The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of theological
education on philosophy of human nature among Sunday school teachers in
the Church of the Nazarene. Research materials consisted of Wrightsman's
Philosophy of Human Nature scale and a demographic questionnaire
constructed by the researcher. These materials were mailed to a random
sample of 188 Sunday school teachers in the Oregon-Pacific District of the
Church of the Nazarene. Useable materials were received from 157 subjects
for an 84% return rate.
Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance, and tested for
significance at the p < 0.05 level. The null hypothesis was retained: there
was no difference in philosophy of human nature between subjects with
different levels of theological education.
Other findings were: 1) Oregon-Pacific Nazarene Sunday school
teachers had moderately positive scores on all subscales of the PHN.
Previous studies had reported that conservative Christians had negative
scores on the PHN. 2) Oregon-Pacific Nazarene Sunday school teachers had
a higher level of educational attainment than adults in the United States
generally. 3) Women had more positive scores than men, although they had
far less theological education than men. 4) Subjects with at least a college
degree had more complex views of people than did those with a high school
diploma or some college as the highest level of educational attainment.
Recommendations were outlined for the practice of Christian education
and for future research. These recommendations included the following: 1)
use of the PHN as a screening device for Sunday school teachers, 2)
cooperation between Nazarene colleges and district CL/SS boards to provide
training opportunities for Sunday school teachers, 3) equipping of women for
expanded leadership roles in Sunday school and church, 4) examination of
differences that may exist in the philosophy of human nature between
Sunday school teachers of different denominational groups, and 5) study of
the relationship between training experiences, educational beliefs, and
effectiveness of Sunday school teachers. / Graduation date: 1990
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/38146 |
| Date | 08 June 1989 |
| Creators | Budd, Clair Allen, 1953- |
| Contributors | Ahrendt, Kenneth M. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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