Challenging Concepts For Contemporary Christian Education

Newspapers are filled with stories about poorly educated children, ineffective teachers, and cash-strapped school districts. In this greatly expanded treatment of a topic he first dealt with in Rediscovering the Lost Tools of Learning, Douglas Wilson proposes an alternative to government-operated school by advocating a return to classical Christian education with its discipline, hard work, and learning geared to child development stages. As an educator, Wilson is well-equipped to diagnose the cause of America's deteriorating school system and to propose remedies for those committed to their children's best interests in education. He maintains that education is essentially religious because it deals with the basic questions about life that require spiritual answers-reading and writing are simply the tools. Offering a review of classical education and the history of this movement, Wilson also reflects on his own involvement in the process of creating educational institutions that embrace that style of learning. He details elements needed in a useful curriculum, including a list of literary classics. Readers will see that classical education offers the best opportunity for academic achievement, character growth, and spiritual education, and that such quality cannot be duplicated in a religiously-neutral environment.

From being on the margins of scholarly debate for much of the past century and a half, religion is being recognized once again as an area of concern for scholars, politicians, and public policy makers, and thus, the role of religious and spiritual education has taken on a new importance. Apart from its socio-political ramifications, the place of religiousness and spirituality in the make-up of individuals has been given renewed prominence through updated brain science, and neuroscientists regularly refer to elements of this brain science in terms such as spiritual intelligence and even mystical consciousness. This book explores many of the new directions being taken in the field of religious and spiritual education, as new developments challenge the priorities of formal education, and open up new avenues for incorporating religion and spirituality into the modern curriculum. It asks whether the educational aims of teachers should be focused on specifically personal development, or whether religious education should be used to develop understanding of more global and social issues such as citizenship, conflict, and ethics. The book also addresses neuroscientific insights, which suggest a need to engage with cognition and emotion in order to create a rich learning environment, something to which a particularly contested subject area like religion and spirituality is well-placed to contribute. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Beliefs & Values.

This book provides pastors, professional teachers, students of religious education or Christian education, theological students and Sunday school teachers with methods of teaching the faith today and opportunities to reflect critically on the methods and approaches they use in the classroom in the changed cultural context of our postmodern world. The book is the result of years of practical experience in the field of Christian education as a Director of Religious Education and head of a team involved in providing religious education training and producing teaching materials and textbooks for Sunday school and professional teachers of Christian education. This book proposes the Herald model of church and model of Christian education as a very helpful model for postmodern culture.

This book reformulates Christian education as an interdisciplinary and interdenominational vocation for professionals and practitioners. It speaks directly to a range of contemporary contexts with the aim of encouraging conceptual, empirical and practice-informed innovation to build the field of Christian education research. The book invites readers to probe questions concerning epistemologies, ethics, pedagogies and curricula, using multidisciplinary research approaches. By helping thinkers to believe and believers to think, the book seeks to stimulate constructive dialogue about what it means to innovate Christian education research today.Chapters are organised into three main sections. Following an introduction to the volume's guiding framework and intended contribution (Chapter 1), Part 1 features conceptual perspectives and comprises research that develops theological, philosophical and theoretical discussion of Christian education (Chapters 2-13). Part 2 encompasses empirical research that examines data to test theory, answer big questions and develop our understanding of Christian education (Chapters 14-18). Finally, Part 3 reflects on contemporary practice contexts and showcases examples of emerging research agendas in Christian education (Chapters 19-24).

This book discusses the relationship between faith, formation and education. Rooted in a variety of discourses, the book offers original insights into the education and formation of the human person, both theoretical and practical. Issues are considered within a context of contemporary tensions generated by an increasingly pluralist society with antipathy to religious faith, and debated from interdenominational Christian perspectives. Including chapters by an international team of experts, the volume demonstrates how Christian faith holds significance for educational practice and human development. It argues against the common assumption that there can be a neutral approach to education, whilst at the same time advocating a critical dimension to faith education. It brings fresh thinking about faith and formation, which demands attention given the fast-changing political, educational and socio-cultural forces of today. It will appeal to students and researchers involved in Christian educational practice.

Whether in the home or in the church or in a Christian school, the challenge of contemporary Christian educators is to meet the academic needs of students while remaining unswerving in adherence to biblical principles. Christian Education: Foundations for the Future introduces you to the basics of a healthy Christian education program, then takes you beyond, showing you how to develop a fresh, innovative Christian education program that will revitalize your church, home, or school.

The Contemporary Christian Education Handbook is written in a simplistic easy to read style. It has numerous illustrations and is filled with a multitude of Scripture passages. There are sections on Growing Sunday Schools, Effective Teaching Methods, Job Descriptions, Youth and Christian Education Ministry ideas and much more. It is one of the few books that gives a comprehensive overview of how to build an effective Christian education program in a fast pace world. Innovative ideas are needed in todays Church to enhance Church growth and to develop Christian character. The resources and the ideas shared in Contemporary Christian Education are much needed in a world that has been conditioned to expect innovative ways of achieving the goals and the objectives of the Church. The simple reading style and the wide-ranging of information listed in the book is a product of over thirty years of Christian education ministry serving as a pastor, Christian education director and part-time Seminary instructor. Contemporary Christian Education is truly a labor of love for the Church and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is hoped that those who read this book will be inspired to seek additional spiritual resources to increase their knowledge of Christian education.