Virtual Theology Faith And Adult Education

Online learning is a key feature of the contemporary educational landscape and has entered mainstream policy, provision and practice. But if online education is to reach mature development and evaluation, it must be open to critical appraisal. This book considers the implementation of online learning within adult theological education. This can be an area of challenge or contention, especially when established academic practices and cherished values are seen as threatened when handed over to online delivery. This opens questions about theology, pedagogy and online education. Does online teaching and learning bring or demand a new or transformed (disruptive) pedagogy or does it result in maintenance or replication (sustaining) of traditional values and existing practices? What might the opportunities and benefits be? Who stands to gain? Who stands to lose? And what evidence is there to evaluate the quality of ‘doing theology’ online? This book examines a long-standing programme of continuing professional development delivered fully online to adult practitioners working across Christian education and ministry settings. It builds upon the author’s international experience as an online educator for over a decade. Key themes relate adult learning to theological pedagogy, authority, and online community. The concept of interruptive pedagogy is presented as an interpretative model to critically appraise an approach to online education that draws on the best theological tradition yet also looks to the future.

Opening with a debate about the nature of learning as a religious phenomenon, this book includes a collection of contributions based on the theme of the relationship between faith and knowledge.

In the current climate, and in an age of increasing hostility towards religion and the study of religion, religious education is a much-debated area. Bringing together an interdisciplinary team of contributors from the USA, Britain and Ireland, and Australia, representing a variety of religious perspectives, Does Religious Education Matter? provocatively demonstrates that it is vital that religious education is presented as it ’really’ is: a valuable and rich resource that, when taught and engaged with appropriately, stimulates essential qualities for global and responsible citizenship: critical thinking, tolerance, respect, and mutual understanding.

Online education offers incredible potential to reach students and their context for Christ, but doing so requires intentional implementation of a philosophy and practice of online education. As online professors and administrators seek to create a Christian community on mission, students can be transformed, and the gospel will be spread throughout the world. Excellence in Online Education provides an overview of the debates surrounding online Christian education, a framework for building community online, and practical advice about course design, delivery and program management.

What is Christian adult learning? What questions are raised when Christian faith and learning meet? Many existing approaches primarily address issues such as curriculum content or teacher character. Building on the work of John Hull, Disruptive Inclusion approaches the intersection of theology and pedagogy suggesting that the christianness of Christian adult learning is best expressed by the posture adopted by learners, not only via what is taught and by whom. Specifically, Jen Smith claims that a key to Christian adult learning posture is how learners include the unexpected and disruptive in their learning. Drawing on key resources, such as the biblical narrative, Christian tradition, liturgy, community and her own experiences, Jen takes us on a deeply personal and practical journey into disruptive inclusion and invites us to re-imagine what effective Christian adult learning might look like in the classroom, pulpit and online learning settings.

This book presents a range of perspectives on the current state of Catholic education in the opening decades of the twenty-first century. All of the chapters have their origin in an International Conference on Catholic Education, held at Heythrop College (University of London) in September 2016. The book brings together many leading scholars to present a survey of the latest research on Catholic education in areas such as the aims of Catholic education, Catholic schools and Catholic identity, leadership issues in Catholic schools and fresh thinking about the place of Religious Education (RE) in Catholic Education. This book demonstrates how the field of Catholic Education Studies has firmly come of age. Rather than being a subfield of educational or theological discourse, it is now an established field of research and study. As such, the book invites readers to engage with much of the new thinking on Catholic education that has grown rapidly in recent years. It offers a broad range of contemporary perspectives on research in Catholic Education and rich insights into current thinking about Catholic Education.

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.

Christian higher education institutions across North America are experimenting with radical shifts in educational content and delivery. Cyber education is becoming a common supplement or replacement for embodied learning, especially since the global coronavirus pandemic. Most theological educators have embraced the shift online, finding ways to leverage technology to enhance teaching; very few consider how technology itself impacts theological students, particularly those being educated for pastoral ministry. What effect do shifts toward online courses have on those enrolled in programs of pastoral formation? Are future ordinands being adequately trained? When developed well, Web-based learning can strengthen intellectual virtues. However, it can also inhibit character virtue formation and self-differentiation. Internet usage has been shown to negatively affect social well-being, resulting in higher rates of anxiety, depression, and isolation in students; furthermore, it alters behavior, making learners more distracted, less empathetic, and less able to concentrate and contemplate. Theological schools should, therefore, articulate clearer standards for student formation and strengthen aspects of embodied learning to prepare clergy for ministry in an increasingly complex church and world.