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4:2 Finding the gods in Public School: A Christian Deconstruction of Character |
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Written by Perry L. Glanzer
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MORAL EDUCATION IN American public schools is inextricably intertwined with and influenced by various religious and secular narratives. Character education is a prime example. Although it attempts to find some shared virtues within a pluralistic society, a historical overview and a Christian deconstruction of the movement reveals the illusionary nature of this agreement. In reality, character education often smuggles particular narratives into public schools that are antagonistic to other religious or secular narratives. Recognition of this fact should lead educators to make serious adjustments in moral education within public schooling and the structure of public schooling. |
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4:2 Divorce and Pupil Attitude toward Christianity and Islam |
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Written by William K. Kay and D. Linnet Smith
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POSITIVE ATTITUDES ARE an important prerequisite for learning. Where pupils identify either with Christianity or Islam, parental divorce has a significant impact on attitudes toward these faiths. In the case of Christian-identifying pupils, attitude to Christianity becomes more negative. In the case of Muslim-identifying pupils, attitude to Islam becomes more negative. These effects are statistically distinct from the effects of bereavement, which appears to have no detrimental effect on attitude. These findings are discussed in the light of divorce trends in society and the role of religious education. |
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4:2 A Problem-Posing Pedagogy Revisited |
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Written by John Van Dyk
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"A Problem-Posing Pedagogy Revisited: Another Look at Blomberg's Invitation to ?Paths of Pleasantness and Peace' "
IN A PREVIOUS issue of this journal, Doug Blomberg argues for a problem-posing pedagogy. Most of what Blomberg says is excellent and merits unwavering support. In this ?response essay' I acknowledge Blomberg's insight, but raise several questions about his tendency to characterize effective teaching as essentially a process of problem-posing. I conclude my reflections with an attempt to place problem-posing, as described by Blomberg, in a larger context. My response to Blomberg is intended to advance the conversation about a Christian approach to pedagogy - an especially significant project in view of the general neglect of this topic in Christian educational circles. |
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4:2 Transformation: Dynamic Worldview or Repressive Ideology? |
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Written by Brian J. Walsh
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CHRISTIAN DISCOURSE AROUND education is often preoccupied with issues of 'transformation' and 'worldview'. In a postmodern cultural climate, however, worldviews are seen to invariably legitimate conservative, non-transformational ways of thinking and praxis. Worldview, as a species of totality thinking and metanarrative, is repressive. This article delineates how a dynamically transformational worldview can indeed become a repressive ideology, and then suggests ways in which a worldview can remain dynamically open, engendering a transformational educational practice.
A full pdf of this article is availble for downloading: Transformation: Dynamic Worldview of Repressive Ideology? |
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4:2 Problem-Posing Pedagogy: Response to John Van Dyk |
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Written by Doug Blomberg
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PROBLEM-POSING IS PART of a larger frame for pedagogy which also includes play and purposeful response. When experience is viewed inclusively and not reduced to its sensory dimensions, knowing can be seen to be about relating. More than the cognitive is in view in both knowing and learning. The context for a problem-posing pedagogy is a world in which we 'fit', a world that is fallen and yet redeemed-at-root. Learning requires a transformation of experience as we are addressed by the new and different, the 'problems' that call us to new relationships. |
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4:2 Towards a Christian Praxis Education: Some Possibilities for Christian Schools |
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Written by Paul Kidson
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THIS PAPER ARGUES that a Christian Praxis Education orientation, based on the Christian Religious Education of Groome and Astley as well as the Transformative Christian Religious Education of Hobson and Welbourne, has much that would be of interest to advocates of Christian schooling. Given that the orientation is firmly based within the Christian faith community, has the development of faith as its central aim, and is firmly grounded in the Christian story, there is much to commend it as worthy of consideration by those involved in Christian schooling. |
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Volume 4 (2000) 