EDU501/501a │ Core Subject │ 10 credit points
Overview
Worldviews give rise to cultural practices across all areas of life, including education. Educational practices are never neutral. They are always grounded in and shaped by beliefs, commitments, assumptions, and perspectives which rise out of trusted accounts of the meaning and purpose of life. For Christian educators, the Scriptures are uniquely authoritative in this regard, however they are never read, or adhered to in isolation. They must be interpreted well within educational communities and contexts which are deeply engaged with and challenged by alternative mainstream cultural narratives and practices. This course seeks to equip educators for the task of educating out of a deep immersion in the Scriptures as well as an incisive engagement with our cultural times and places.
Education is about formation more than information. It is about meaning more than mere facts. Educators seek to lead learners into an engagement with the world that is grounded in a vision for what flourishing human life looks like and what purposes and directions are worthy of our committed engagement and persevering action.
Worldview literature has made a significant contribution to the practice of education, and yet it continues to be the subject of spirited debate. What are worldviews? Are they merely views? Are they fundamentally presuppositions and beliefs? And how do they actually shape what we love and what we finally do in our lives and our educational contexts?
Educators who seek to be faithfully responsive to God’s revelation in Scripture, and who seek to walk in the way of Jesus in our current times and places, must engage with the grounds for education into which worldview writers invite their readers. Moreover, they must work diligently to understand the relationship between the uniquely authoritative biblical texts, worldviews, and educational visions and practices.
We are all deeply engaged with powerful cultural stories, liturgies, and practices on a daily basis. These are formative in ways that are often unnoticed and uncritiqued. This course of study seeks to explore the intersection between persuasive cultural liturgies, the authoritative word of God in Scripture, and the insights of those who have contributed to worldview writing and thought. It seeks to promote the counter-formation of faithful, insightful, creative, and determined educators who will live and work out of an impassioned embrace of the gospel of Christ for our times and places.
Prerequisites
None
Teaching methods
| TYPE | HOURS PER WEEK | NUMBER OF WEEKS | TOTAL (NUMBER OF HOURS) |
| Online Semester Directed online learning and independent learning | 10 | 13 | 130 |
| NICE@School Combination of: Directed online learning and independent learning and, Face-to Face Intensive (5 days spread over the semester) | 6.5 | 20 | 130 |
| Total | 130 |
Learning outcomes
Student who successfully complete this subject will be able to:
- Demonstrate advanced knowledge of worldview assumptions and their implications on life and educational practice
- Critically analyse and appraise the harmonies and tensions between a biblically informed worldview and current cultural narratives
- Articulate a clear understanding of a biblically-informed worldview and its impact on theory and practice in education.
- Apply worldview analysis to the critical evaluation of educational policies and practices.
- Critically reflect on the formative nature of cultural stories, liturgies, and practices in life and education.
Graduate Attributes
- 1. Christian Worldview
- 2. Leadership
- 3. Integrity and Justice
- 4. Communication
- 5. Personal and Social Skills
- 6. Critical and Creative Thinking
- 7. Professional Knowledge
Assessment
| TYPE | WEIGHTING |
| Critical Reflection Pieces | 20% |
| Essay | 40% |
| Critical Analysis | 40% |
Subject content
- Living for Christ in a disenchanted age
- Educational assumptions?
- A vision of the heart
- You might not love what you think
- The Bible and a Christian worldview
- Are we just people of our times?
- Worldview and curriculum
- A Bible-shaped worldview and its impact on Christian living
Prescribed text and reading materials
Goheen, M. W., & Bartholomew, C. G. (2008). Living at the crossroads: An Introduction to Christian worldview. Baker Academic
eBook available through Alphacrucis Library or Hardcopy for National Institute Library.
Additional readings materials will be available in the Subject Outline on eLearning Portal. upon enrolment
