Unique Contributions of the Theological Librarian in Campus-Wide Programs of Faith Integration

Many Christian colleges and universities have academic programs that emphasize “faith and learning” or “faith integration.” The religious or theological studies librarian can have a unique role in assisting faculty across the disciplines to develop a better awareness of theological writings and resources that might reflect spiritual themes within their discipline. This paper will suggest ways for theological librarians to collaborate with colleagues, highlighting integrative work at Azusa Pacific University—including one-on-one and classroom resource instruction, the development and use of faith integration and special collections, integrative coursework, reading groups—and concluding with a few suggested resources.

Faith Learning Integration: A Case Study of Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics Lecturers’ Teaching Practices

<p class="abstracttextDILIGENTIA">Faculty members of a private Christian Teachers College in Tangerang have been assigned to integrate faith and learning. The purpose of this research was to describe Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics lecturers’ practices of faith learning integration on their teachings. Five lecturers including two lecturers teaching Physics, and the others each teaching Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics were involved in this research. Two student teachers contributed as well in the research. The data were derived from interview with five faculty members and collecting their course syllabus along with the interview with two student teachers. <a name="_Hlk80149555"></a>Descriptive qualitative research with a case study approach was employed. The data were described and analyzed in the light of the current literatures. The findings showed that those five faculty members have been implementing faith learning integration on their teaching with a pedagogy of transferring new information. This paper suggests faculty to go beyond faith learning integration and to focus on learning as formation of heart and desire.</p>

An Assessment of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church Teacher Recruitment Process on the Achievement of the Church’s goals. A Study of Adventist Schools in Bulawayo

This paper aimed at unearthing practices driven by the Adventist-Teacher recruitment process in order to determine achievement of the organization’s goals. The study was conducted in Adventist Schools in Bulawayo. The schools have a population of about 218 teachers. The study followed a mixed method of research, where quantitative-descriptive statistics were used to discuss findings. A sample of 106 teachers was chosen using the stratified sampling to respond to a self-administered questionnaire. Simple random was used to choose teachers from within each stratum among the three Secondary and Five Primary Schools. In the schools selected, the teachers’ list was used, and either odd numbers or even numbers were used as respondents. Through purposive sampling, three Secondary and five Primary School heads were chosen to respond to interview questions indicated in this study. It is important to note that teachers and school heads did not agree on issues regarding induction and mentoring. Primary data was collected and analyzed using SPSS. Tables and graphs were used in the presentation and discussion of findings. The study established the link between the Recruitment process- which aims at the integration of faith and learning- and Redemptive practices to be positive at Pearson’s r 0,696. The interaction of the Recruitment process and the cutting-edge practices recorded a Pearson’s r of 0,589. The recruitment process appeared to be operating below the ideal standard. The study revealed a poor teacher induction and mentoring process in the schools studied.

Education From a Gardener’s Perspective

Nature has much to teach if we will be attentive and learn from her. In Fall 2018, a school of social work professor designed a new course to teach across three schools—social work, education, and the seminary. To integrate faith and learning, this professor designed this course based on the four permaculture (permanent agriculture) design principles: care of people; care for the earth; fair share; and transitional ethic. In this class, graduate students took on community challenges—food insecurity and K-12 student disengagement from learning—to help them live out their vocation while also supporting the development of a local school garden. Ultimately, with this affective, embodied, creative, and reflective pedagogy, learning was experienced more holistically and in a more relevant manner to everyday life.

Læringsarenaer som kan fostre misjonalt lederskap

This article explores evangelical perspectives on how to foster missional leadership on key learning arenas. The Lausanne Movement is widely regarded as representative for evangelical perspectives, and its roadmap The Cape Town Commitment (CTC) is therefore selected as the material. In line with CTC, missional leaders are viewed as a broad category which includes church and mission leaders, Gospel-inspired social action leaders, and Christian thought-leaders in the public arena. The background is today’s pluralistic and secular context, with ‘the civil public square’ as a desirable common vision. Key evangelical convictions in CTC, shaping the fostering of missional leaders, include the foundational grace of Christ, a classical evangelical theology, a holistic missional approach, and a ‘whole person’ leadership development. The church, theological education, and the academy at large are selected as significant learning arenas in CTC. The church arena, claims CTC, should be shaped by biblical teaching, equipping for apologetics, and a holistic view of calling. As a learning arena, per CTC, theological education needs to have a focus on the missional intention, the missional tasks, and the missional equipping, all of which presuppose the centrality of the Bible. Therefore, every theological education should undertake a «missional revision». In terms of the arena of the academy at large, CTC emphasizes its formative role, stresses the need both for Christian institutions and Christians in the ‘secular academy’, encouraging faith and learning as well as public apologetics. All this leads to final missiological reflections, where it is argued that fostering missional leaders on these arenas (a) is enhanced by an emphasis on «bearing witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching in every nation, in every sphere of society, and in the realm of ideas», (b) presupposes an understanding of cognitive dissonance as a key challenge in the contemporary secular context, and (c) should include a comprehensive apologetic strategy for all three arenas.

Students’ Experiences in Appreciative Interviews for Quality Education in Liberia

Between September 2017 and August 2018, the author of this article applied the theory of appreciative inquiry in teaching at a faith based institution in Liberia. Appreciative Inquiry was popularized by Cooperrider in 1986. It has to do with asking positive questions following the 5Ds namely Definition, Description, Dream, Design and Destiny. This article highlighted the experiences of students who used appreciative interviews in a course Principles and Practices of Education taught at a faith based institution located in Liberia. The course was offered thrice to three different sets of students at the same university by the author of this article. While the first class had four students, the second had thirteen students and the third had eight students. Each student was asked to make use of appreciative inquiry questions to interview two veteran educators from other educational institutions in Liberia. The findings reinforced the need for the practices of quality education within and without the walls of classrooms in Liberia. The paper recommended that educators should employ the appreciative inquiry in their teaching. Hence, the combination of appreciative inquiry with cooperative learning and the integration of faith and learning could be one of alternatives in tackling the many educational challenges in the classrooms.

Incorporating Spirituality in the Classroom

This study tested the extent to which professors could be trained to help enhance students’ experiences of spirituality in their classes. Three areas of focus that may be important to incorporating spirituality into the classroom were identified in the integration of faith and learning literature: 1) Professor Self-Disclosure, 2) Intellectual Connections, and 3) Interpersonal Connections. In a quasi-experimental design, two professors were trained to incorporate these focus areas into four experimental conditions. A sample of 203 student participants attended different teaching conditions and rated their perception of the teaching quality. Statistical tests revealed that professor ratings on General Teaching Skills and Spirituality greatly improved after training; however, ratings also depended on the professor. Results indicated that applying such a pedagogical training can be a useful tool in educating faculty to successfully incorporate spirituality in the classroom and improve student perceptions of their general teaching skills.

Incorporating Spirituality in the Classroom

This study tested the extent to which professors could be trained to help enhance students’ experiences of spirituality in their classes. Three areas of focus that may be important to incorporating spirituality into the classroom were identified in the integration of faith and learning literature: 1) Professor Self-Disclosure, 2) Intellectual Connections, and 3) Interpersonal Connections. In a quasi-experimental design, two professors were trained to incorporate these focus areas into four experimental conditions. A sample of 203 student participants attended different teaching conditions and rated their perception of the teaching quality. Statistical tests revealed that professor ratings on General Teaching Skills and Spirituality greatly improved after training; however, ratings also depended on the professor. Results indicated that applying such a pedagogical training can be a useful tool in educating faculty to successfully incorporate spirituality in the classroom and improve student perceptions of their general teaching skills.

Application of Faith and Learning

Higher education institutions face many competing priorities and are still expected to serve the public good. Faith-based institutions, in particular, aim to meet a faith-inspired calling and serve the communities in which they are situated while guiding students in their faith formation by integrating service and academic priorities. In this paper, the authors explore, through a case study methodology, the unique positionality of Messiah University, a faith-based university located near the capital city of Harrisburg, PA. Specifically, this study explores the impact of a community engaged course with an urban nonprofit agency.

IMPLEMENTASI STRATEGI INTEGRASI IMAN DAN PEMBELAJARAN JOHN W. TAYLOR DALAM PEMBELAJARAN MATEMATIKA PADA MATERI BILANGAN [THE IMPLEMENTATION OF JOHN W. TAYLOR'S FAITH AND LEARNING INTEGRATION STRATEGY IN LEARNING MATHEMATICS ON NUMBERS]

<p>Humans need to receive education in their lives. Through education, humans can develop specifically in intellectual matters. Christian education has the important purpose of introducing God in Bible-based learning. But this only happens if the teacher has implemented biblical integration in learning. One way to do this is through the implementation of John W. Taylor's faith and learning integration<em> </em>strategy. This study focuses specificially on the learning of mathematics in the area of numbers. Christian teachers can truly carry out their call to preach Christ in number mathematics using John W. Taylor's faith and learning integration<em> </em>strategy. This scientific paper is a literature study with supporting data in the form of books, journal articles, and the results of observations and interviews that the author encountered at a Christian school in Ambarawa. This literature review shows that the implementation of John W. Taylor's faith and learning integration<em> </em>strategy in number mathematics can increase students' biblical insights. Students seem to be more enthusiastic learning about knowing God through the learning of number mathematics. It is recommended that teachers implement John W. Taylor strategy with a correct understanding of the steps for its application and make good preparations before teaching<em>.</em></p><p><strong>BAHASA INDONESIA ABSTRACT: </strong><span>Manusia perlu menerima pendidikan di dalam kehidupannya.</span><span lang="EN-US"> Melalui pendidikan, manusia dapat berkembang terkhusus dalam hal intelektual. Pendidikan Kristen memiliki tujuan yang penting untuk memperkenalkan Allah di dalam pembelajaran</span><span> yang berlandaskan alkitab</span><span lang="EN-US">. </span><span>Namun fakta yang terjadi adalah guru belum mengimpelementasikan integrasi alkitabiah di dalam pembelajaran. </span><span lang="EN-US">Salah satu alternatif yaitu melalui implementasi strategi </span><span>i</span><span lang="EN-US">ntegrasi iman dan pembelajaran</span><span lang="EN-US">John W. Taylor. Topik bahasan ini mengarah pada pembelajaran matematika materi bilangan. Tujuan studi literatur ini yaitu agar guru Kristen dapat benar-benar menjalankan panggilannya untuk memberitakan Kristus khusunya di dalam pembelajaran matematika materi bilangan melalui strategi </span><span>i</span><span lang="EN-US">ntegrasi iman dan pembelajaran</span><span lang="EN-US">John W. Taylor. Penulisan studi literatur ini murni kajian literatur dengan data pendukung berupa buku, jurnal, serta hasil observasi</span><span> dan </span><span lang="EN-US">wawancara yang sesuai dengan persoalan penulis di sekolah Kristen di Ambarawa. Sumber pendukung Kajian literatur ini memperoleh hasil bahwa implementasi strategi </span><span>i</span><span lang="EN-US">ntegrasi iman dan pembelajaran</span><span lang="EN-US">John W. Taylor dalam pembelajaran matematika materi bilangan dapat menambah wawasan alkitabiah siswa. Siswa terlihat lebih antusias mengikuti pembelajaran mengenai pengenalan akan Allah di melalui pembelajaran matematika materi bilangan ini. Disarankan agar guru mengimplementasikan strategi John W. Taylor ini dengan pemahaman yang benar akan langkah-langkah penerapannya serta melakukan persiapan yang baik sebelum mengajar.</span></p>