Glen Leverette Resources

Leverette, G.S. Differing educational philosophies. S. Hamilton, MA: Center for Youth Studies.

For students to be actively involved in their own education, they must learn to apply their knowledge to life experiences outside the classroom. To increase instructional relevance, community involvement can supplement classroom learning. Also, community involvement is vital to the success of any evangelical/outreach component of youth ministry. If financial concerns preclude students from traveling throughout the community for hands-on learning, then perhaps the Information Age can bring the community to the classroom. For example, establishing a web site can enhance one's knowledge of computer theory and systems while providing a vessel for effective outreach (yet, this activity should not occur to the detriment of any active neighborhood ministries). In an article entitled, "Communities Need Children," author John Albot addresses the need to integrate the community into a child's learning experience. Albot states that learning is a social activity that relies upon knowledge construction more than knowledge transfer.

The need for workers who are technically oriented and possess adequate interpersonal skills may drive the future of instruction to increase the "skill-based" component of school curricula. For example, the best way to learn how to build a house is from a carpenter; the best way to learn to fix plumbing is from a plumber; the best way to learn to drive a car is by driving it on roads where one lives. While schools and classrooms are essential, it is important to consider the opportunities for teaching within the context of one's community. A few schools have already incorporated a more active community-based component into their programs by forming partnerships with businesses and governments. These partnerships offer children an opportunity to interact in "real world" environments-the same environments in which they will be expected to function as adults. Churches can imitate this function through closer alignments with their respective denominational conventions and national educating bodies. While there is only one Bible, history dictates that there are infinite ways to interpret biblical content. Collaborative efforts may increase consistency within denominational standards.

Traditional elementary education teaches subject matter in modules and pieces. Reading is taught during "reading time," science during "science time"; every subject area has its place. Integration has been considered confusing and destabilizing to the learning environment, and thematic instruction has not seemed practical for modular curriculums. Now, elementary instruction is often based on integrated themes. Integrated themes theoretically allow students to build multiple connections in various content areas across specific skill boundaries. According to supporters, allowing students to make multiple connections improves information memory, helps apply learning to daily life experiences, and more readily helps solve problems. By design, many church-based curricula have adapted to this perspective through Easter speeches, plays, role playing, and special programs developed to provide students the opportunity to demonstrate what they learn.

Traditionalists suggest that chalk, chalkboard, pencil, and paper are the only tools needed by children to learn. The traditional view states, "let a child see it or hear it, and they will learn it." The newer view of elementary education believes that children learn across different modalities. This perspective can be summarized by, "Let a child do it, and they will understand." This theory suggests that children learn better by using concrete materials in hands-on, instructional activities. Current views of the academic community appear to support child-centered, holistic, integrated thematic curricula. This instruction is then tailored to fit the various learning modalities and multiple intelligence variations of the children. Would this approach be appropriate for Sunday School and Bible studies?

Traditional educationalists maintain that students are motivated by rigorous disciplinary systems based on reward and punishment. The current view believes that students who experience, question, and construct their own learning using critical thinking skills become active, lifelong learners. The teacher role shifts to a facilitator role: the facilitator is responsible for teaching their charges to learn how to learn.

Richard Strong, Harvey F. Silver, and Amy Robinson author an article, "Strengthening Student Engagement, What Do Students Want (and what really motivates them)?" They support a child-centered, interactive, creative learning approach which guides students to higher-ordered thinking. They maintain that a student who is completely immersed in the learning experience is more likely to acquire and retain knowledge than a student who is not engaged.

Teachers from both sides of the instructional fence often brainstorm ways to interest their students by generating energy and excitement about their lessons. Research indicates that lessons and curricula which incorporate a child's need for mastery, understanding, self expression, and involvement with others will be more motivating for students. Teachers reap the benefits of stimulated imagination and questioning from excited students.

Therefore, a key to helping students learn how to learn must be a student's ability to self motivate and respond to external challenges experienced during the learning process. Guided inquiry lessons attempt to build success into lesson plans and activities by providing clear and constructive feedback. Instruction in the future will strive to ensure that students know when they have met pre-determined criteria for success and provide ideas for how to improve their work. Teaching in the future may be more often designed to arouse a child's curiosity through creating guided inquiry and imagery-based lessons into classrooms.

Students want to express themselves. In the theological world, students can be encouraged to discover the "right" action through an evaluative process based on prior knowledge of denominational standards. An effective approach for facilitating self-expression is activity-based instruction. This type of teaching provides students choices; youth leaders can nurture a child's ability to self motivate and apply previously mastered material. Other applications of academic self expression include allowing a child to choose to either draw or write an answer to a test, choose different biblical activities, or even design their own learning activities.

COOPERATION
Cooperative activity theoretically facilitates self motivated learning. Research indicates that students need to enhance their relationships with others. Children explore more effectively and make more mental connections with material that peer groups examine (especially preteen and teenage students). Traditional instruction shies from this type of learning due to the potential for diminished teacher instruction and the chaos sometimes associated with the cooperative approach. It may be helpful to introduce alternatives to the status quo. Youth leaders must continue to improve educational methods; strive to break down the barriers between teachers, students, and other laity or authorities; and encourage kids to experience and make their own connections to biblical subject matter at higher cognitive levels.

LIFETIME LEARNING
The final aspect of educating the next generation is to understand how children learn. Research suggests that individuals learn throughout life. Learning does not stop after high school, or even after post-graduate studies-it continues as an evolutionary process that ceases only when life ends. Instructive techniques may be adjusted and modified throughout one's life.

While most now agree that children possess different intelligences, there is disagreement on how to adapt instruction to meet multiple intelligence (MI) needs. Traditional forms of intelligence that are accepted, measured, assessed, and tested are linguistic and logic/mathematic.

There is a movement toward establishing MI schools with MI curriculums, MI units, and MI lessons. Karen Nelson's article, Nurturing Kid's Seven Ways of Being Smart, embodies the movement. However, Gardener warns in his article about the seven myths of multiple intelligences against an attempt to completely integrate MIs into every facet of the educational process. In other words, Gardener frowns upon the attempt to reach all seven intelligences for every concept. He discourages curricula that attempt to create instructional objectives in which each objective must be taught within the framework of all seven MIs. However, Gardener is pleased with the recognition of multiple intelligences in the classroom and the attempt to develop lessons that reach more than one intelligence in order to provide more than one opportunity to learn the same concept.

The future of instruction may not see a complete conversion to MI classrooms and MI schools. However, recognizing that there are multiple forms of intelligence will offer students more credit for what they know, encourage them to strengthen the intelligences that serve them best, and creates multiple opportunities to learn. From a Christian education standpoint, a variety of learning opportunities should be incorporated into biblical instruction.

The future of both secular and Christian education will most likely continue to incorporate the structure and discipline associated with traditional instruction. However, this future may radically reject stereotypes associated with teaching children. Many future educational strategies will assume that students are active, lifelong learners who can be guided and motivated through imagery and inquiry-based curricula to construct their own learning. Future education practices will integrate information resources into interdisciplinary, thematic classroom units. Finally, those educating children will focus on uniting the child and community in which he or she lives. This will make learning relevant to their world.

What has remained absent from this discussion of successful instruction in secular and Christian education is the importance of understanding the youth culture. It is vital to successful instruction; it is also essential to understanding the effective development of critical thinking. Understanding youth culture will guide a teacher's lesson plan development and instruction techniques: it is important to teach in ways that are relevant to the students' geographical area, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. Christians classrooms are additionally obligated to teach their charges to successfully navigate the secular culture. Teaching students theological information that is often at odds against their daily experiences can be daunting. Understanding the youth culture will enhance one's ability to present either biblical material or relevant youth issues (sex, violence, drug abuse, etc.). Adapting the culture to one's teaching style will encourage a Sunday School teacher to present information differently in a suburban church than would be taught in an inner-city outreach ministry. Understanding youth culture allows teachers to keep their material and instructional techniques environmentally and culturally relevant in the continuing quest to meet the needs of their students.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTIONS AND DISCUSSION

• What do you think about the two educational philosophies? How were you taught?
• Which perspective do you naturally prefer?
• What types of learning activities do you find to be effective with students today?
• Is moving the role of the teacher to facilitator a good idea? Why or why not? Is it a good idea to eliminate layers of authority of pastors, teachers, and parents with students? Explain.
• How could you, as a youth worker, mesh the two educational perspectives? Is this possible? Is this preferable?
• Should Christian education follow the practices of secular education? Should different educational philosophies prevail in the two types of educational institutions? Explain.

IMPLICATIONS

• It is good to always evaluate the effectiveness of one's educational philosophy.
• Cautiously consider new approaches to teaching children. Some trends become excellent new standards; others fall as hollow fads.
• A variety of learning experiences will probably keep students motivated and interested.
• Although new, creative learning perspectives are excellent to infuse in one's curriculum, kids still need and thrive in a structured environment.
• Consider the lifelong effects of child-centered education. Consider the effects of authority-led education.
• Encouraging young people to care for their community is important for all youth workers, secular and Christian.
• Always seek ways to make one's education relevant to one's life.
• The importance of learning about the youth's culture cannot be understated.

Glen S. Leverette and Kathryn Q. Powers cCYS