PLAGIARISM FREE "A" WORK HIS & PHILO

7 Learning to Be a Christian

Can you learn to be a Christian? This is a crucial question for Christian educators. How we answer this question determines what we think we’re supposed to do (and not do) as teachers, mentors, disciple makers, small group leaders, and so on. This isn’t a trick question or a loaded question. Depending on how you define terms, interpret intentions, and emphasize words, the question could be read differently. Can you as a teacher, alone, apart from the Holy Spirit, teach someone to become a Christian? Is learning just knowledge, or is there more to it? Is it a change of mind, alone, or does it involve more? Likewise, is it learning to be a Christian, or to become a Christian? This chapter will introduce the idea of learning in the church, explaining how not all learning is alike and how learning requires different educational and pastoral approaches.

Learning through Concept Development

Second Timothy 3 mentions that Scripture can “make you wise” (v. 15) by providing information that can inform and form our thinking, moving us from being informed to thinking wisely. This is what educators call cognitive learning. We often use the metaphor of the head —that is, head knowledge. Scripture provides insight into this kind of learning. The preface to Proverbs explains that the purpose of learning is far beyond simply providing information but should result in concept development, building, connecting, and increasing in complexity as we study. Proverbs 1:1–7 reads:

The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,

to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—

Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,

to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Maddix, M. A., & Estep, J. R. J. (2017). Practicing christian education : An introduction for ministry. Baker Academic. Created from amridge on 2022-03-01 04:45:22.

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The author brings up everything from those who “despise wisdom” (v. 7), to those who think simply (v. 4), to those able to think with discernment (v. 4) and understanding (vv. 5, 6) and apply it to life (v. 5). This is all a portrait of the development of concepts, from knowing the content provided to thinking it through into a mind that exhibits wisdom. It is learning through concept development. The Bible itself exemplifies this, since as God’s special verbal revelation, it calls us to cognitive learning. As Gerhard Bussmann writes, “God has appeared in history via events, appeared personally in Christ, and has also revealed his will via a written record, the Bible. . . . [Cognitive learning] is knowing God with the mind.”1

Levels of “Knowing”

A third-grade children’s church student might say, “I know John 3:16. ‘For God so loved the world . . .’” Yes, they know it, in the sense they have memorized the words. However, if they are still at this level of cognition when they are adolescents or young adults, their knowledge may not serve to advance their faith. A seminary student might be able to say, “I know John 3:16 as it fits into the greater concept of ‘love’ in the writings of John.” Both of these examples are cognitive learning, but they demonstrate the development of the concept. Benjamin Bloom formulated a six-tiered progression of knowledge to help us understand concept development —cognitive learning—from lower to higher orders of thinking.2

1. Knowledge: like memorization, a rote knowledge of the subject 2. Comprehension: the ability to translate, interpret, or extrapolate 3. Application: the ability to use the information in other situations 4. Analysis: the ability to discern elements and relationships and the organizational

principle(s) behind an idea 5. Synthesis: combining the information with existing understanding; formulating a more

abstract concept from the information 6. Evaluation: the ability to make judgments and to discern; wisdom

Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive learning demonstrates how learning is constructed, growing in complexity and interconnectedness until it reaches a comprehensive, consistent way of thinking. It allows educators to assess the student’s level of thinking. This is based on a learning theory called constructivism. Constructivism basically emphasizes students’ cognitive assembling of knowledge and understanding to ultimately make meaning. The learner is endeavoring to make sense of their world and construct that meaning. Cognitive theorists maintain that learning is the reorganization of perceptions. Knowledge is constructed when the learner recognizes relationships and makes connections between pieces of information and between bodies of knowledge, moving from isolated ideas to an interconnected concept.3 Perhaps the most relevant theorists for constructivism are Jean Piaget and George Kelly, as well as Lev Vygotsky, who emphasized the role of society in the construction of meaning. How does this impact practicing Christian education? Because faith has a cognitive

dimension, learning about the faith is essential to becoming a Christian and continuing to grow

Maddix, M. A., & Estep, J. R. J. (2017). Practicing christian education : An introduction for ministry. Baker Academic. Created from amridge on 2022-03-01 04:45:22.

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in Christ. We need to know the story of Scripture. How can we expect people to think Christianly if they don’t know the basics of our faith? As Christian educators, we need to help students learn to think in biblical and theological categories to facilitate biblical thinking. But what if this is overemphasized? What if this is the only kind of learning going on in a church? It can lead to one’s faith being tied to legalism, a dehydrated orthodoxy, quasi-gnostic—brains on a stick. Learning to be a Christian would be reduced to having a head knowledge of faith with nothing else. Faith would be the facts and just the facts. This is why we must give attention to the other two ways in which we can learn.

Learning through Experiences

“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37). While learning may indeed be cognitive, it is also affective. Not effective, but affective, meaning it changes the heart— values, convictions, priorities, relationships, and commitments. Second Timothy 3 also says Scripture is “profitable for” a Christian life. We are not talking about learning by doing (that’s next) but learning through life experiences. It is not just knowing Jesus with the mind, but “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself” (1 John 5:10). But how does “the heart” learn? It learns through experience. Lawrence Richards describes the Mosaic idea of nurture as one replete with intentional

experiences, all designed to immerse children into the faith experiences of their ancestors.4 The learning in the faith community of both testaments took place through the calendar, festivals, feasts, and activities of remembrance. These celebrations of the covenant relationship with God in Old Testament feasts and festivals were a means of knowing God through his covenant. In the New Testament it happens through the Lord’s Supper. The Bible presents a model of learning based on experiences, designed to shape the heart, such as experiencing God within the fellowship of the church, the Christian family, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, as well as on Christian holidays that are celebrations of the covenant.5 Similarly, relationships provide a catalyst for affective learning through experience. Bussmann observes, “God has also chosen to make himself personally known to humanity. . . . Knowing God not only involves remembering his great acts in history, but experiencing the relationships he has desired for humanity.”6

Levels of Affective Learning

As with cognitive learning, some have undertaken to describe the process or level of affective growth in the learner. David Krathwohl formulated a five-tiered taxonomy for explaining and evaluating learning in the affective domain. His model is as follows.7

1. Receiving (attending) occurs when someone is willing to listen, shows an awareness of another, and basically is willing to give someone or something attention. It’s willingness to hear a new value.

Maddix, M. A., & Estep, J. R. J. (2017). Practicing christian education : An introduction for ministry. Baker Academic. Created from amridge on 2022-03-01 04:45:22.

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2. Responding not only acknowledges a new idea but interacts with it by questioning, responding, and receiving a satisfactory response to it. The new value is now not so “new.”

3. Valuing makes the transitional point of accepting the new idea. One accepts the value as one’s own, making it a preference and making a commitment to it.

4. Organization happens when the newly affirmed and accepted value begins to influence one’s life and one begins to restructure and reorganize one’s values, commitments, and relationships.

5. Characterization by a value or value complex occurs when the value has taken such a firm presence in one’s life that one exemplifies that value, or the value characterizes the person. What was once a value only to be listened to, one’s life is now all about.

Krathwohl’s taxonomy actually explains the process of conversion better than other taxonomies and theories of learning. We were once willing to listen to the gospel, entertain the message, and accept Christ for ourselves (valuing), and then he began to transform our lives until we became more and more Christlike (characterization).8 The learning theories that parallel or inform learning in the affective domain are described

as humanist learning theories, which we’ll describe in greater detail in chapter 11. Affective learning focuses on the individual and personal clarification of experiences and values, and learning theories that are more aligned with secular humanism emphasize this domain of learning. Affective learning is more value-driven, more prescriptive, rather than descriptive. Education usually has a low “core” and is heavy on electives because it is student centered.9 For this reason teachers are described as facilitators rather than authority figures. Humanist learning theories are most associated with the ideas of psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, child educator John Hold, and adult educators Malcolm Knowles and Jack Mezirow, as well as Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. How does this affect us practicing Christian education? Experiences, especially Christian

ones, are crucial to forming faith. How many congregations sponsor cross-cultural mission trips to provide a unique ministry experience designed to challenge believers and facilitate growth? How many congregations emphasize the formation of community and building of relationships through small group ministries? The key to helping believers learn affectively through experience is to identify the desired values, attitudes, or characteristics and then provide the experiences that are most likely to elicit or stimulate these outcomes, even providing a role model or some information to help them process the experience and encourage the acceptance of change. When one reflects on affective learning theory and strategies, the church’s practical function

and necessity become even more evident. The church models and provides an experience of a real, living faith. While experience may not be able to teach propositional truth, which is essentially cognitive, it does aid in the application and practical expression of belief. Learning through experience calls us as educators to become increasingly aware of our own life experience and the experiences of our students. Life experience teaches us, but often we are unaware of it, and hence as Christian educators we need to assist students in reflecting theologically on their life experience by raising probative and reflective questions.

Maddix, M. A., & Estep, J. R. J. (2017). Practicing christian education : An introduction for ministry. Baker Academic. Created from amridge on 2022-03-01 04:45:22.

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One caution. When the affective domain is dominant in your approach to discipleship, it can result in a faith that is superficial, experiential, and rather self-centered. Faith lacks depth intellectually because of the focus on emotional engagement. As Paul critiques his Jewish countrymen, “I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:2).

Learning through Doing

However, while we can learn through the head and the heart, we now need to learn with our hands, metaphorically speaking. Learning can be done by doing something, through what we might call training. When you learned to tie your shoes, it was quite an accomplishment. You tried, but failed. Someone then showed you how to do it and asked you to try with their step- by-step instruction and feedback. Eventually, you were able to do it on your own. You became so proficient at tying your shoes that it’s now automatic; you don’t have to work at it, it just happens. In fact, slowing down to explain it to others can actually cause you to make a mistake! One can acquire a new ability or skill only by actually practicing it. Could you really learn to tie your shoes if someone came out with a lectern and PowerPoint slides about the history and philosophy of shoes, diagrams of shoes and laces, and videos of how one ties one’s shoes— and if, upon listening and watching all this, you were then handed a pair of sneakers and told to tie them? No! To really master a skill you have to repeatedly practice it with assistance and feedback until you no longer need either. This is learning by doing. In the Old Testament, the skills needed to produce the tabernacle were lacking, and the need

was so urgent that God gifted individuals with the skills to do what needed to be done without any prior training (Exod. 35:30–35). Conversely, Jesus’s ministry with the Twelve gives insight into the process of training others. As one reads Mark’s Gospel, early on Jesus is doing everything, and the disciples are spectators (1:14–3:12). The disciples begin to assist Jesus in what he is doing (3:13–6:6). Then, once they know what to do, the disciples begin doing the ministry while Jesus supervises them (6:7–13, 30). At the close of the Gospel, the disciples are commissioned to do the ministry as Jesus departs—the Great Commission (16:15–16, 20). Jesus didn’t just lecture them or let them observe his ministry; he trained them to do ministry by letting them do it with him. They were learning by doing.

Levels of Skill Learning

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges of discussing learning by doing is the labeling of the learning domain itself. Some call it behavioral, others psychomotor, others active or skill. Likewise, because “doing” is very general yet sometimes specific to a certain set of skills, each requiring varying levels of expertise, numerous “taxonomies” for this kind of learning have developed. Unlike scholars of the cognitive and affective, those who study learning by doing have not widely accepted any one taxonomy. Figure 7.1 summarizes an analysis of these taxonomies.

Maddix, M. A., & Estep, J. R. J. (2017). Practicing christian education : An introduction for ministry. Baker Academic. Created from amridge on 2022-03-01 04:45:22.

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Just like when you learned to tie your shoes, the teacher works with the student, who becomes more capable and less reliant on the teacher until the student is capable of performing the task on their own. The taxonomies often denote the step-by-step development of the student’s capabilities, usually in five tiers, but label them distinctively depending on the skill on which the taxonomy is based. One learning theory that lends itself well to learning by practicing is that of Russian theorist Lev Vygotsky. He theorized learning in “zones”: the zone of potential development, the zone of actual development, and finally the zone of proximal development. The student has a potential for development, but that is usually more than their actual development—that is, what the student is able to do at present is not their full potential. The distance between these two zones is the area of proximal development, which is the area needed to close the gap, wherein the teacher provides insight, guidance, practice, and feedback until the student meets their full potential and is able to accomplish the task themselves. While Vygotsky used his zones to describe even cognitive development, the acquiring of skills obviously is addressed in his writing.10 Often the behavioral theories of learning are relevant to the psychomotor or behavior domain of learning, beginning with the theories of Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner. These theories focus on the motivation of the student toward a desired behavior or action through the introduction of rewards and punishments for performance designed to reinforce learning.11 What does this have to do with practicing Christian education? Not everything about the

Christian faith can be taught in a classroom or experienced in a prayer meeting. Part of our education ministry has to be about training believers in the skills necessary for their faith and for active participation in ministry. Learning to do something new requires them to actively participate, but only with guidance and feedback from a capable teacher, to develop their own abilities and reach their potential, cultivating good performance while correcting underperformance. As with the other learning domains, a danger exists in emphasizing this kind of learning over

the others. Focusing exclusively on learning through doing can lead to a very outward-focused, works-oriented Christian faith. Education can become utilitarian, meaning teaching only what is needed to do the work of the church and nothing else, and can ultimately contribute to burnout in terms of commitment to perpetual service without opportunity for cognitive or affective learning. We need balance.

Maddix, M. A., & Estep, J. R. J. (2017). Practicing christian education : An introduction for ministry. Baker Academic. Created from amridge on 2022-03-01 04:45:22.

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Your Congregation Is a Learning Organization

While there is more to faith than learning, the teaching ministry of the church can indeed advance, nurture, and equip the believer to grow in faith. Your congregation is a learning organization. Believers develop a Christian worldview—God’s perspective on life—by forming a Christian intellect and learning through concept development. Believers develop values, passion, convictions, and character as they engage in Christian experiences and relationships, growing affectively by learning through experiences. They also grow in their abilities, the practices of the Christian faith, and their personal ministries when they are guided and trained by a more mature teacher, developing proficient practices for growth and service as they learn through doing. The church must embrace and find balance in all three ways we learn, or else learning in the church will result in an overemphasis and imbalance in our faith. Practicing Christian education involves utilizing all three approaches, emphasizing the one most relevant for a specific program, but not to the exclusion of the other two.

Reflection Questions

1. How would you teach someone about an apple if they had never even seen one (cognitive learning)? Be creative. How might this apply to teaching the Bible’s content?

2. How would you teach someone to ride a bike (skill learning)? Be creative. How might this apply to teaching for service?

3. How would you teach someone to be kind (affective learning)? Be creative. How might this apply to teaching for piety and character formation?

4. How might a Sunday school class or small group embrace all three types of learning? What would this require them to do differently?

5. How might a teacher/sponsor/leader development program embrace all three types of learning? Why not just learning through doing?

6. Review the ministry programs in your home or current congregation. What kind of learning do they promote? Are these in balance, or is there an imbalance?

Suggestions for Further Reading Moreno, Roxeno. Educational Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2010. Slavin, Robert E. Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000. Yount, William. Created to Learn. 2nd ed. Nashville: B&H, 2012.

Maddix, M. A., & Estep, J. R. J. (2017). Practicing christian education : An introduction for ministry. Baker Academic. Created from amridge on 2022-03-01 04:45:22.

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