Religious Education

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This paper asserts that training Christian leaders for faithful and effective leadership in religious communities, which is responsive to the reality of the diverse religious experiences of this country, requires that they learn the skills of integration, specifically the ability to integrate formation into a community within the context of a multicultural, multifaith world. The process of pastoral theological reflection, a process that seeks to methodically put into conversation the student's experience, social context, and religious tradition, holds promise in a Christian context as a way to accomplish such integration. After discussing the process of pastoral theological reflection, the paper examines a seminary ministerial formation curriculum, based on this integrative process, to discern how it might better engage multifaith realities in its formation of leaders for Christian communities.

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Christian educators make use of the various approaches to experiential learning in their classrooms, in their institutions as a whole, and in their field-based assignments for students. This article introduces the reader to the foundational issues of experiential learning, including definitions, theoretical roots, experiential learning models, and unique processes related to experiential learning.

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Podcast Series. This Faith & Leadership podcast asks a fresh set of questions about leadership and the future of the church. The Rev. Bill Lamar and the Rev. Laura Everett talk with people of faith inside and outside the church -- conversations that breathe life into leaders struggling in their own valley of dry bones.

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This guide will help you design your course in the Children and Family Ministry and the Youth and Student Ministry M.Div. concentrations at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. Using two proven educational frameworks for course design you will be able to create a powerful course that will facilitate a meaningful learning experience for your students, and a rewarding teaching adventure for you.

Using the frameworks of Understanding by Design (Wiggins and McTighe) and the learning principles of that classic educational theory of Constructivism you will be able to design a course that:
Is student-centered
Applies theory to practice
Is experiental
Leads toward self-understanding
Is congregationally focused
(From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Introduction

ch. 1 Constructivist Teaching and Learning
ch. 2 Teaching for Understanding
ch. 3 Designing Your Course for Understanding
ch. 4 Using Learning Objectives
ch. 5 Organizing Your Course
ch. 6 Assessing Learning

Appendicies
Sample Course Syllabus
Sample Discussion Board Assessment Rubric
Teaching On-Line: Principles and Practices
Faculty and Instructor: Responsibilities for On-line Teaching

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Abstract: Believers and teachers of faith regularly know the in-breaking of God's Spirit in their midst, when revelatory experiencing unexpectedly shifts habits of thinking, feeling, and doing toward more life-giving ways of being and becoming. When the moment is right, Spirit breathes new life into dry bones. Though religious educators have much practical wisdom about facilitating learning that is creative and transformative, sharper concepts, cases, and theory can help them do it more critically and assist learners to practice openness to wonder, surprise, and authenticity. The Grace of Playing explains how we can create the conditions for revelatory experiencing by understanding it in light of playing. The notion of playing "as if" can be powerfully reclaimed from ecclesial ambivalence, casual speech, and commercial interests that often lead playing to be associated with childishness, frivolity, or entertainment. This book theorizes adults playing for the sake of faith, drawing on D. W. Winnicott's psychoanalytic theory, a revision of Jurgen Moltmann's theology of play, biblical texts, medieval devotional practices, as well as art and aesthetics that help local faith communities engage in theological reflection. Communal forms of playing in/at God's new creation provide insights into pedagogies in which learners are creating and are created anew. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Series Foreword (Dean Blevins)
Editors’ Preface (Jack L. Seymour and Elizabeth Caldwell)
Author’s Preface

ch. 1 Introduction
From Revelation to Revelatory Experiencing
The Need for the Language of Playing
Seeking the Grace of Playing

ch. 2 Playing Social Scientifically: The Meanings of Playing
A Characterization of Playing
Many Approaches to Playing and Learning
Creativity and Playing as Form of Engagement
How Christians Play

ch. 3 Playing Theologically: Learning into God’s New Creation
Moltmann Misunderstood
Assessing and Deconstructing Moltmann’s Theology of Play
Moltmann Revised: Spirit and Playing for Love’s Sake
Hide-and-Seek with the Holy Spirit
Christians Playing to Seek, Find, and Be Found

ch. 4 Playing Historically: Medieval Practices
Playing with Devotional Dolls
Playing by Pretense: Holy Fools
A Psychoanalytic Perspective
A Theological Perspective
Insights from Historic Cases of Revelatory Experiencing

ch. 5 Playing Aesthetically: Rethinking Our Grounds for Playing
Creating a Pretend Garden at a Japanese American Church
A Psychoanalytic Perspective
A Theological Perspective
A Historical Perspective
Insights from an Aesthetic Case of Revelatory Experiencing
Re-tilling Grounds for Playing
Playing with Renditions
Developing Local Practical Theological Aesthetics
Doing Theology by Playing Aesthetically

ch. 6 Towards a New Creation
Playing in a Detention Center
Analysis from Four Perspectives on Playing
Using the Tools, Finding Inspiration for Teaching
Forming Learners for Decentering and Re-centering
The Grace of Playing in Worlds in Need
A Commitment to Playing for Love’s Sake

Bibliography

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One page Teaching Tactic: using a series of case studies through the semester in a Christian Education classroom.

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One page Teaching Tactic: discussion of art objects in a one week intensive course.

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Qualitative Research in Theological Education brings together a diverse group of scholars to consider the theological values arising from and contributing to their use of qualitative research in scholarship and teaching.

The book offers a careful consideration of the pedagogical and administrative challenges involved in teaching qualitative research and its various sub-disciplines such as ethnography.

As a whole, the book argues that the teaching of QR methods is critical to the theological, ethical, spiritual, and/or pastoral formation of ministers and theological scholars. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Acknowledgements

Notes on Contributors

Introduction Mary Clark Moschella

Part 1 Exemplary Research Essays

Ch 1. Theology as Playbook and Gamefilm: Explaining an Ethnographic Approach to Theology to a Sports-Centred Culture (Todd David Whitmore)
Ch 2. Qualitative Methodology and Critical Pedagogy: A Study of the Lived Experiences of Thai Peasants within the Context of Western Development Ideology (Siroj Sorajjakool and Apipa Prachyapruit)

Part 2 Issues in Education and the Practice of Research

Ch 3. Promoting the Good: Ethical and Methodological Considerations in Practical Theological Research (Elaine Graham and Dawn Llewellyn)
Ch 4. Between Yes and No: The Inner Journey of Qualitative Research (David M. Csinos)
Ch 5. The Askesis of Fieldwork: Practices for a Way of Inquiry, a Way of Life (Todd David Whitmore)
Ch 6. Just Don’t Call It ‘Ethnography’: A Critical Ethnographic Pedagogy for Transformative Theological Education (Natalie Wigg-Stevenson)
Ch 7. Teaching and Researching Practical Theology: A Liberative Participative Approach to Pedagogy and Qualitative Research (Anthony G. Reddie)
Ch 8. I Am Not a Sociologist: Reflections on Sociological Research in Theology (Brett C. Hoover )
Ch 9. Teaching Spirituality with Qualitative Research Methods (Boyung Lee)
Ch 10. The Researcher as Gamemaker: Teaching Normative Dimensions in Various Phases of Empirical Practical Theological Research (Tone Stangeland Kaufman) Ch 11. Qualitative Research at Emory: Ethnographic Insights and Notes from the Field (Nichole Renée Phillips) Ch 12. Qualitative Research: The Invaluable Tool in Pastoral Ministry (Bernardine Ketelaars)

Part 3 Integrating Qualitative Research into Theological Education

Ch 13. Qualitative Research in Theological Curricula (David M. Mellott )
Ch 14. Wonder and the Divine Dance: The Lived Reality of Qualitative Research within a Master of Divinity Curriculum (Joseph (Jody) H. Clarke)

Part 4 Valediction
Ch 15. The Gift and Challenge of Qualitative Methods for Pastoral Formation (Susan Willhauck)

Select Bibliography
Index of Names and Subjects

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Craig Dykstra worked with Rev. Dr. Dorothy Bass to write Practicing Our Faith -- another classic book high on the recommended reading list. Growing in the Life of Faith explores the areas of ministry and Christian education with flair, sensitivity, and an imaginative compassion that is sure to touch and inspire readers, ministers, and educators. Dykstra's compassionate stance and creative and subtle nuances, respectful of varying points of view without denigrating any and beign supportive of general enlightened approaches parallels his work in the Lilly Foundation. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Foreword to the second edition
Introduction : mystery and manners

ch. 1 The hunger for daily bread
ch. 2 The faithful life
ch. 3 Growing in faith
ch. 4 The power of Christian practices
ch. 5 Education in Christian practices
ch. 6 The formative power of the congregation
ch. 7 Family promises
ch. 8 Youth and the language of faith
ch. 9 Communities of conviction in religion and higher education
ch. 10 Love's knowledge and theological education
ch. 11 When the Bible happens
ch. 12 Learning to be sent
ch. 13 "My teacher, we made bread ..."

A guide for study and conversation

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Poetry is a bridge across diverse realities; it bridges the expressible and inexpressible, the present and the future. Poetry is also a powerful force in human life; it reveals, nourishes, binds, critiques, empowers, constructs, and confront. From such movement come visions for educational action, both actual and metaphoric. These include: dancing, meditating, singing, chanting, improvising, and drumming.

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Postcolonial biblical scholars use the hermeneutics of decolonization to reinterpret the biblical text. One goal is to find contemporary applications for an age-old message. This article explores the challenges and implications of postcolonial hermeneutics for biblical pedagogy. First, the author explores fundamental hermeneutical principles of postcolonial biblical criticism. Then she reviews its challenges for a liberative biblical pedagogy. Finally, the author applies these principles to a Bible study using the story of Hagar.

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A topic of frequent discussion in religious education circles is the relationship between theology and practice. How does Christian theology work itself out in the teaching ministries of the church? Noted Christian education thinker Robert Pazmiño contemplates this debate and offers a contemporary overview of the messages theology brings to Christian education.

Sensitive to today s expanding global culture, God Our Teacher reaffirms the essential role theology plays in developing educational practices and conventions, and carefully fleshes out what it means to use the Trinity as a model for ordering educational thought and practice. This book will be welcomed by all those involved in fostering the growth and development of Christian education. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Introduction

ch. 1. God For Us: The Trinity and Teaching
ch. 2. God Despite Us: Sin and Salvation
ch. 3. God With Us: Jesus, the Master Teacher
ch. 4. God In Us: The Holy Spirit and Teaching
ch. 5. God Through Us: The Church and Teaching
ch. 6. God Beyond Us: Our Future in Christian Education

Conclusion
Appendix Crossing Over to Postmodernity: Educational Invitations
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index

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The quality of religious education in schools is highly influenced by the quality of teacher practice. Especially in times of cultural change and pluralisation we need better knowledge about the actual practice in schools. The contributions of this volume present the results of a research project on religious education teachers in Europe set up by the ENRECA group during the last years.
But who is teacher and who is researcher? On the one hand, there are academics researching religious education in schools. On the other hand, there are teachers in religious education who reflect on their own teaching continuously. What kind of relationships do they have, yielding which kind of cooperation?
This project takes teachers in RE as objects and at the same time perceives practicing teachers as 'reflective practitioners'.
The contributions intend:
* to provide information about the multicultural and multi-religious background of RE teachers in different European countries,
* to develop new research methodologies fitting to the particular objective of teacher practice in various RE settings,
* to improve teacher education by way of fostering partnership between researcher and teacher,
* to contribute to refreshed European educational policies, matching religious and cultural diversity
(From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Introduction (Cok Bakker and Hans-Günter Heimbrock)

Part I: Research on Teacher Practice in the Classroom
ch. 1 Teachers-and Knowledge and Identity Technologies Around "Religion" Discursive and Other Social Practices in the Religious Education Classroom (Mette Buchardt)
ch. 2 Situated Practice Among Religious Education Teachers A Discussion of School Rituals, Cultural Contexts and Professional Ethics (Elisabet Haakedal)
ch. 3 The "Dialogical" Teacher: Should Teachers Express their Commitments in the Classroom? (Nigel Fancourt)
Part II Religious Education Teachers as Co-Researchers
ch. 4 Working with Religious Education Teachers as Co-Researchers (Erna Zonne)
ch. 5 Teachers as Researchers as a Necessary Part of a Competence-Oriented Model of Teacher Training in a Pluralistic and Multi-Religious Society (Astrid Dinter)
ch. 6 Participative Research in Religious Education An Argument for a Dialectical Understanding of Theory and Practice (Geir Afdal)
Part III Developments of Teacher Professionality in Religious Education
ch. 7 Freedom and Direction in Religious Education (Judith Everinghton)
ch. 8 Teaching About Religions in a Laïc Educational System (Mireile Estivalezes)
ch. 9 Religious Education in Public School "Lorraine and Alsace" (Claude Demissy)
ch. 10 Dimensions of School Identity Formation Research about and with Principals of Dutch Elementary Schools (Cok Bakker, Siebren miedema and Jacomijn Van Der Kooij)
ch. 11 Self-Taught Professionality Muslim Teachers Engaged in Teaching Islamic Issues Between Curriculum and Life World in German Public Schools (Hans-Günter Heimbrock)
Part IV Meaningful Differences
ch. 12 Contrasting Colours in Religious Education The Teacher Researcher Researching Human Solidarity (Ina ter Avest)
ch. 13 Values and Purposes: Teacher Perspectives on the "Building E-Bridges" Project for Inter Faith Dialogue Between Children Across the UK (Julia Ipgrave and Ursula McKenna)
ch. 14 Interreligious Styles of Communication in German Religious Education Teachers' Perspectives-a critical Counterpart to Theories in Religious Education? (Carsten Gennerich)

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Blends the best contemporary biblical scholarship, theology, and theories of education to give a coherent account of the nature, purpose, context, method, stages, and role of teachers in Christian education. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
The Nature of Christian Religious Education
Education in Time
A Coming to Terms

The Purpose of Christian Religious Education
Education for the Kingdom of God
For Christian Faith
For Human Freedom

The Context of Christian Religious Education
On Becoming Christian Together

An Approach To Christian Religious Education: Shared Praxis
In Search of a "Way of Knowing" for Christian Religious Education
Some Philosophical Roots for a Praxis Way of Knowing
Shared Christian Praxis
Shared Praxis in Praxis

Readiness For Christian Religious Education by Shared Praxis
Shared Praxis from a Piagetian Perspective

The Copartners in Christian Religious Education
Our Students, Our Selves
Postscript: Until Break of Day

Bibliography
Index

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One page Teaching Tactic: students work in groups to reflect on the learning goals of the course.

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Articulates a learning process to help Christians improve approaches to understanding other religious traditions. Understanding Other Religious Worlds is built on the difference between learning facts about other religions and understanding them and their followers in a wholistic manner. Berling argues that incorporating the religious “other” in one’s own Christian identity is integral to living an authentic Christian life. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Preface
Introduction

ch. 1 Christians and Religious Diversity
ch. 2 Thinking about Learning
ch. 3 Learning Religions
ch. 4 Theological Learning
ch. 5 Unraveling the Threads: The Process of Learning Another Religion
ch. 6 Classroom Learning: Improving Traditional Approaches
ch. 7 Beyond the Classroom: Learning Other Religions in the Churche

Appendix A: Selected Annotated Bibliography
Appendix B: Practical Guidelines for Parish Learning Experiences
Selected Bibliography
Index

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Hill indicates that the seeds for this writing project were first sown in the context of an ecumenical leadership event for church educators sponsored by the National Council of Churches, USA. The Black Church and the whole ecumenical community are now the beneficiaries of the fruit of his labors of love that began back then and even before. This compendium effectively weds the theologies and pedagogies that have served well faith formation in the African American church context, setting the framework for the teaching challenges which face the contemporary church. This work will serve as foundational for those whose passion, academic interest and calling are found in the educational ministry of the church. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Introduction

ch. 1 Understanding the Discipline
ch. 2 Reconnecting with Our History
ch. 3 Reading, Interpreting, and Teaching the Bible in the African American Church
ch. 4 Hearing and Understanding Contemporary African American Theological Voices
ch. 5 Understanding the Relationship between Theology and the Dynamics of Educating African American Christians
ch. 6 Black Technologies in Dialogue
ch. 7 Educating in the African American Church
ch. 8 Teaching Roles of African American Clergy
ch. 9 Reshaping the Future of African American Christian Religious Education

Notes
Bibliography

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This article examines sexuality, a null curriculum in Asian-American faith communities, and explores pedagogical strategies to move the sexuality discourse to the explicit curriculum. The article first describes the current discussion of sexuality in Asian-American communities, then it critically analyzes the Confucian notion of the body, which has far-reaching influence on Asian-American views about sexuality, including those of Christians. The article then focus on demystification of the body, arguing that demystification is fundamental to Asian-American discussions about sexuality. Finally, it suggests pedagogical strategies for the teaching of sexuality in Asian-American contexts.

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The long-awaited masterwork from the author of Christian Religious Education in which he applies the "shared praxis" approach to the whole of religious education and pastoral ministry. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Preface
Acknowledgments

Part 1 Foundations
Prologue
ch. 1 Educating for Conation in Christian Faith
ch. 2 Epistemology Re-visioned: In Search of Conation
ch. 3 The Dimensions and Dynamics of "Being" Engaged for Conation in Christian Faith

Part 2 An Approach: Shared Christian Praxis
ch. 4 An Overview of Shared Christian Praxis
ch. 5 The Focusing Activity in Shared Praxis
ch. 6 Movement 1: Naming/Expressing "Present Action"
ch. 7 Movement 2: Critical Reflection on Present Action
ch. 8 Movement 3: Making Accessible Christian Story and Vision
ch. 9 Movement 4: Dialectical Hermeneutics to Appropriate Story/Vision to Participants’ Stories and Visions

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With advances in information technology, the velocity of information production on the global level has expanded as well. This acceleration has led to the delegitimizing of knowledge, the equating of information with knowledge, and the giving of predominance to information rather than knowledge. This advance has created epistemological challenges for the process of religious education. At the same time, the growth of the internet has created a "rhizomatic space" possessing new methodological characteristics that create problems for religious education. Information technology generates a "hypertextual learning space," which weakens the place of traditional texts in the learning process, particularly in a traditional religious education process. This hypertextual development is especially problematic for religious education in conservative or fundamentalist traditions. This article analyzes the epistemological, methodological, and contextual problems and challenges posed by information technology for traditional religious education processes.

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What if what we know about our brains and the way humans think was applied to the way we nurture each other in faith? Would we do it differently? What if we let cognitive science inform our educational strategies and the ways we help each other form our spirits? What if we began to believe that brain research and scientific investigation could reveal something of our spiritual nature and destiny?" These questions are at the heart of Jerry Larsen's fascinating and sure-to-be-talked-about book. Writing in a clear, accessible style, Larsen offers a model and methods for joining the discoveries of brain science with the work of religious education. He touches on the discoveries about the left and right brain thinking styles, multiple intelligence, memory mechanisms, meaning-making strategies and on the nature of consciousness. And he reflects on the belief that we can do religious education better if we take cues from what we know about the God-given network between our ears. This book is unique. There are no other books on the market on the subject of religious education and the brain. Enhanced with practical charts and illustrations, and with great ecumenical appeal, it will make useful reading for religious educators, religious professionals, and teachers. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Introduction

ch. 1 The Lessons of the Brain
ch. 2 The Meaning Factory
ch. 3 The Role of the Religious Educator/Factory Consultant
ch. 4 Religious Education as Model Building
ch. 5 Perception: Doors to the Factory
ch. 6 A Pedagogy of Perception
ch. 7 Metaphor and Understanding
ch. 8 I Remember
ch. 9 Driving Memory into Being
ch. 10 The Sevenfold Path to Religious Intelligence
ch. 11 Pilgrim Mind
ch. 12 The Emergence of Consciousness

Epilogue

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In this profound and provocative book, acclaimed authors Maria Harris and Gabriel Moran challenge the religious education community to risk change. Writing in the form of a give-and-take conversation, a conversation that includes Jewish educator Sherry Blumberg and European educator Friedrich Schweitzer: the authors incorporate ecumenical and international perspectives into their analysis of the state of contemporary religious education - and its future. (From the Publisher)

Table Of Content:
Introduction: Over the Years

Pt. 1 Foundations
ch. 1 The Curriculum of Education
ch. 2 The Aims of Religious Education
ch. 3 Teaching the Way

Pt. 2 Development
ch. 4 The Roots of Modern Development
ch. 5 Development and Gender
ch. 6 Development and Death

Pt. 3 Spirituality
ch. 7 Spirituality and its Roots
ch. 8 Doing Justice
ch. 9 Proclaiming Jubilee

Pt. 4 Toward a Wider World
ch. 10 What Christians Can Learn from Jews
ch. 11 International Conversation
ch. 12 The Years Ahead

Notes
Index

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MODELS OF ADULT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PRACTICE offers a foundational rationale plus a wide inventory of workable teaching procedures for vitalizing the religious education of adults. No other major book on adult religious education offers as wide a range of concrete teaching procedures as does this volume. The distinctiveness of this book lies in its holism. It provides concrete practical models for teaching cognitive, affective, and lifestyle outcomes to all kinds of adult learners in all kinds of settings. This volume has been widely praised by major authorities in adult education and religious education, including Allen Tough, Nancy Foltz, Ron Habermas, and Kenneth Gangel. (From the Publisher)