Jesus used the good Samaritan case study to teach the scholar. Luke 10:29-37
reads,
“But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my
neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes,
beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going
down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other
side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on
the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and
when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his
wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey,
brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two
denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I
return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of
these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of
robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (“Bible gateway passage: Luke 10:29-37 -
New international version," 2011)”
Case study techniques are beneficial to help people understand a story rather
than to just hear it. Jesus was reaching out to a scholar and knew the best
way to reach him was to challenge his mind. e Jesus used the case study of
loving one’s neighbor to help the scholar see how Jesus wants people to treat
each other. He shared three examples of how people reacted to the hurt man
in the story and challenged the scholar to identify what being a neighbor
meant. By using a case study technique, Jesus made the lesson he was trying
to teach more relatable to the student.
I chose this case study example because the article by James, Martinez, &
Herbers (2015) outlined the story of a Good Samaritan as a case study
strategy. While I agree that this story falls in line with a case study, I also think
it represents timing. Jesus has wonderful timing and seems to know the
perfect moment to teach us. As a teacher I want to be able to implement both
case studies and timing techniques into my classroom.
An article on using case studies to teach psychology of disabilities by author
Jennifer Oliver discusses how using case studies helps students develop critical
thinking skills. (Oliver, 2018) Through case studies, students can see different
scenarios and determine the best outcome. When in the classroom I will
challenge my students to develop their own case studies to share amongst
each other. Having students create their own case study helps the students
gain a better understanding of the material and how it applies in everyday life.
The use of the timing technique is important as well. The article, Timing
Matters: Approaches for Measuring and Visualizing Behaviours of Timing and
Spacing of Work in Self-Paced Online Teacher Professional Development Courses,
illustrates the impact of time in a student’s learning process. This article
indicates that sometimes having too much time on one subject or to complete
a topic can negatively impact the student. (Riel et al., 2018) I think it is
important as a teacher to be mindful of what material is being taught in the
beginning of the course, the middle, and the end. I don’t want to overload my
students by teaching the bulk of adolescent psychology on day one. I also
don’t want to wait until the very end to get to some of the more challenging
parts of the material. I think timing is important and keeping the material
spaced out evening helps with student retention. Being mindful of other factors
that could interfere with how the student are learning is crucial as well. As a
teacher I need to be cognizant about when final exams are and understanding
that students are often in multiple classes. As a student I have learned that my
learning capacity is different depending on what else I have going on.
In your opinion, how influential is timing and relatable material to your own
education?
References
Bible gateway passage: Luke 10:29-37 - New international version. (2011). Bible
Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2010%3A29-
37&version=NIV Links to an external site.
James, G., Martinez, E., & Herbers, S. (2015). What can Jesus teach us about
student engagement? Journal of Catholic Education, 19(1), 129-154.
https://doi.org/10.15365/joce.1901062015 Links to an external site.
Olliver, J. (2018). Using Student-Generated Case Studies to Teach the
Psychology of Disabilities. Society of Teaching of Psychology.
Riel, J., Lawless, K. A., & Brown, S. W. (2018). Timing matters: Approaches for
measuring and visualizing behaviours of timing and spacing of work in self-
paced online teacher professional development courses. Journal of Learning
Analytics, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.18608/jla.2018.51.3
