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A few hard facts and a great deal of conjecture: Catholic Schools in England |
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Written by Andrew B Morris
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THIS PAPER PRESENTS new evidence from national contextualized school performance data showing that, after taking into account those factors known to affect pupil achievement, state-maintained Catholic schools in England appear to be more academically effective than similar non-Catholic institutions. Using an American analysis of the nature of school communities, it then speculates on possible causes of the observed superior levels of performance.
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Christian Schooling and Educational excellence: An Australian Perspective |
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Written by Charles Justins
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THIS PAPER CONSIDERS from an Australian perspective the tensions for Christian schooling in the notion of educational excellence and whether, ultimately, it is possible for a Christian school to promote itself as a centre for educational excellence and remain authentically Christian. The language of excellence is prevalent in Western society, and the language of educational excellence is certainly prevalent in Australia. Educational excellence appears to be the ambition and purpose of every "worthy" educational program and institution. This paper addresses the responses of Christian schooling in Australia, particularly Christian Parent Controlled (CPCS) schooling, to the concept of educational excellence. The vehicles for this exploration are an examination of the core values of CPCS schools, a consideration of the attitudes of a number of key CPCS educators and a case study of a particular CPCS school. The concept of educational excellence is critiqued in this context.
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Getting it Write: What Christian Institutions of Higher Education can learn from 'Basic' Writers |
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Written by Jack Du Mez
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THIS ARTICLE examines how institutions of higher education conflate moral and descriptive terms for good, bad, remedial and basic writing students. It outlines some of the social and historical developments that have led to exclusionary admissions and curricular requirements, and identifies how Christian institutions are complicit in these developments. It demonstrates how Christian institutions are well-positioned to implement more effective metaphors for describing student writers and their writing, and suggests action steps for instructors and administrators at Christian institutions that want to attract and retain a diverse student body and put into practice their academic missions.
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Nonviolent Communication: A Humanizing Ecclesial and Educational Practice |
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Written by Theresa F. Latini
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THIS ARTICLE PRESENTS Nonviolent Communication (NVC) as a humanizing ecclesial and educational practice. NVC is a four-step process of communication designed to facilitate empathy and honesty between individuals and groups. Through an interdiciplinary dialogue with Reformed theology, this article argues that NVC is one concrete means of living as those made in the image of God in churches and seminaries too often marked by entrenched power struggles and vitriolic discourse. It identifies numerous ways in which NVC can help prepare seminarians for the complex challenges of ministry in today's world. It suggests general guidelines for teaching nonviolently in the context of seminary education. While the article focuses on teaching NVC in theological education, it is applicable to a wide variety of educational contexts. Originally presented as a paper at the 2007 Re-imagining Educational Excellence conference sponsored by the Kuyers Institute for Teaching and Learning at Calvin College.
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Clarifying "Faith-Learning Integration" |
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Written by Ken Badley
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Clarifying "Faith-Learning Integration": Essentially Contested Concepts and the Concept-Conception Distinction.
THE LANGUAGE OF "faith-learning integration" remains popular among evangelical educators in both K-12 and higher education. Some observers suggest for theological and educational reasons that Christian educators replace integration language with other language. Even its advocates do not agree on what would count as integration. This article suggests that both the concept-conception distinction and W. B. Gallie's category of an essentially contested concept shed light on the phrase. If faith-learning integration is an essentially contested concept, or is a concept subject to conception-building, then Christian educators may never agree on what counts as a paradigm case.
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Editorial |
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Written by David I Smith and John Shortt
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Continuing a debate most recently raised by Perry Glanzer's article in this journal (12:1), Ken Badley opens this issue with further probing of the strengths and weaknesses of talk of the "integration" of faith and learning. Where Glanzer suggested trying out alternative terminology, Badley suggests some ways of clarifying the nature of arguments about "integration." He proposes that Gallie's analysis of "essentially contested concepts," together with the distinction between concepts and conceptions that are built around them, can illuminate what is going on in divergent accounts of faith-learning integration. Badley urges that it remains important to clarify the use of integration language in Christian education and that clarifications such as those he advances could help us to move forward amid legitimate differences in educational vision.
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Read more...
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Volume 13 (2009) 