© 2021. Posts on Theology and Culture.
The truly learned are:
The National Council on Teacher Quality has pointed out six strategies that help in the promotion of learning among students.1 They are as follows:
Strategies To Help Take in Information
1. Pairing graphics with words.
Hearing and Seeing are two important channels of receiving information. Teaching must pay attention to both.
2. Linking abstract concepts with concrete representations.
Every abstract thought can be explained with a concrete example. Teachers must use illustration and examples generously to help shed light on the teaching material.
Strategies To Help Connect Information
3. Posing probing questions.
Asking students questions can help them think and process information.
4. Repeatedly alternating problems with their solutions provided and problems that students must solve.
“Explanations accompanying solved problems help students comprehend underlying principles, taking them beyond the mechanics of problem solving.”
Alternating problems with solutions (Solve one and then ask the student to solve the next) helps the student to learn better.
Strategies to Help Remember
5. Distributing practice.
“Students should practice material several times after learning it, with each practice or review separated by weeks and even months.” Repeated practice and feedback are essential to progress in learning.
6. Assessing to boost retention.
“Beyond the value of formative assessment (to help a teacher decide what to teach) and summative assessment (to determine what students have learned), assessments that require students to recall material help information “stick.”
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)
The phrase “uneducated and untrained” can be also rephrased as “not educated in rabbinic law nor professionally trained in matters of religion.” But, certainly, it does not mean that Peter and John were illiterate. They were literate enough to write epistles and professionally trained fishermen. However, the scribes and temple leaders didn’t recognize them as literate according to their standards and procedures of education. But, they were trained better than the scribes in understanding the law and the prophets and their fulfillment in Christ.
Later on, Peter stresses the importance of a right training for an understanding of the scriptures. He says that there are some who are unlearned and unstable that twist the scriptures.
There are some things in those [epistles of Paul] that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist {and} misconstrue to their own utter destruction, just as [they distort and misinterpret] the rest of the Scriptures. (2Pet. 3:16, Amp)
It is more important to know the grace of Jesus Christ than to memorize 10,000 commentaries on the law. The disciples knew Jesus, and everybody took note that they were with Him.
Globalization compels linguistic unity as it competes for the easing of international barriers. It is the reversal of the Babel phenomena that effused nations through confusion of languages. It may portend an age similar to the antediluvian. The positive side of it is that it facilitates faster communication which could mean jet propulsion of information, provided the media of education is more prospective than just cultural. Certainly, one cannot hold new wine in old wineskins. This explains the massive support for private institutions despite the immense costs involved. Sadly, there are those who have exploited this situation to turn their institutions into a mad money-making machinery; a system of monetary discrimination. What if Government schools provided the same education in English medium? Why not? Wouldn’t there be more equal opportunity for all? Certainly, it is not acultural to seek the progress of the nation.
There are government English medium schools run by the Central government. In recent times, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat have also taken encouraging steps towards implementing English as a medium of instruction in state-run government schools. The results have also been very encouraging. Some are still doubtful whether this would help or hinder the learning abilities of children; they feel that one must first move from primary education in one’s own mother tongue to later, perhaps, education in any other language at the Upper Primary Level. However, not everybody would agree with this thought. At least those who press for English medium education of their children don’t seem to agree.
Now, it is certainly sought for that children be educated in the language they speak at home; therefore, there is the importance of the vernacular. However, in practice, the results appear different. The utilitarian element is not limited to what is, but what could be. Isn’t it human to look beyond the present?. Therefore, there is mass movement away from the government structures. It is very anachronistic to disregard the effects and demands of globalization anymore. The results could be embarrassing. A few years ago, the media laughed at the English of our present PM Modi. Now, he fluently speaks in the language though, they say, with the help of a teleprompter; in short, a necessity.
A Times of India article in 2008 observed that Hindi itself is undergoing a significant change as the urban context is rapidly gearing towards English. Again, this does not mean that people have become less patriotic. Who will not wish the best for his own family? It only means that reality cannot be compromised in an increasingly competitive world. Our little boats can cross an ocean; can they? A world-wealth of literature, now available in English through the massive efforts of the many will take eons to get translated into any vernacular. And, then how many are competent to invest time in such translations, seeing that most of the academicians are losing touch with the vernaculars? Certainly, wisdom consists in the redemption of time.
Yet, what about those who are still naming missions of translating texts into every language and every dialect, giving it the appearance of a worthy cause? Do they ask why the Protest movements in India, in the 6th century BC, avoided the use of Sanskrit and chose Prakrit instead? The New Testament writers chose Greek. They didn’t sacralize Hebrew, for a means cannot be turned into an object of worship. I know of at least one agency that is still funding projects of learning and inventing scripts for certain dialects whose children are getting educated in a more unifying local language. I asked one of the boys if he wished to read in his own dialect or in Hindi, and he replied, “Hindi, of course!”. Languages have widening circles of utility. Every linguistic region has a common language; Odisha has odiya, West Bengal has Bengali, Andhra has Telugu, most North Indian states have Hindi, as so on. People pragmatically seek what gives them a wider space to move freely in. Globally, we know what the answer is.
Pass through villages which are poverty-stricken, and the question is how much are we contributing to reduce poverty? How much is culture the reason behind wealth or poverty? How much is the lack of educational opportunities a reason? It does less to just try to keep the leaves green and not strengthen the roots. The government is certainly spending prodigiously towards the giving of educational rights to children. However, the fact that government schools are still last sought for or least sought for is embarrassing. They should have a stronger place in the building of the nation. What if the same money they spend to somehow maintain vernacular medium schools be equally distributed to also establish some good English medium schools? Of course, we do have the Kendriya Vidyalayas and the Navodaya Vidyalayas; but, why not more at the state-levels as well? Why should parents start getting worried when their kid is nearing age 3; for now, it would mean wait-lists, long queues, hefty donations, and high fees for the education of their kid, their world? Is it that the government is really incapable to do anything with its existing structures? Of course, it can. Government English Medium Schools are already faring better in the rural parts of Andhra and Telangana. [DC]. The Gujarat government has also taken steps towards this [IE]. It is hoped that the state governments of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and all other states will also take strenuous steps in this line.
Government schools take a hit as craze for English medium education grows
Does Hindi have a future?
India’s craze for English-medium schools is depriving many children of a real education
Why India will always flock to ‘English medium schools’
Will English dominate India in another fifty years?
Stop grants to Eng medium schools or face stir: BBSM to Goa
Govt to open 48 English-medium upper primary schools in state [Gujarat] April 2013
[Gujarat] Education dept plans English-medium primary schools to increase enrollment. April 2015.
English Medium in Government Schools: KCR
Telugu Medium may become extinct in AP, TS
Workshop Talk Delivered at NATA-AGM, March 2014
In its Report to UNESCO in the document Learning: The Treasure Within (1996)[1], also referred to as the Delors Report, the International Commission on Education for the 21st Century, proposed the following four pillars of education as listed below:
Learning to do involves “the acquisition of the practical skills needed in the workplace along with the ability to contribute as part of a team and to demonstrate initiative.”[4]
Learning to live together is re“garded as the main pillar of education of which the other are only supportive.[5] Brunton’sarticulation of this pillar is clear and concise:
… Learning to Live Together refers to developing an understanding of others through dialogue which leads to empathy, respect and appreciation. It requires that we understand ourselves and how we can use our strengths in concert with the strengths of others to achieve common goals. Students should be encouraged to engage in cooperative activities beyond the school that address social and community concerns.[6]
Learning to be was the dominant theme of the Edgar Faure report Learning to Be: The World of Education Today and Tomorrow, published by UNESCO in 1972,[7] the recommendations wherein were considered still very relevant. The pillar stresses the importance of the freedom to each individual to exercise greater independence and judgment combined with a stronger sense of personal responsibility for the attainment of common goals coupled with the necessity to value and promote the self-actualization of the individual’s potentiality so that “none of the talents which are hidden like buried treasure in every person must be left untapped” – that, by the way, explains the title of the document Treasure Within. Some of the treasures hidden within each of individual may be named as: “memory, reasoning power, imagination, physical ability, aesthetic sense, the aptitude to communicate with others and the natural charisma of the group leader, which again goes to prove the need for greater self-knowledge.”[8] Each individual has a unique endowment that is distinctive from anyone else and education must play an important role in tapping one’s individual worth and role in history. In Brunton’s words, learning to be
is the conviction that education should contribute to every person’s complete development – mind and body, intelligence, sensitivity, aesthetic appreciation and spirituality. All people should receive in their childhood and youth an education that equips them to develop their own independent, critical way of thinking and judgment so that they can make up their own minds on the best courses of action in the different circumstances in their lives. Education should enable people to live fulfilling lives.[9]
Can the UNESCO recommendations be applied to theological education? I submit that in some way or the other we are already attempting to do that. The UNESCO recommendations only highlight the importance of them so that we don’t falter with regard to one or more of the pillars and thus become off balanced. But, the challenge to theological education is to blend together the relation between the secular and the theological with the intent that our content will be in touch with ourselves (to be), with others (to live together), with our mission in the world (to do) in accordance to sound doctrine (to know). Certainly, this is not to ignore the three pillars for curriculum development embraced by the Senate of Serampore, viz, contextual education, interdisciplinary approach, and social relevance.[10] Relevance to context, current data, and humanity is the concern of those three pillars; which aren’t contradicted by but highly enhanced by the UNESCO recommendations.
Fig. 1. Four Pillars of Education[11]
Prevalent Models of Theological Education (Edgar)
The four typologies of theological education, diagrammatized by Brian Edgar,[12] with their inter-blending forms, might provide an insight into present models of theological education. The four typologies are considered to be
(i) Athens (Kelsey: 1993), the classical school relates to the context of the academy and focuses on individual transformation through gaining the wisdom of God (theologia). It involved study of scriptures.
(ii) Berlin (Kelsey: 1993), the vocational school relates to the context of the university and focuses on strengthening the church through training its leaders in knowledge skills (scientia). In this approach, theology is stripped of its spiritually transforming role and given an academic definition; its goal is now to train ministers and leaders to provide professional leadership to the church.
(iii) Jerusalem (Banks: 1999), the missional school relates to the context of the community and focuses on converting the world through emphasis on missiology. Theological education is seen as a dimension of mission and missiology is considered as the mother of theology.
(iv) Geneva (Edgar: 2005), the confessional school relates to the context of the seminary and focuses on knowing God through the study of creeds and the confessions, the means of grace and the general traditions that are utilized by a particular faith community (doxology).
Fig 2. The Typology in Diagrammatic Form (Edgar: 2005)
Of course, the typology is neither final nor free of criticism and Edgar agrees that it may not fully apply to non-western contexts (Obviously, the university model for ministerial training doesn’t apply very much in India – theology is not a university discipline at all here, though the tension to obtain for theology a scientific status is felt, especially where seminaries seek for university acknowledgement). With regard to the Indian context, an empirical study of curricula and objectives will be necessary before any classification can be decided upon. But, a cursory glance at the diagram above should not fail to suggest that theological education needs an interblending of all the models presented above. Theological education should aim the transformation of the individual, understanding of doctrine in light of history, context, and dogma; it should also not fail to provide ministerial training with development of theoretical and practical ministry skills and to enhance an understanding of Christian mission in the world.
Learning to Know
While there are a number of programs now offered in seminaries that do not pre-require a ministry-oriented degree like BTh or BD/MDiv for admission into (e.g. some MA programs), a general foundational introduction to Christianity is a general rule, though the general ecclesiastical efficiency of these degrees is questionable. For instance, degrees like MA in Church History and MA in Christian Counseling are specializations and may not have the breadth of ministry-oriented courses among the foundationals offered in the programs; these may generally fall under the Berlin model, with university like focus on the academic aspect of the discipline; though, deprived of the general ministerial intent. But, this doesn’t mean that they don’t cater to the need of the church. In fact, they could cater well as supportive equipping models for church and para-church ministries. However, a proper theological education is indisputably one that involves “combining a sufficiently broad general education with the possibility of in-depth work on a selected number of subjects.” The significance, therefore, of the BTh or BD/MDiv cannot be undermined as the main vein of theological education. In fact, they are the first professional degrees; while the rest are usually academic only. Whether, this broad general education should give more importance to the historical context of India than to the West is a contextual issue. The goal is to provide cognitive tools essential for comprehending the complexities of the immediate context without their being inefficient for comprehending the realities of other contexts; which implies that addressing breadth of knowledge in general education is vital. Consequently, topics such as scripture, general church history, general introduction to theology, general introduction to hermeneutics, ecclesiology, and comparative religions become vital.
With this regard, in India, the BD/MDiv degrees are not more specializations in their fullest sense. The rationale for a BD/MDiv is a matter of entry point, so that graduates can apply to them directly without the need to go through a BTh. However, the non-theological graduates are still required to do extra courses in a way that integrates BTh+BD/MDiv. At both Oxford University and Cambridge University, BD was a post-graduate higher degree; at Cambridge is considered a degree “so senior that it outranks aDoctor of Philosophy”.[13] Oxford discontinued offering BD since 2005.[14] At Oxford, a graduate in theology can directly apply for MTh.
But, in India, an MDiv is the first a professional degree (with regard to entry point for non-theological graduates); the specialized MTh that it leads to is an academic one. One issue to tackle is the level of redundancy that can be avoided in offering the MDiv program to a BTh holder and the form of equivalence that can be maintained in offering MDiv to non-theological graduates.
While mastery of learning tools such as numeracy, literacy, and life skills are presumed to precede entry to theological education (which in itself is a specialized discipline, in a way), the theological curricula must not fail to incorporate involvement of the major components of learning to learn such as concentration, memory skill, and critical thinking, which includes practical problem-solving and abstract thought.
Learning to Do
Some of the skills that theological education attempts to develop are research skills, public speaking, writing, witnessing, team work, problem solving, team leadership, and other practical ministry skills. The goal is to encourage the student to learn to analyze concepts, think through solutions for problems, articulate narratives and rhetoric of biblical wisdom, do research, and to move from concrete to abstract and back from abstract to concrete in order to translate general ideas into specific blueprints for practical and relevant action. Care must be given to emphasis not so much on certified skills as on personal competence in which inborn talents are enhanced through development of associate skills. Use of multiple intelligence and learning styles through participation in creative and innovative activities are keys to discovery and enhancement of personal competence that prepares the learner for the future to tackle issues that are yet unforeseen .
Learning to Live Together
This is a win/win approach of theological education. The goal is not only to promote attitudes and skills to live together with other Christians (denominations, churches) but also to live together with people of other faiths. The challenge of pluralism is, thus both internal and external. The objective is harmony but not at the expense of conviction. The means is not compromise, but collaboration, so that we have attitudinal maturity and practical wisdom to discover common grounds of collaboration for peaceful co-existence.
Learning to Be
Education should contribute to the holistic development of the person: of both mental and emotional intelligence, of sensitivity, aesthetic appreciation, and spirituality. Education should, in this sense, aim at the complete personality development of the person. The goal of theological education is not just to grant a degree at the end; the goal is to transform, to equip, and to unleash. The aim is not just to create a gospel worker but to help one discover the talents and gifts that the individual has and to help find ways in which those talents can be enhanced and expressed for the good of humanity in ministry and conduct. The goal of study is certainly that the servant of God will be able to present himself or herself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2Tim.2:15).
Affiliation with the Four Pillars of Faith
If the goal is the contention for faith, to build up in faith, then it’s also important to understand that faith is not a roof hanging upon nothing. The Bible relates faith with at least four pillars: Truth (the cognitive pillar), Love (the relational pillar), Patience (the consistent pillar), and Works (the active pillar).
|
FAITH
|
|||
|
TRUTH
(1Tim.2:7; Jn.8:32)
Learning to Know
|
LOVE
(Gal.5:6)
Learning to Live Together
|
PATIENCE
(Heb.6:12; James 1:4)
Learning to Be
|
WORKS
(James 2:17)
Learning to Do
|
Concluding Remarks
In a time when distance education and online courses are becoming the growing trends, it is more important to pay attention to ways in which curriculum can be designed to promote Christian education as learning to know, to do, to live together, and to be. Sadly, much of so called “education” is not education at all. There is a spate of commercializing instances. The loss is irreconcilable when the goal is no longer learning, but only degree holding. Seminaries and colleges must pay special attention to providing tools for intellectual, spiritual, social, and missional formation of the individual. The 4 Pillar Model provides a relevant understanding that can be utilized for the future of theological education in India towards this end.
References
Banks, Robert. Reenvisioning Theological Education, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.
Edgar, Brian. “The Theology of Theological Education”, Evangelical Review of Theology (2005) Vol 29 No. 3, 208-217.
Kelsey H., David. Between Athens and Berlin: the Theological Debate, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.
International Commission on Education for the 21st Century, Learning: The Treasure Within, UNESCO Publishing, 1996
Domenic Marbaniang 