.

Digital technology offers a host of opportunities and challenges for theological education. In this essay the author considers possible futures for theological education through creative uses of technology. The first half of the essay identifies five areas in which theological educators have had to gain technology skills in the last several years: 1. Individual facility with a personal computer; 2. Functioning capably in a connected world; 3. Information literacy for research and ministry; 4. Technology for face-to-face instruction; and 5. Technology for asynchronous teaching and learning. The second half of the essay identifies the forces that will likely drive technology learning for theological educators in the coming few years: 1. The pressure to meet student expectations; 2. The pressure to enrich the classroom experience by engaging the visual learner; 3. The pressure to enhance the traditional course through richer pedagogical strategies available with technology; and 4. The pressure to offer distance programs.

How can poetry be a resource for effective teaching of congregational life and leadership? Drawing on poetry from an array of sources, the author weaves a narrative to discuss specific strategies employed for using poetry in the classroom. Recognizing the capacity of poems to awaken latent imaginations and evoke new insights about church leadership among his students, the author provides details about particular methods that can serve as alternative approaches for learning about a subject.

This collection of essays tackles thorny questions related to critical incidents in teaching. By using different pedagogical methods and techniques, each author provokes creative thinking about how to address specific concerns common to teaching. The authors demonstrate that the teaching and learning process must make room for – if not celebrate – the surprises that happen not only to the students, but to the teachers as well. The discussion of critical incidents helps to promote reflection on teaching practice and prompt insights into the intricate dynamics shaping the increasingly diverse learning community. Each individual essay is accompanied by reflection questions that can be used to spark conversation among colleagues and/or prompt further personal reflection on teaching and learning.

While teaching workshops like those offered by the Wabash Center provide a unique opportunity for scholars to reflect on their teaching, three elements important to the workshops' success can be effective in institutional settings as well. Certain characteristics of community, conversation stimulated by differences, and appropriate attention to self-care help create an environment supportive of faculty development throughout a scholar's career.

A scholar's calling at mid-career is latticed with challenges and changing responsibilities. In this essay the author considers faculty role changes during the mid-career phase of life as a teacher. The essay first addresses issues related to the responsibility of mid-career faculty to mentor the next generation of scholars/teachers. Keenly aware of stresses under which pre-tenure faculty labor the author highlights proven strategies and insights for successful mentoring. The last half of the essay offers reflections on life as a scholar, colleague and teacher at mid-career. With transparent honesty the author scrawls contours of experience, motivations, and challenges for mid-career faculty and sketches specific strategies for maneuvering through this phase of one's career.

Issues of racial and cultural diversity and racism pose particular challenges for effective teaching and learning in diverse theological classrooms. In this essay the author outlines specific strategies to confront racism and engage racially and culturally diverse students. Through the use of a model for understanding multicultural dynamics of teaching and learning, the author helps readers consider four epistemological categories: knowing our students, knowing ourselves as instructors, knowing how we teach, and knowing what we teach.