NELSON HASIBUAN 27: My Christian Pedagogical Creed-Based on My Project at Kharisma Bible School-Bandung
What is
Christian Education.
Christian education must begin by inviting and responding
to the living presence of Christ. Christian education is the process of
growth and transformation that proceeds from a dialogue with Christ. Christian education must hold in tension
traditional understandings with modern revelations. Christian education must start with a pedagogy
based on the gospel message of love. Love as a foundation for
education will mitigate exclusive rhetoric and behavior and effectively
challenge us to recognize the implicit curriculum over the explicit. This
implicit curriculum suggests that learning moves beyond the Sunday school room
or the adult forum and recognizes the living, teaching Christ infused in the
dynamics of everyday relationships and situations.
Christian education must be anchored in Scripture
while at the same time avoiding making the Bible an idol. I believe that
Christian education moves beyond the specifics of cultural relativism and
challenges us to recognize the universal church of God.
Who is the
Church
Church is the body of Christ. This body is made explicit by the confession
of faith made by those who call themselves Christian. There is a mystical
body of Christ that is ever-present and manifest in this world beyond the
articulation of faith or creed. In other words, the Holy Spirit is
working in the hearts and souls of every person on this planet and the light,
which Christians call Christ, resides in every person. The people of God
are the church of God and there are no distinctions between us since we are all
made in the image of God (imago Deo). The Christian is only a part
of the church of God and intentionally manifests the message of Christian faith
and virtue in the mystery of Jesus Christ. Church consists of people made
of flesh and that God declares and Christ confirms as very good.
Therefore, Christian education must articulate a positive theology of the body
and of sexuality.
Church is family. The bonds of love, which come
from Christ, shapes and colors every relationship we encounter. The call
of Christ is a call to move into authentic relationship. Thus, we do not
move into relationship for the sake of the other person’s soul but for the sake
of our own. The goal of community is to recognize each other and the role
that we play in the lives of our church and world. Church is catholic, universal and as such we
are all brothers and sisters in Christ regardless of creed or denomination.
The Subjects
of Christian Education
Christian education must begin espouse the Christian
concepts of koinonia, leiturgia, didache, kerygma and diakonia.[1] That
community (koinonia) is our family with each other and with God. That
our hope lies in the ability to recognize in the stranger a potential to meet
Christ and by this encounter it is we who are transformed. That
conversion is an ongoing process for both the individual and the
community. Prayer (leiturgia) is the connective tissue that binds
together the entire body of Christ to God. Prayer must be natural and
simple and that the prime example is the Lord’s Prayer. Prayer should not
be excessive in words, but be attentive in silence. In other words,
prayer is as much about speaking to God as it is listening to God. Active
listening to someone else speak is a form of prayer. That it is through
prayer that the World to Come will be manifest.
Our teaching (didache) is telling our story as
a remembering (anamnesis) and a responding (eschatological) people
with God. It is important for the individual to learn to articulate their
own spiritual journey while, at the same time, recognizing their role in the
gospel of Christ that is proclaimed. The proclamation (kerygma) is
the liberation and love spoken by the good news of the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. This proclamation is ever-present, anchored
in the four canonical gospels, illuminated by Scripture and manifested in the
very lives of all people.
The service, or ministry (diakonia) of the body
of Christ is to make manifest the eschatological promise by bearing witness and
walking with the wayward and the outcast and to be a sanctuary for the
refugee. All people who profess faith in Christ are called to be
ministers and through spiritual discipline and discernment cultivate a mind
that was in Christ (Phil. 2:5).
The Method
of Christian Education
The Christian education should be dialogical and
transformational.[2] Christians are called to come together
as a body to worship and praise God and to pray for the healing and wholeness
of the whole world. Christians must constantly examine themselves in
relation to power dynamics always remembering that our Lord, humbling himself,
took the form of a servant and was obedient to the will of God.
Therefore, we must admit to and learn to respond to the vast inequality that
exist in the world today especially in understanding the distinction between
the oppressor and oppressed. The
qualities of active listening and dignity of person should be inherent in
dialogue. The gospel message of love is about transformation and
transcendence. Through creative
expression, especially dramaturgy, people can embody and rehearse scenarios
that represent real life situations regarding ethical and moral conflicts. By posing problems we begin to recognize those
thresholds that separate one from another and all of us from God.
The method of dialogue and transformation should
encourage community and instill a sense of social justice and human rights
advocacy. Christians must join forces with other faiths to bring about
the promise of new life for all people.
Epistemology, like metaphysics, stands at the base of
human thought and activity. Educational
systems deal in knowledge, and therefore epistemology is a primary dererminant
of educational beliefs and practices.
Epistemology makes a direct impact upon education in many ways. For example, assumptions about the importance
of the various sources of knowledge will certainly be reflected in curricular
emphases. A Christian school, with its
belief in revalation as a source of certain knowledge, will undoubtedly have a
curriculum and a role for the Bible in the curriculum than differ in substantial
ways from an institution based upon a set of naturalistic premises. Epistemological assumptions concerning the
communication of knowledge from one person or thing to another person will also
impact upon teaching methodologies and the function of the teacher in the
educative contect. Educators must
understan their epistemological presuppositions before they will be able to
operate effectively.
Values have to do with human persons,
with men and women. As such, values are concerned with the "only creature
on earth which God willed for its own sake, and for whom God has his plan, that
is, a share in eternal salvation.[3] The Christian view of man/woman, therefore,
is a major chapter in theology and religious education. In fact before the
advent of the social and behavioral sciences, human values and virtues
generally were considered to be more or less the exclusive domain of
literature, philosophy, and theology. With the great expansion of the
"human sciences," this monopoly has been decisively broken. But the
new problematic has made it imperative to re-assert the necessary and
legitimate role of theology in understanding, evaluating, and developing
authentic human values. In terms of Indonesian culture and values, it is all
the more imperative to consider values and values education in direct relation
to Christian Faith and faith education.
The simplest description of value is
"a reality insofar as it is prized by a person." [4]
Three components are implied: 1) the
nature of the reality prized; 2) the aspect of the reality that makes it to be
the "prized"; and 3) the extent to which the prized aspect is
internalized and affects the person. The
first component is the objective base of the value; the second is the
subjective appreciation of that base, and the third is the variable effect in
the prizing/valuing subject. From a
theological perspective, what a value approach does, then, is to bring together
the traditional idea of objective good with the modern stress on the personal
subject who values that good and is being formed and changed in the valuing
process.
General
Goal. The basic
aim of catechesis or Christian religious education is to "put people not
only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ."[5] This sharp Christocentricity, the outstanding
characteristic of current catechesis, is developed today in relation to the
basic human values which Christians share with Christ, their Lord and the
perfect human person. Following Christ,
or authentically living the Christian way of life, is now viewed as the
believers' progressive interiorization of Christ's own values. Religious education, then, becomes the process
of drawing believers more deeply and consciously into the value system of
Christ, made present and passed on by the Christian community through
"handing on the symbols of Faith."[6]
Eschatological
Dimension of Christian Education
The eschatological dimension of Christian education is
the promise of heaven. Heaven is a place that exists within time and is
in the process of realization. The
glory, the havod, of God is synonymous with the reign of God and that
through the methods of Christian activity in the world this glory is made
manifest. All people are members of this holy realm and that our journey
will lead us there. Sin is the darkness we experience when our eyes are
not set on the light of Christ. Hell is living in that darkness. Heaven
and hell are real and ever-present.
The World to Come is moving towards us, rather than we
moving towards it. Christian education should always emphasize the hope
and faith we have in Christ Jesus. Resurrection and that because Christ
conquered death we can move in the world without fear. We must engage and
learn from each other, recognizing and sharing the gifts that God has given us,
in order to form bonds of love so that we can proclaim together, “We are
family for we all come from the same creator.”
IMPLICATION FOR MY MINISTRY
Curriculum
of Christian and Biblical Principles
Five basic truths sustain the Christian
view of human persons, their situation, their good, and their final
destiny. Grounded on the fundamental
truth that God is creating everything now, all is seen as endowed with an
innate goodness, especially the human person created in the divine image and
likeness. While experiencing their
fallenness in sin, Christians nevertheless believe in God's incarnation in
Jesus Christ, by which they are adopted as sons and daughters of the Father,
redeemed from sin and graced by the Holy Spirit in the Church, the people of
God, and called to eternal life with God.
Thus, the basic truths of the Christian Faith--Creation, Sin,
Incarnation, Redemption, Grace and Glory delineate the individual human
person's "good," as well as the basic values for all. In addition to the Basis and Educational Creed, the
educational program will affirm the following principles related to the
Christian faith: Creation:
In the beginning God - Father, Son and
Spirit - called this world into being out of nothing and gave it shape and
order. We believe that God reveals
Himself through His creation and that despite the fall into sin, the original
goodness of creation still shines through the character, structure and
connectedness of things. We believe that
all of creation is called to glorify His name.
Sin: People’s
disobedience to God has broken the relationship between God and us. Looking for life without God, we find only
brokenness and death, leaving us blind to our place in the world and to the
meaning of life.
Redemption:
Jesus Christ, the eternal Word made
flesh, conquered sin and death. Being both God and man, Jesus is the only
mediator between God and His people. He
alone paid the debt of sin; there is no other Saviour. It is through Christ that all areas of life,
including education, are redeemed and restored. Therefore, it is only in Christ that we are
able to discover the meaning and purpose of life. Jesus is Redeemer of the universe and all that
is in it and is the only Savior of humankind. Christ, uses humankind as an instrument to
restore everything in the world to His definition of how it should be. The Holy Spirit: The
evidence of Christ's redemptive presence in our life is the work of the Holy
Spirit. Our children must be made aware
that the presence of God, the Father, and the saving work of Christ through the
working of the Holy Spirit remains with them always, also in their educational
environment. It inspires and enables us
to do God's will and to seek His glory in all things.
Scriptures:
The Bible is the sole Word of God. It is the Word of Truth, fully reliable in
leading us to know God and have life in Jesus Christ. It infallibly tells of God’s mighty acts,
reveals His will and His plan of salvation. Apart from studying the Word of God diligently
to know more about God’s way of dealing with humankind, we also look to the
Bible for guidance in developing a biblical world view. Our Purpose: Our purpose is to serve our Lord, Jesus
Christ. Since the rule of Jesus Christ
covers the whole world, to follow the Lord is to serve Him everywhere,
including the field of education. We
must serve God in every area of our life, in obedience and out of thankfulness.
We are, therefore, also required to
direct the training of our children accordingly. Our World: This world God has created belongs to Him and
not the evil one. This is not a throw-away world. God will renew it rather than destroy it. This
makes all actions to improve life on earth worthwhile. This also means that as a Christian school we
will engage culture, not flee from it, and we will do so in the confidence that
God is in control. In the event
that there is any interpretative distinction between the principles described
in the Educational Vision and Philosophy Statement and the Basis and Educational
Creed, the principles set out in the Basis and Educational Creed shall prevail.
Instruction
Expectations for Teachers. It is expected that teachers will
structure learning environments that challenge students to achieve excellence,
encourage creative and critical thinking, and teach a Christian world view that
is founded on the Bible. In addition:
1. All teachers
are expected to be Christian leaders and role models by emphasizing the
development of personal excellence and supporting the vision and philosophy of
the school.
2. All teachers
will be purposeful about discussion of Christian principles beliefs as they
integrate these naturally into the learning of different subjects.
3. Teachers are
expected to demonstrate the integration of faith and learning in their lesson
plans.
4. Teachers
will encourage students in their spiritual formation and character development.
5. Teachers
will be expected to develop teaching styles and methods that match the learning
styles and abilities of their students.
Outcomes
The Educational
Program. Within a Christian environment,
the school seeks to shape its curriculum and methodology using Christian
principles. Because we believe children are unique image bearers of Christ, we
are committed to developing the gifts of each student. We wish to nurture all
children so that they can achieve excellence and be lead to discover, celebrate
and proclaim, both individually and communally, the restorative power of God’s
work in all areas of life. We strive to provide knowledge, insight, and skills
to equip them for a life of faithful and joyous service to God and their
neighbour. We recognize that God’s presence in this world
and Christ’s hopeful message of restoration and redemption is revealed not just
in biblical or religious studies, but through all aspects of our curriculum. It
is essential to the Education Program that as a school we not compartmentalize
a Christian world-view, but to integrate it and reveal it in all aspects of
learning.
Evaluation
from Christian Education
Christian
education has not been deliberately built upon a distinctive Christian
philosophy. As a result, many Christian
schools have tended to offer something less than Christian education and have
thereby frustated the purpose of their
existence. Christian educators must come
to see their educational systems as unified endeavors built upon a foundation,
the entire superstructure of the educational system must be built out of
materials and processes that are in harmony with Christianity. That is a difficult task in an
overwhelmingly secular world in which even professed Christian institutions are
often riddled with an aggressive and all-pervasive secularism and
materialism. The task at hand is to seek
to develop a genuinely to maintain an electric relationship to larger culture,
in which Christian educators pick and choose among secular options in their
quest for Christian culture.
Eclecticism, at its best, is an insufficient base for Christian
education.
Christian
educators generally appreciate the emphasis that existentialism places upon
individual responsibility and personal choice, the concern that realism has for
natural law, the stress of progressivism on enlisting the interest of the chil
in the learning process, the accent of idealism on that timeless realm beyond
the confirnes of this world, and the desire for a better social order that is
emphasized by reconstructionism and futurism.[7]
Christian Education is a continual process
of critical reflection on participation and practice in the light of the Gospel.
We are formed as Christians through our participation in and
practice of the Christian life of faith. The curricular materials we
choose to assist us in teaching are an important part of by which knowledge
and skills important to the Christian life of faith are acquired. Jesus teaching was not based
on memorization, repetition and recitation, but rather on spontaneous
creative responses to situations and experiences. He wove daily life experiences
into his teaching and reflected on life experiences. And the authority
for his teaching was his life itself. Any teaching ministry in the name
of Jesus will follow his example seriously. Curricular work is holy work,
religious work, and that God dwells with us as we do it, in the midst of each of
the processes we choose to do. Evaluating
and selecting curriculum may be one of the most important tasks of a Christian educator (besides being a role
model and spiritual guide). Each congregation is different with their own
needs and desires one size doesn’t fit all! It is important for more
than one person to evaluate and choose a curriculum, whether it is for
children, youth or adults. A committee should be formed that includes clergy,
Christian education director or administrator and teachers or adults
who provide educational leadership. If materials for youth are being considered,
there should be at least 2 youth also involved.
Choosing a new curriculum should be intentional, keeping in mind
many factors so that the resource materials you use with your
children, youth or adults provide a teaching and learning environment
that promotes faithfulness.
The school is only one of society’s
agents for learning, education, and training.
The family, media, peer group, and church are some of the other
institutions that share this responsibility.
In fact, the school may even be seen as a minor partner in the
educational process, with the family and the media playing the major role in
the lives of most children.
The very
existence of Christian schools as an alternative to public systems indicates a
diffrent set of philosophic assumptions and educational boundaries from those
ot the larger culture. A belief in the
reality of Jesus as Lord and Savior and the trustworthiness of the Bible as the
primary source of dependable knowledge, for example, has led people to
sacrifice largely of their time and material goods to establish schools in
which the Christian metaphysical and epistemological stance will be
central. These beliefs not only account
account for the existence of Christian schools; they also provide criteria for
curriculum selection and emphasis, teaching methodologies, and the type of
relationship that teachers will seek to build with students.
Educational
practices are conditioned by philosophic beliefs. Teachers, parents, and other educators
develop unnecessary difficulties when their practices conflict with the world
view that they are seeking to tansmit to the youth in their change. A healthy educational program is one that is
their change. A with its philosophic
beliefs as external circumtances permit.
[1]This rubric is discussed in Maria Harris Fashion Me
A People. Curriculum in the Church. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox
Press, 1989).
[2]Much of my ideas of method come from
Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. (Continuum: New
York, 2008; 1970).
[3] "Church in the Modern
World," in The Documents of Vatican II, ed. Walter M. Abbott,
S.J. (New York: America Press, 1966), hlm. 223.
[4]Janet Kalven, "Personal
Value Clarification," in Readings in Value Development, ed. Brian
Hall, et al. (New York: Paulist, 1982), hlm. 7.
[5]John Paul II, Redemptor
Hominis (Pasay: Daughters of St. Paul, 1979), hlm. 52.
[6]Lawrence Kohlberg, "Stages
of Moral Development as a Basis for Moral Education," in Moral
Development, Moral Education and Kohlberg, ed. Brenda Munsey (Birmingham:
Religious Education Press, 1980). lm. 132.
[7]George R. Knight, Philosophy & Education An Introduction
In Christian Perspective 2nd Edition,(Michigan: Andrews University Press
Berrien Springs, 1989), hlm. 149.
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