Jesus and His Pedagogy in Teaching

ICCTE Conference 2012, Azusa, CA.

Linda Chiang &

HeeKap Lee

Truth

• "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." from C.S. Lewis, Weight of Glory, "Is Theology Poetry?"

Truth

• Jesus was equipped with the personal qualifications for teaching;

• Jesus modeled the pedagogical way of teaching

• When He finished the teaching “the crowds were amazed at His teaching (Matthew 7:28-29)

Truth• Jesus’ teaching allowed certain

levels of uncertainty and ambiguity;

• Jesus’ teaching met the profoundest needs and demands of human nature;

• Jesus was enthusiastic to change society through teaching.

Purpose of this Inquiry

• To explore a comprehensive framework of Christian education;

• To build a community of shalom;

• To appreciate Jesus’ characters as a human and God

• To practice Jesus pedagogy by following the APU 4 cornerstones.

Jesus’ Character (Horne, 1998)Physical strength Love

skillPower to heal the bodyPrudencePleasure in social lifeLove of natureFriendlinessLove of childrenPassion for serviceJusticeAuthoritySense of missionLove of truthCourageInformation

Self-controlSelf-sacrificeJoyousnessGratitudeModestyDependencePrayerfulnessArtistic feelingAlertnessPositivenessSelf-respectSincerityDialectic skillSpirituality

Horne (1998)

Education always matters

• God, the Teacher• Jesus

– Everyday I sat in the temple court, teaching (Matt 26:55)

God, the Spirit Leader

-- Holy Spirit will teach you (Luke 12:12)

• 1. Accept who we are as a body of Christ– listen and reflect.

• 2. Demonstrate hospitality– facilitate comfort and care.

• 3. Fellowship and share truth—strengthen relationships(Call, 2011)

Education: A Sense of Community

Christian Education Model

Community of Shalom

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Imago Dei

Model Overview

Components Descriptions

Foundational Concept Imago DeiAll humans created in God’s image

Enabling Interventions

Direction Teaching for Reconciliation

Method Inquiry-based Instruction

Content Contextualized Pedagogy

Assessment Formative Evaluation

Goal of Education Building a Community of Shalom

Imago Dei implementation

• We must have a unique respect for human life: Every human being possesses an inherent dignity, meaning and worth

• It is the teacher's recognition of the uniqueness and value of each individual, evidenced in their treating all students with dignity, even love.

Framework to build a community of Shalom

Teaching for Reconciliation

• Creation, Fall, Redemption• Even though now laboring under the effect of

the Fall, it is still a good creation• Structure vs. Direction (Wolters, 2005):

– It is the direction that we are to engage in.

• Human beings as God’s representatives on earth carry on where God left

• Restoring our relationship with Creator– The purpose of Christian education is therapeutic &

redemptive

Inquiry-based approach

• Teaching process of Jesus

• From Information to Formation– Guiding inquiry with intriguing questions.– Allowing exploration of a hypothesis– Stimulate learners’ interest through a variety of

instruction methods

Contextualized Pedagogy

• Education should be contextualized• Contextualization is a continual process• To love communicationally is to put

oneself to whatever inconvenience necessary to assure that the receptors understand (Kraft, 1991)

• Stages of contextualized education– Decontextualization– Contextualization– Recontextualization

Formative evalution

Formative vs. Summative Evaluation- Process vs. Product - Check for Understanding vs. Final Judgment

Formative evaluation - Learners’ active participation in the pedagogical

process- Individual teaching/learning process- Preparing students for the summative

assessment that comes at the end of their struggles

• Biblical examples of formative evaluation– Individual teaching process: God tests/assesses, and

allows to grow

– Peter’s denials Jesus three times and Jesus restored him by saying, “feed my lambs” three times

– Jesus’ three years’ staying with his disciples. His time is formative, the summative conclusions on their lives and faith will come later

– “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4)

Essential Goal of Education

• Build a community of shalom– Lion lies with the lamb

• Inner wholeness of the fulfilled person:– Upward & outward; – Everything exists in the order as God created;– A command to humans living here and now;– Personal, communal, Reciprocal Transformation

(Palmer,2003)

Jesus’ Teaching Model

DirectionDirection Method Content Evaluation

Redemptive Redemptive Inquiry Contextual Formative

Assimilated Summative Repetitive Repetitive IntellectualIntellectual

Selected References

• Call, C. (2010). The rough trail to authentic pedagogy: Incorporating hospitality, fellowship, and testimony into the classroom. In Smith, D. I. & Smith, J. K. A. (Eds.), Teaching and Christian practices. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

• Horne, H. (1998). Jesus the teacher. Grand Rapid, MI: Kregel Publications.

• Palmer, P. (2003). Toward a spirituality of higher education. In Henry, D. & Agee, B. (Eds.), Faithful learning and the Christian scholarly vocation, 75-84.

• Walters, A. (2005). Creation regained. Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub.