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Churches around the world offer Adult Sunday classes as a forum for adult religious education. This time-honored approach to church-based adult education has encountered difficulties in recent times. For many churches, Adult Sunday School is standing at a crossroads. Where does it go from here? This study attempted to determine those factors that influence adults' decisions about whether or not to attend Adult Sunday School and what changes could be made to increase participation in the program. The context for this study on Adult Sunday School is Langley Evangelical Free Church located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. This mid-sized church of approximately 600 people provided data upon which any conclusions were made. Surveys on Adult Sunday School were distributed to 365 adults and 195 surveys were returned. Respondents were given the opportunity to volunteer to participate in a discussion group to discuss the implications of the survey results. The results was that thirty-one people participated in six discussion groups. The discussion groups were instrumental in making sense of the data and recommending changes to increase participation in Adult Sunday School. The study asked participants to rate nine factors as to their influence in determining whether or not they would attend Adult Sunday School. The factors were ranked by respondents in the following order: spiritual growth, relevance, practicality, teaching style, sharing experiences, social contact, learning, intergenerational and external expectations. Other variables that were analyzed included age, marital status, family makeup, educational level and involvement in small group Bible studies. There were some significant differences in how members of some of the subgroups rated the factors. The study also looked at barriers to participation which were categorized as situational barriers, organizational barriers and personal barriers. The discussion groups concluded that three factors should be addressed to increase participation in Adult Sunday School at Langley Evangelical Free Church: content relevance, Sunday morning format and a more systematic structure. The results of this study provide valuable information for designing a blueprint for change at Langley Evangelical Free Church which may also be suggestive for other churches as they evaluate Adult Sunday School.

Disertacijos tyrimo objektas – religinio ir pilietinio ugdymo ryšys suderinamumo ir papildomumo aspektais. Tyrimu siekta atskleisti religinio ir pilietinio ugdymo ryšio, šių dviejų sričių suderinamumo ir papildomumo teorines ir praktines galimybes. Pilietinio ir religinio ugdymo suderinamumo ir papildomumo analizė remiasi ugdymo turinio bendrojo lavinimo mokykloje prieštaravimų ir studentų pilietinės ir religinės socializacijos ypatumų identifikavimu bei pilietiškumo ugdymo religinėse aplinkose, taikant kooperuotų studijų metodą, realizavimu. Tyrimu siekta atsakyti į šiuos klausimus: Kaip siejasi teoriniai pilietiškumo ir religingumo konceptai? Kaip siejasi religingumo ir pilietiškumo formos? Kaip teoriniu požiūriu gali būti pasiekiama religinio ir pilietinio ugdymo vienovė, suderinamumas ir tarpusavio papildomumas? Kokiais ugdymo tikslų ir ugdymo turinio prieštaravimais pasižymi religinis ir pilietinis ugdymas Lietuvoje? Kokias ir kaip pilietiškumo kompetencijas ugdo religijos (tikybos) vadovėliai? Kaip pasireiškia ir siejasi asmens pilietiškumas ir religingumas? Kaip pilietiškumas ir religingumas gali būti traktuojami kaip asmens socializacijos ir ugdymo rezultatas? Kokios yra pilietinio ugdymo religinio pažinimo kontekste teorinės ir praktinės sąlygos? Kokie ugdymo metodai gali būti taikomi derinant pilietinį ir religinį ugdymą? Kiek veiksmingas, ugdant pilietiškumą, gali būti kooperuotų studijų metodas, realizuojamas religinėse aplinkose? Kokia dinamika pasižymi studentų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The relationship between religious and civic education, on the aspects of the compatibility and complementability is analyzed in the doctoral research. The analysis is based on the identification of the contradictions of the education content in secondary schools; on the identification of the peculiarities of students’ civic and religious socialization, and on the implementation of civic education (with the help of service learning) in religious surroundings. The following questions are developed in the dissertational research: How are theoretical concepts of citizenship and religiosity related? How are the forms of religiosity and citizenship related? How can the compatibility and complementability of religious and civic education be achieved? What are the contradictions between the goals of civic education and the content of religious education in Lithuania? What and how are civic competences developed by religious education textbooks? How are personal religiosity and citizenship related and expressed? How can citizenship and religiosity be approached as the result of socialization and education? What are the theoretical and practical conditions of civic education in the context of religious knowledge? What educational methods can be applied in harmonizing civic and religious education? How effective for the education of civic attitudes and skills can service learning performed in religious environments be? How are students’ civic attitudes and skills changing while... [to full text]

Disertacijos tyrimo objektas – religinio ir pilietinio ugdymo ryšys suderinamumo ir papildomumo aspektais. Tyrimu siekta atskleisti religinio ir pilietinio ugdymo ryšio, šių dviejų sričių suderinamumo ir papildomumo teorines ir praktines galimybes. Pilietinio ir religinio ugdymo suderinamumo ir papildomumo analizė remiasi ugdymo turinio bendrojo lavinimo mokykloje prieštaravimų ir studentų pilietinės ir religinės socializacijos ypatumų identifikavimu bei pilietiškumo ugdymo religinėse aplinkose, taikant kooperuotų studijų metodą, realizavimu. Tyrimu siekta atsakyti į šiuos klausimus: Kaip siejasi teoriniai pilietiškumo ir religingumo konceptai? Kaip siejasi religingumo ir pilietiškumo formos? Kaip teoriniu požiūriu gali būti pasiekiama religinio ir pilietinio ugdymo vienovė, suderinamumas ir tarpusavio papildomumas? Kokiais ugdymo tikslų ir ugdymo turinio prieštaravimais pasižymi religinis ir pilietinis ugdymas Lietuvoje? Kokias ir kaip pilietiškumo kompetencijas ugdo religijos (tikybos) vadovėliai? Kaip pasireiškia ir siejasi asmens pilietiškumas ir religingumas? Kaip pilietiškumas ir religingumas gali būti traktuojami kaip asmens socializacijos ir ugdymo rezultatas? Kokios yra pilietinio ugdymo religinio pažinimo kontekste teorinės ir praktinės sąlygos? Kokie ugdymo metodai gali būti taikomi derinant pilietinį ir religinį ugdymą? Kiek veiksmingas, ugdant pilietiškumą, gali būti kooperuotų studijų metodas, realizuojamas religinėse aplinkose? Kokia dinamika pasižymi studentų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The relationship between religious and civic education, on the aspects of the compatibility and complementability is analyzed in the doctoral research. The analysis is based on the identification of the contradictions of the education content in secondary schools; on the identification of the peculiarities of students’ civic and religious socialization, and on the implementation of civic education (with the help of service learning) in religious surroundings. The following questions are developed in the dissertational research: How are theoretical concepts of citizenship and religiosity related? How are the forms of religiosity and citizenship related? How can the compatibility and complementability of religious and civic education be achieved? What are the contradictions between the goals of civic education and the content of religious education in Lithuania? What and how are civic competences developed by religious education textbooks? How are personal religiosity and citizenship related and expressed? How can citizenship and religiosity be approached as the result of socialization and education? What are the theoretical and practical conditions of civic education in the context of religious knowledge? What educational methods can be applied in harmonizing civic and religious education? How effective for the education of civic attitudes and skills can service learning performed in religious environments be? How are students’ civic attitudes and skills changing while... [to full text]

This thesis reports on a phenomenological study, exploring contesting spaces in the / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The trend towards assimilation which has characterised the Jewish People has highlighted the importance of Jewish education as one of the primary means of dealing with this process which foreshadows the disappearance of the Jewish People as a distinct national and religious entity. The overt purpose of the syllabus of the Jewish Day School movement in South Africa is to inculcate a Jewish identity based on a traditional religious orientation and Jewish national pride expressed by a commitment to the Jewish People and to the State of Israel. The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of the school in fulfilling these aims. A questionnaire study was conducted at the Jewish Day School in Durban, Carmel College in May 1990. Eight dimensions of Jewish Identity were defined and multiple regression analysis was used to test whether they were statistically associated with each other. Two additional tools were used: an open-ended question designed to elicit from whom the pupils demarcate themselves when they define themselves as Jews and a delineation of the attributes of a “good Jew”. In 1991 an additional questionnaire on the family background and its relation to the specifically Jewish dimensions was administered to a sample of Carmel pupils. The findings revealed that the pupils manifested a strong Jewish identity expressed in the importance they attributed to Mitzvot, and Jewish credo in the desire that their children be Jews, in the instinct to associate with other Jews. Moreover, the results suggest that their sense of commitment to the welfare of other Jews does not preclude a concern for non-Jewish society as well. The pupils stressed the importance of being proud to be Jewish and being knowledgeable about Judaism. These findings were true of all categories examined: gender, denomination, standard at school and years of study at Carmel College. The study indicated that Jewish education had a positive impact on identity, but the magnitude of the impact was mediated by family background. No marked differences were found in the intensity of Jewish identity between Caramel pupils and the Jewish pupils attending government schools, although the latter tended to manifest a lesser commitment to the Jewish People and the State of Israel. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, 1992.

This dissertation explores the origins of, and the developments among, the approximately one hundred Bible schools that existed in western Canada prior to 1960. Although these schools influenced thousands of people, they have been almost entirely ignored by scholars, thereby leaving a significant lacuna within Canadian religious historiography. This study demonstrates the vital role played by the Bible schools in the development of evangelical Protestantism in western Canada. / The numerous Bible schools in the region are divided into six clusters based on denominational or theological similarities. A representative school (or schools) is selected from each cluster to serve as the focus of an institutional biography. These biographies explore the circumstances surrounding the origin, and subsequent developments (up to 1960) within, each school. The multiple institutional biographies create a collage that is both comprehensive enough to provide an understanding of the movement as a composite whole, and sufficiently varied to illustrate the movement's dynamic diversity. / This dissertation, therefore, presents a more multi-faceted explanation of the movement than previous characterizations that have generally depicted it as a part of an American fundamentalist reaction to Protestant liberalism. Although fundamentalism was a significant influence within some, particularly the transdenominational, Bible schools, at least as important in understanding the movement in western Canada were the particular ethnic, theological and denominational concerns that were prominent within the denominational clusters. The Bible schools typically offered a Bible-centred, intensely practical, lay-oriented program of post-secondary theological training. They were an innovative and practical response to the many challenges, created by massive immigration, rugged frontier conditions, geographical isolation, economic hardship, ethnicity and cultural assimilation, facing evangelical Protestants during the first half of the twentieth century. The Bible schools represent an institutional embodiment of the ethos and emphases of their respective constituencies. They served the multiple denominational and transdenominational constituencies, which made up the larger evangelical Protestant network, as centres of influence by preparing future generations for church leadership and participation in Canadian society. The Bible school movement offers a unique window into the diversity, complexity, dynamism and flexibility that characterized the development of evangelical Protestantism in western Canada.

In the late 1970's and 1980's, education issues formed a pivotal part of the American religious conservative agenda. The issues of school prayer, textbook content and the teaching of evolution in particular inspired lively debate and committed activism on the part of conservative Protestant leaders and activists. Confronting the behemoth of secular humanism, these leaders sought to win converts and to foment action in the converted through two separate modes of rhetoric: the emotional, which used impassioned arguments, and the intellectual, a more phlegmatic approach used to achieve political ends. Finding their roots in the 1920's, conservative Protestants have placed paramount importance on education issues throughout American history, believing that the United States is a fundamentally Christian nation, founded on a normative Protestant world view, and that American children should be taught according to these principles.

Eight Directors of Religious Education (DREs) were randomly chosen in Indiana and asked to participate in this study to assess the media technology used in their religious education programs. DREs directly control the general curriculum for each class and grade level while mentoring teachers' development and execution of lessons. Catholic parochial schools were not included in this study; the sole focus of this study was Catholic religious education programs.The methods for accessing the media technology consisted of a triangulation between observations, interviews, and document analysis. After the DREs agreed to participate, the researcher spent a day shadowing them and conducted an interview. Also, the researcher collected documents in the form of the church's bulletin and web site when applicable. Only the DRE's perspective was assessed, and not the teacher's, student's or parent's. / Department of Telecommunications

In recent years, staff development has received general recognition as a valuable method for improving the quality of education. Teacher centres constitute a significant forum for facilitating staff development. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to examine one such teacher centre in Montreal. / Examination of the literature on effective staff development and teacher centres resulted in an analytical framework comprising: (1) Context; (2) Organizational Structure; (3) Planning; (4) Process; and, (5) Content. This was used to organize data collected from observation, interviews, documents and a client survey. / The case study provided insight into the philosophy, purpose and organization of the centre and its staff development programmes. Additionally, the study identified methods employed by the centre to combat problems which currently face many staff development fora; namely, continued funding and maintaining client support. / The study revealed a strong relationship between the characteristics of the centre and those identified by research as effective staff development.