Thread 6 Response

Bridget Shipp

Greetings All

This discussion question looks at how Jesus’ teaching is viewed through the lens of Bloom’s Taxonomy and Anderson and Krathwohl’s revised taxonomy.  Jesus always demonstrated that He is a master of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). As Jesus taught, the teachings frequently moved beyond simple recall or comprehension and introduced analysis, evaluation, and creation which is the highest levels of cognitive processing. Jesus often challenged the audience to deeply reflect on the sermon. When Jesus taught with parables or taught the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was able to communicate spiritual truths in ways that deeply engaged His audience’s cognitive, emotional, and moral reasoning.

Analyzing is one of the highest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy for cognitive processing that comprises of breaking information into parts and understanding how those parts relate to one another and to the whole. This includes processes such as differentiating, organizing, and attributing (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). The Sermon on the Mount is a great example of Jesus using analysis to teach the adult followers. To analyze the statements in the sermon, listeners had to go beyond surface-level obedience to analyze the intent behind the law. Statement such as, “You have heard that it was said... and, but I tell you...” open the door for the listeners to think on a much deeper level.  For example, when Jesus equates anger with murder (Matthew 5:21-22 ESV) and lust with adultery (Matthew 5:27-30 ESV), this forces the audience to analyze their internal motivations. When reading this teaching, it goes beyond simple application; it summonses learners to look with the heart at the intended interpretations and reconstruct their understanding of righteousness from the inside out. The listeners must examine how they must abide by this statement, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” (Matthew 5:29). For all intents and purposes, this is a heart issue. But, if the listeners see this as a literal statement and not something to weigh in your heart, you will find many people dismembered.

Evaluating is the process of making judgments built on criteria and standards that comprise of checking and critiquing (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). When evaluating, learners assess the quality, effectiveness, or credibility of ideas, solutions, or processes (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). Luke 10:25–37 is the story of the Good Samaritan which is an example of moral reasoning in the parables. In this parable, Jesus uses it to illustrates the higher-order thinking skills level of evaluation. When asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus tells a story that shakes up the cultural norms and invites the listener to judge who truly embodies the spirit of love. Jesus did not respond to the man in a typical do and don’t law language. He invites him to stop looking down on the Samaritans because they are his neighbors. He, ever so wisely, tells a beautiful story that shows the Samaritan man doing what love does, love awakens the doing of the right thing. Not the letter of the law which is always duty and guilt driven, with either shame or prideful boasting as its reward (Du Toit, 2017). The evaluation comes not just in identifying the correct answer, but in challenging the assumptions that might prevent someone from seeing the Samaritan as a social outsider which was a moral standard during that time. The cognitive task for the learner is to assess values, reinterpret social categories, and make informed moral judgments. Jesus is asking us to put all our personal biases aside and treat this person with dignity and respect – Love your neighbor as yourself (Du Toit, 2017).

Jesus’ teaching demonstrates amazing alignment with modern active learning strategies, especially those expressed in adult education literature. One such strategy is case analysis, which encourages learners to explore ethical or practical principals in an effort to solve a problem. As illustrated above in higher order thinking, the  Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) is also an example used to illustrate an active learning strategy. Jesus shares a moral scenario and challenges His audience to decide who truly acted as a neighbor. This prompts learners to apply ethical reasoning, a process consistent with Brookfield’s (2013) description of critical analysis in adult learning. Additionally, in the  Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) Jesus places an emphasis on involving learners to view this scenario in a different perspective aligning with Svinicki and McKeachie’s (2014). Here He challenges traditional Jewish teachings by stating, “You have heard it said…” and He follows with “but I say to you…” while also prompting learners to apply ethical reasoning, a process consistent with Brookfield’s (2013) description of critical analysis in adult learning.

All Best

Bridget

References

Brookfield, S. D. (2013).  Powerful techniques for teaching adults. Jossey-Bass.

Crossway Bibles. (2001).  The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Crossway.

Du Toit, F. (2017).  Mirror Bible (Red ed.). Mirrorword Publishing.

Svinicki, M. D., & McKeachie, W. J. (2014).  McKeachie’s teaching tips (14th ed.). Cengage Learning.