The study collected information about training practices in local churches of the United Brethren in Christ. A mailed questionnaire was used to collect data from 230 churches nationwide. The instrument contained 22 questions, divided into three sections: (a) teacher involvement in religious education, (b) teacher training, and (c) demographic information. The return rate was 65.7% (151 surveys). Frequency counts and percentages were obtained. Data were summarized in table and narrative form. Cross-tabulations were completed between selected demographic variables and the provision for teacher training.Selected findings included: (a) among 15 possible religious education activities, at least two-thirds of the churches reported using teachers in five of them; (b) over half of the churches (51%) provided some form of training; (c) among those providing some form of training the scope was limited; (d) difficulty in scheduling and lack of fiscal resources were identified as the greatest obstacles to training; (e) training was more common in churches with larger attendance figures for worship and Sunday school.The following conclusions were formulated: (a) the extent to which teachers were used in religious education activities was affected by the scope of programs offered; (b) in the absence of a mandate for training, scheduling and scarce resources were negative factors; (c) even in churches conducting training, the activity was not a high priority; (d) reliance on consultants and conferences reflected the fact that churches did not conduct theirfor pastors to require training; and, (f) training occurred more often in larger churches where adequate resources and formal approaches to programming were common.Six recommendations were presented: (a) the denomination should develop and disseminate a position on teacher training; (b) pastors should be exposed to educational programs stressing the importance of training teachers; (c) the denomination should formulate and make available more programs and materials to support training; (d) the issue of effectiveness of training programs should be examined; (e) research on the selection, supervision, retention, and evaluation of teachers should be conducted.own training; (e) using volunteers made it more difficult / Department of Educational Leadership
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/177730 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Lightner, Leslie Lynn |
| Contributors | Murk, Peter J. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | xii, 146 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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