Conversational Learning: A Feminist Pedagogy for Teaching Preaching

An increasing number of female students populate preaching classes in seminaries and theological schools across the United States. Based on the analysis of female students' needs and demands in preaching courses, I propose a pedagogy for conversational learning to teach homiletics. My own teaching experience and the knowledge gained through conversations with other feminist educators and homileticians are major resources upon which the principles and strategies of conversational learning are drawn. The ultimate goal for conversational learning is to enable “transformative learning” through which students transform their sense of identity, worldviews, values, ways of thinking, and enhance their unique voices in the pulpit. For this purpose, conversational learning employs student‐centered, group‐oriented, and inductive approaches in an egalitarian learning environment. Conversational learning is an on‐going process of learning preaching in a collaborative way.     

How programs in prisons are challenging the who,where, how,and what of theological education

This paper claims that programs in prisons are challenging the very who, where, how, and what of theological education. The author draws on research from the fields of pedagogy and prison studies, nearly a decade of experience teaching master's level seminary‐style classes in prison , and the findings of a two‐year cohort of prison educators convened by the Association of Theological Schools for their Educational Models and Practices Project. Addressing displacement as a learning strategy, classroom diversity, the use of student experience, narrative grading strategies, and classroom ritual, the author shows how the teaching strategies emerging from prison classrooms provide vibrant models for the theological academy at large.     

Pedagogies of Interpretation in Educating Clergy

Abstract. In this essay the authors describe how four seminary educators pedagogically engage students in practices of interpretation and explore how the variations in their teaching practices shape the critical thinking they seek to cultivate in their students. The piece is excerpted from an ethnographic study of Jewish and Christian seminary educator teaching practices sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (Educating Clergy: Teaching Practices and Pastoral Imagination, Jossey‐Bass Publishers, November 2005). The study explores how the classroom‐ and community‐based teaching practices of seminary educators prepare students to integrate professional knowledge and skill with moral integrity and religious commitment in professional practice. In addition to the pedagogies of interpretation explicated here, we observed pedagogies that engage students in practices of formation, contextualization, and performance. Attention is also given in the study to the influence of pedagogies embedded in the traditions of seminary education on student learning and to the cultivation of spiritual and professional practices beyond the classroom in community worship and through strategies of field education and small groups.     

Enabling diverse learners to thrive in the online homiletics classroom

Many early efforts at teaching preaching online incurred disastrous losses in quality. Revamped versions now claim to meet, and in some areas even exceed, classroom learning effectiveness, with potentially significant gains for students from non‐dominant cultures. Students preach in local ethnic and denominational contexts, so a wider range of sermon styles can flourish in indigenous soil. Students hear immediate feedback from their community, and from their online peers and professor. Online discussion formats level the playing field for non‐native speakers. By remaining embedded in their denominational and ethnic environments, student's cultural differences may be simultaneously affirmed and critiqued. This article describes capacities which predict success among preaching students, and how culture may influence the manifestation of these capacities. It details best practices and continuing challenges for professors making the transition to online preaching courses, as they seek to build culturally sustaining learning environments in which diverse students may flourish.     

Peer teaching: Students teaching students to increase academic performance

Peer teaching among students has a powerful role in the learning process and has been studied and recognized as an effective teaching method. Research on peer teaching applied in different contexts has shown that learning through the process of teaching others increases students' academic performance. In Indonesia, some research on peer teaching has been conducted, but there has been no research on peer teaching in the context of theological studies. Hence, this empirical study aims to verify whether peer teaching is effective when applied in a theological school setting. In this study, students of a homiletics course were the research sample. Results show that peer teaching had a positive effect on students' academic performance. However, further research is recommended on the application of peer teaching in other subject areas to confirm the effectiveness of peer teaching in a theological school context.     

The Classroom as a Place of Formation: Purposefully Creating a Transformative Environment for Today's Diverse Seminary Population

Abstract. 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 < http://www.lexingtonseminar.org/ >.     

Generative Neo‐Cyberculture in the Modern Seminary

Four faculty discuss how their institution's launching of a program to implement instructional technology across the campus influenced their teaching and broadened their understanding of student learning. Examples of their first attempts at online projects for classes in homiletics and ecclesiology are described.     

Forum: Quilting as metaphor for theological education

How is quilt‐making both metaphor and pedagogy for early‐career faculty of theology and religion who seek to cultivate critical and creative imagination for teaching, and to probe the challenges and promises of complex identities and vocations within 21st‐century landscapes of theological education? This forum presents essays (with explanatory introduction) by five members of the 2016–2017 Workshop for Early Career Theological School Faculty, who were impelled to story their experience of being “handed over to themselves” by an “arts and craft” project which forced them to think with their hands, speak with found objects, and re‐present themselves in the form of 12 × 12‐inch quilt squares. In self‐reflexive prose, these scholar‐teachers offer through this medium a glimpse of their unexpected moments of revelatory learning, as each was pulled into deeper contemplation of their personhood, experience, know‐how, and practical wisdom, each uncovering valuable hidden sources for more expansive theological query, and each re‐thinking the possibilities for theological education and its pedagogies.     

Why you do what you do: The power in knowing and naming pedagogies

This article is for those educators who want to become more intentional in their craft of teaching. The authors introduce eight different pedagogies through their historical lineage, intending for readers to gain an appreciation for, and understanding of, the broader trajectory of educational philosophies, and illustrate how common teaching techniques can be shaped by the pedagogies. By familiarizing themselves with a specific educational philosophy or philosophies, educators begin to identify and name the ways they teach, how students best learn, what counts as knowledge, and the desired outcomes. In doing so, educators increase their opportunities to provide more meaningful and impactful education. This article also includes quick‐reference guides to the pedagogies for readers to return to frequently.     

Homiletics and Liturgics on the Internet

SUMMARY

Electronic processing of information is radically transforming the way we do scholarly study, and the sibling fields of homiletics (the study of preaching) and liturgies (the study of worship) provide no exception to this axiom. This article will explore the many ways in which the Internet has changed (mostly for good) this territory that is in many ways very important to the training and practice of the clergy.     

The Idea of Practice and Why It Matters in the Teaching of Preaching

Abstract. The concept of practice helps us better understand how preaching works, as well as how we can teach that practice more effectively. This essay develops a compact but wide‐ranging view of practices, reflecting the current scholarly discussion. It also argues that preaching is a particular instance of this larger concept of practices. Understanding preaching as a practice gives new perspectives on what preaching is and allows us to consider how to employ broadly recognized standards of excellence to evaluate particular instances of students’ preaching. Further, this essay explores how the teaching of preaching is a practice in its own right. The value of this insight is that it allows us then to explore how the character of the teaching and the character of what is taught can be consonant with one another, and in ways that can guide. This essay is from “Teaching Preaching as a Christian Practice,” edited by Thomas G. Long and Nora Tisdale. Used by permission of Westminster John Knox Press.     

Evaluating change in attitude towards mathematics using the ‘then‐now’ procedure in a cooperative learning programme

Background: Tertiary students' attitudes to mathematics are frequently negative and resistant to change, reflecting low self‐efficacy. Some educators believe that greater use should be made of small group, collaborative teaching. However, the results of such interventions should be subject to assessments of bias caused by a shift in the frame of reference used by students in reporting their attitudes. Aims: This study was designed to assess whether traditional pretest‐post‐test procedures would indicate positive changes in mathematics attitude during a programme of cooperative learning, and whether an examination of any attitudinal change using the ‘then‐now’ procedure would indicate bias in the results due to a shift in the internal standards for expressing attitude. Sample: Participants were 141 undergraduate students enrolled in a 12‐week statistics and research design component of a course in educational psychology. Method: Using multivariate procedures, pretest, post‐test, and then‐test measures of mathematics self‐concept and anxiety were examined in conjunction with a cooperative learning approach to teaching. Results: Significant positive changes between pretest and post‐test were found for both mathematics self‐concept and mathematics anxiety. There were no significant differences between the actual pretest and retrospective pretest measures of attitude. The results were not moderated by prior level of mathematics study. Conclusion: Conclusions about the apparent effectiveness of a cooperative learning programme were strengthened by the use of the retrospective pretest procedure.     

Executive functions predict conceptual learning of science

We examined the relationship between executive functions and both factual and conceptual learning of science, specifically chemistry, in early adolescence. Sixty‐three pupils in their second year of secondary school (aged 12–13 years) participated. Pupils completed tasks of working memory (Spatial Working Memory), inhibition (Stop‐Signal), attention set‐shifting (ID/ED), and planning (Stockings of Cambridge), from the CANTAB. They also participated in a chemistry teaching session, practical, and assessment on the topic of acids and alkalis designed specifically for this study. Executive function data were related to (1) the chemistry assessment which included aspects of factual and conceptual learning and (2) a recent school science exam. Correlational analyses between executive functions and both the chemistry assessment and science grades revealed that science achievements were significantly correlated with working memory. Linear regression analysis revealed that visuospatial working memory ability was predictive of chemistry performance. Interestingly, this relationship was observed solely in relation to the conceptual learning condition of the assessment highlighting the role of executive functions in understanding and applying knowledge about what is learned within science teaching.     

Race,Ethnicity, and the Bible: Pedagogical Challenges and Curricular Opportunities

Theological educators are now fostering dialogues, projects, and practices that are designed to acknowledge the challenges and opportunities resulting from the shifting racial and ethnic demographic climate in the U.S. and Canada. As well‐intentioned as these efforts are, most of the scholarship focuses on the contemporary experiences of underrepresented minorities, current institutional concerns, or practical classroom scenarios, leaving Scripture courses, which have long been the backbone of theological education, beyond the scope of critical engagement. In this article I argue that the existing scholarship on teaching and learning in general, and among biblical scholars in particular, does not adequately address the specific challenges that arise when questions about race and ethnicity are exposed in Scripture courses. Therefore, based on my own classroom experiences, I develop a pedagogy of (Emb)Racing the Bible that seeks to bridge the gap between theoretical readings and practical applications of ancient and contemporary discourses about race and ethnicity.     

Teaching Religion in Its Contemporary Contexts: A Case Study

Abstract. After the disheartening results of an informal investigation of content knowledge and reading comprehension among her students, the author ponders the implications for her teaching objectives. What are we, as educators in religious studies, really teaching and how are we doing it? How are we accommodating students with less traditionally honed academic skills without diminishing content? She describes her experiments with several new teaching strategies for enhancing student learning by helping them improve basic skills, develop cultural literacy, and relate course content to their personal experience.     

The Syllabus as Passport into a Common Culture of Teaching and Learning: Developing and Assessing Strategies for Dealing with Diversity

Abstract. Finding themselves teaching to increasingly diverse student populations, two mid‐career faculty from different disciplines embarked on a common voyage to make their foundational courses more sensitive to student learning styles. Adrift in the seas of multiple intelligences and multiculturalism, the researchers quickly abandoned any hope of developing distinctive teaching portfolios for individual learning profiles. Instead, they structured the syllabus to be the passport into a common culture of teaching and learning in the classroom. Syllabus design and on‐going “spot” assessments proved trusty guides in re‐centering learning on the students' needs. In the process of outlining these two strategies for creating a common culture of teaching and learning, the article offers testimony that old dogs can learn new tricks! Additional materials, including syllabi used in these courses and in class assessment tools, can be found on the Web page of the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion: http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/journal/green&stortz.html     

Contingent with quality or quality contingent?

The world of the modern academy relies heavily upon contingent faculty in the teaching and training of students. Theological studies readily evidences this practice in innumerable ways. While the contingent faculty member is intrinsic to the mission of many modern schools, this piece ponders whether or not a trade‐off exists in the quality of learning contingent faculty can offer in comparison to residential or tenure track faculty members? The piece explores the constraints that many contingent faculty face in the world of theological education and asks the academy at large if such limits are something it really feels comfortable with. Ultimately, the piece voices a view that the modern academy must come to grips with its utilization of contingent faculty both for the sake of those faculty members, but more‐so for the sake of its students. See companion essays published in this issue of the journal by Hoon J. Lee, Bradley Burroughs, Kyle Schenkewitz, and Charles Harrell.     

Secrets to Creating Effective and Interesting Educational Experiences: Tips and Suggestions for Clinical Educators

Genetic Counselors (GCs) spend years learning about genetics and practicing counseling techniques in classroom environments. From the learner perspective, teaching may seem straightforward: provide appropriate information, develop tests or assignments and submit grades. When asked to teach for the first time, however, clinicians suddenly realize that there is a lot more to education than standing in front of a class and talking. This article introduces clinical educators to strategies and learning principles that help make the teaching/learning process more interesting and successful for faculty and students alike. The instructional concepts presented here are useful across the entire spectrum of learning situations; a 1 hour discussion with a lay audience, a 3 hour workshop at a professional meeting, a 15 week graduate course, or a series of courses culminating in an advanced degree. The article offers suggestions for writing course competencies, selecting instructional approaches, embedding learning engagement options, leveling course content and choosing evaluation strategies.     

Art educators report grades at which they teach 11 drawing concepts

The purpose of this study was to solicit information about the applicability of 11 basic perceptual concepts for instruction in drawing to students in Kindergarten through Grade 12. The study is based on responses to a national survey of 750 art educators, 250 in elementary, 250 in middle, and 250 in high school teaching assignments. Among these, 87% were female, 8% were 20 to 29 years old, 15% were 30 to 39 years, 48% were 40 to 49 years, 27% were 50 to 59 years, and 2% were 60 years or older. As few as 35.5% to as many as 48.7% (per concept) of the art educators reported that they teach each of the 11 concepts in elementary grades. Also, from 33.3% to 38.4% (per concept) of these teachers indicated that they stop teaching the 11 target concepts to students in high school. Empirical evidence from psychologists suggested that children gain comprehension of the concepts at differing points in their development. Were art educators employing the information identified by psychological research, their reports might have presented clear distinctions between grades at which each of the 11 concepts are taught. The results are interpreted in light of five possible explanations.