Preparing for Rural Ministry| A Qualitative Analysis of Curriculum used in Theological Education to Prepare Clergy for Ministry in a Rural Context

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 2005. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Dec. 3, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-04, Section: A, page: 1286. Adviser: Ruth C. Engs.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Counseling and Educational Psychology of the School of Education, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 6, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-10, Section: A, page: 3765. Advisers: Jeffrey Daniels; Phil Carspecken.

This research was carried out in three villages in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, and looked at the ways in which Ngaju Dayak Christian women passed on their skills, beliefs and values to their children. It was an educational, ethnographic, collective case-study which was both descriptive and interpretive. The main data collecting methods were participant observation and ethnographic interviews, undertaken over a two year period from 2007 to 2008. The motivation for carrying out the study was to try to find more effective ways of delivering Christian Education to rural Christian women, based on their traditional ways of teaching and learning. The research reveals that traditional Ngaju Dayak teaching and learning fits into a situated learning model. I claim that educational practices based upon that model are not necessarily in conflict with a Christian worldview. While this study confirms many of the findings of studies which have been carried out amongst indigenous people in other parts of the world it broke new ground in that it looked for the first time at traditional education methods among the Ngaju Dayak women. It found that the mothers especially, played the dominant role in passing on skills, beliefs and values to their children. Their methods were almost totally informal, frequently modelling or demonstrating in situations where children were present and included. The younger generation learned through observation, participation and imitation and by listening and experimenting. The context for the teaching and learning was the real and meaningful environment of the village, fields and/or family and was almost always connected to ‘real-life’ situations. Skills, beliefs and values were passed on orally. Also much was visually transmitted especially through the use of artefacts used in ceremonies. With the advent of local or personal electricity supplies, skills, beliefs and particularly values were also being transmitted via the mass media. Although there were some gender specific roles and mothers were dominant in passing on the skills, beliefs and values, overall there was minimal gender differentiation among the recipients. The study showed that these Ngaju Dayak women are ‘functionally illiterate’. They are able to read and write but their main ways of learning are oral. Story telling, has always played an important role in the lives of the Ngaju Dayak people. Further, it is evident that they prefer visual, kinesthetic, modes of learning to passive, formal ones. Cultural transmission from parents to children clearly takes place, but with certain modifications. Even though culture was transmitted by the parents and the wider family, motivation and relevance were important reasons for passing on the skills, beliefs and values. In summary, learning and teaching remains strongly influenced by the traditional Dayak worldview.

Christian women's organizations in Zimbabwe have a long history. Prior to independence, both the Catholic church and the major Protestant denominations had mother's unions or women's clubs. These groups met at the congregational level weekly for prayer, singing, Bible study and support. Education was also an important function of these groups. After independence, many ecumenical and non-denominational Christian women's groups were formed. The purpose of these groups was to assist in national development and in women's development. This dissertation explores the role of these women's organizations in facilitating women's participation in development. The premise of the study was that the church in Zimbabwe plays a large role in development and that women are heavily involved in church life. It was not clear, however, that women's involvement resulted in their benefiting from the church's development activities and efforts. It was assumed that women's organizations would be one way that women could access those activities and the resultant benefits. The literature review includes feminist theories, women in development (WID) and women's organizations. This provided a foundation for exploring the theoretical underpinnings of WID efforts and women's organizations, as well as the appropriateness of those theories, efforts and organizations for women in Zimbabwe. The field research consisted of in-depth interviews with the heads of various types of Christian women's organizations as well as leaders within the Christian Council of Zimbabwe. Unpublished documents produced by the organizations were analyzed. And observations were done of one indigenous community development organization and one church-related women's club. The data revealed that women are benefiting from church development efforts and that women's organizations are largely responsible for that. Also, that women's organizations on their own contribute greatly to community development. Christian women's organizations in Zimbabwe have a major role to play in facilitating the full participation of women in development.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the perception of faculty members at Free Methodist colleges regarding the integration of faith and learning in the total environment of their institution. In order to study this problem, the entire population of faculty was studied at Greenville College, Greenville, IL.; Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester, N.Y.; Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA.; and Spring Arbor College, Spring Arbor, MI. The purposes of this study are fourfold: (1) to identify and to validate statements which describe individual criteria which must exist if integration of faith and learning is occurring on Christian college campuses; (2) to use these criterion statements in evaluating the perception of faculty at Free Methodist colleges concerning integration of faith and learning at their institutions; (3) to study the effect of age on the perception of integration of faith and learning among faculty; (4) to study the effect of the undergraduate alma mater on the perception of integration of faith and learning among faculty. An instrument containing forty-seven statements of criteria for integration of faith and learning was developed for this study and given to the faculty at the four institutions. Content validity was established by using nine experts in the Delphi Technique. Criterion-related validity was established by means of a discrimination study of faculty at Wheaton College and Southern Methodist University. A significant difference was found at the .01 level. A reliability coefficient of .93 was established through a test for internal consistency. Instruments were sent to 298 faculty representing all full-time faculty at the four schools under examination. The response rate was 49.7% or 148. Based on the findings of three hypotheses which were tested, it can be concluded that (1) age makes a difference in the perception of integration of faith and learning, (2) the four institutions under study are different in their effectiveness of integrating faith and learning, and (3) the undergraduate alma mater has no impact on the perception of integration of faith and learning.

Previous research has shown that 80% of college students have reported they are interested in spirituality. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of female students while studying Old Testament scriptures as part of their required liberal arts curriculum and to describe how their experiences affected their lives, spiritually or in other ways. While there is a small but growing body of survey data about students' interest in spirituality, a gap exists regarding how or in what ways required biblical curriculum affects students spiritually at Christian liberal arts universities. Fowler's faith stages, Gibson's model for spiritual development, and Thayer's spirituality scales, derived from learning theory, provided the conceptual framework and guided the interpretation of findings. Thirteen female students, the class professor, and his classroom manager participated in face-to-face interviews. The constant comparative method was used for content analysis to identify, code, and group meaningful statements into salient themes and organize them into 5 primary domains. Students reported the study of scriptures increased their faith in and spiritual connection to God, helped them internalize and articulate their Christian beliefs, and eased their transition into college, because they applied biblical lessons to their everyday lives. The results of this study have implications for positive social change by adding to the knowledge of spirituality in Christian higher education. At the student level, the implications for social change are positive attitude and lifestyle changes, improved relationships with family, and having meaning and purpose in life. At the institutional level, the results provide insight for developing effective curriculum that meets the needs and expectations of students, which can lead to greater student retention and persistence to graduation.

The Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVC) identifies 9 core competencies for integrating spirituality/religion into practice. Previous research indicates that some mental health professionals have experienced discomfort when considering the balance between religious ideology (RI) and scientific orientation (SO) in their practice. However, no research exists assessing this potential for cognitive dissonance among mental health professionals nor has there been a test of the relative influence of RI/SO on approval of ASERVC competency integration into counselor training. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was first to assess RI/SO cognitive dissonance and, second, to test RI/SO relative to ASERVC competency integration. The Religious Ideology, Scientific Orientation, Conflict Questionnaire and Core Competency Questionnaire was administered to a random sample of American Psychological Association and American Counseling Association professionals. The results from t tests revealed a significant difference in cognitive dissonance with higher scores on both RI/SO associated with greater dissonance. Multiple regression analysis revealed neither RI nor SO predict competency approval. Findings suggest an important social-change implication: Counselors may not perceive a conflict between RI and SO and, therefore, may be willing to accept the integration of the ASERVC competencies into their training. Implications also include changes in curricular requirements within academic programs that train counselors, social workers, and psychologists to integrate these competencies; considerations for ethical guidelines addressing religious and spiritual diversity; and the development of continuing education coursework pertaining to spiritual and religious diversity competencies.

<p> This qualitative study examined the process of adopting online education at three private colleges. All three institutions participating in the study were private Catholic colleges that offered their first online courses in the late 1990s. The research question posed for this study was: Within the participating institutions, how did online education get started and what was the process for its development? </p><p> Findings from this research indicated that, for an institution to successfully implement online education, four elements emerged: (a) some form of infrastructure needed to be in place that could support online education, (b) a latent force, referred to as an engine, was necessary to provide ongoing support, (c) an innovator, who had a strong interest in online education, was imperative, and (d) a bridge builder, who provided credibility, communication, and coordination between stakeholders, was critical to the sustainability of the online initiative. The institution successfully implementing online education also needed significant amounts of personnel, funding, and technology. </p>

Entitled diploma thesis one by one acquaints its readers with current appearance of ethical education in religious lessons in the Czech Republic. It is divided into several chapters, each of them tries to solve specific problem. The thesis is closed by interviews with teachers of religion in church schools, thus opinions in a conlusion are justified.