Teaching Pilgrims to Walk

The creation and implementation of a Christian theological seminary course, “The Education of Christian Pilgrims,” in which the purpose was to prepare students to teach members of a church to be and become a consciously “pilgrim Church.” This article describes the genesis of the course, creating a syllabus, the actual pilgrimage undertaken by students and professor, and suggested modifications.     

The teacher's role in promoting collaborative dialogue in the classroom

Background Research on student‐led small‐group learning in schools going back nearly four decades has documented many types of student participation that promote learning. Less is known about how the teacher can foster effective groupwork behaviours. Aims This paper reviews research that explores the role of the teacher in promoting learning in small groups. The focus is on how students can learn from their peers during small‐group work, how teachers can prepare students for collaborative group work, and the role of teacher discourse and classroom norms in small‐group dialogue. Method Studies selected for review focused on student‐led small‐group contexts for learning in which students were expected to collaborate, reported data from systematic observations of group work, and linked observational data to teacher practices and student learning outcomes. Results and conclusions This review uncovered multiple dimensions of the teacher's role in fostering beneficial group dialogue, including preparing students for collaborative work, forming groups, structuring the group‐work task, and influencing student interaction through teachers' discourse with small groups and with the class. Common threads through the research are the importance of students explaining their thinking, and teacher strategies and practices that may promote student elaboration of ideas.     

Teaching as Confessing Redeeming a Theological Trope for Pedagogy

By reclaiming the role of confession in the classroom, we can rethink the fundamental question of what it means to teach religion. That is, the project of thinking about the religious dimension of pedagogy should also force us to rethink religious studies in general. Pedagogy, after all, is not an incidental expression of religious commitments but is instead one significant place where the religious imagination takes shape and form. All religious reflection is confessional, because scholarship is only one form of pedagogy, and teaching is the act of saying who we are, where we are from, and where we are going.     

Transferability of a role-oriented interest Inventory from men to women in church-related occupations

This study considers the feasibility of using the Inventory of Religious Activities of Interests and the extensive data for men associated therewith in the counseling of women who may be interested in entering occupations related to the Protestant Church. Mean scores on the ten scales of the Inventory for men and women in nine categories of church-related occupations and for the total sex groups were compared in respect to similarity of shape of mean score profile and in respect to the level of mean scores. In addition, the ability of the Inventory to differentiate among groups (11 for women; 10 for men) for the sexes separately was considered. The results suggest that while men and women as total groups appear to differ in their interests as measured by the IRAI, the data for men and women in the respective specialties are sufficiently similar in respect to profile shape and mean score level to justify the use of the Inventory and the normative data for men in the counseling of women. The results suggest the Inventory differentiates among subgroups of men more effectively than it does among subgroups of women. But there are data to suggest that this difference may be more apparent than real.     

A new history of Hartley's Observations on Man

In 1749 David Hartley published his Observations, a work of great historical significance, yet the history of the Observations has been frequently debated. Establishing an accurate history of the Observations is, therefore, warranted. This has been undertaken here by reexamining known source materials, as well as additional primary documents not previously applied to Hartley studies. Significant historical information has been gleaned from transcribing the Hartley-Lister shorthand correspondence. The synthesis of material from these sources has led to a new history of the stages of conceptual development, composition, and publication of Hartley's Observations that differs substantially from previous accounts.     

Effects of a limited nap on night sleep in older subjects

The night sleep of sixteen 50-60-year-old women, which had been preceded by either afternoon naps or no-nap control periods, was assessed by polygraphic and subjective measures. There were 2 nap and 2 non-nap nights. The naps were limited to a 1-hr opportunity. The measures of all subjects, good nappers (more than 20-min sleep on both nap occasions), and subjects with 50-min or more nap time, were separately analyzed. The null hypothesis of a nap effect could not be rejected. Within limits, naps may be recommended to offset the common night-time awakenings in older persons.