THE UNIVERSITY PASTORATE MOVEMENT∗

Building on the author's experience in leadership development in Roman Catholic parishes and recent work in the field of congregational studies, this essay examines the religious educator's role as a catalyst in the transformation of the culture of the local church. As an alternative to an instructional/schooling approach to religious education, the paper proposes a model of congregational education directed specifically to the transformation of the corporate life of the faith community by its members working together to reshape concrete behaviors, structures, and roles in order to carry out the church's mission and ministry.

This argument is developed through a discussion of foundational assumptions about the significance of congregational life for the church's educational mission and a brief case study illustrating central dynamics in the process of congregational education. The paper concludes with observations about the range of skills required of congregational educators, especially their ability to understand and evaluate the complex dynamics of congregational life in a disciplined way.     

RELIGIOUS TEACHING AND INFLUENCE OF THE UNIVERSITY∗

The purpose of this column is to keep religious educators abreast of relevant significant research in the general field of psychology. Its implications for methods and materials in religious education are clear. Religious educators may well take advantage of every new finding in scientific research.

Each section describes a group of findings which have been reported in PSYCHOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS together with titles of these works so that those who wish may go to the original source.

This column is written as a service to religious educators by the Union College Character Research Project. All abstracts are used with permission of the periodical, PSYCHOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS. The abstract numbers are Volume 35. Number 1, February 1961 and Volume 35, Number 2, April 1961.     

FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR A JOINT COUNCIL OF EUROPE/UNESCO CONVENTION ON ACADEMIC RECOGNITION FOR THE EUROPE REGION∗

This feasibility study considers, from a number of angles, the adoption of a joint Council of Europe/UNESCO Convention on Academic Recognition stressing in particular its educational advantages. Among the issues to be addressed by a joint convention are the questions of definitions, the length and content of studies, entrance examinations, nontraditional qualifications, the problems of refugee students, international qualifications, numerus dausus, intermediate and final higher education qualifications, and the assessment and accreditation of higher education institutions. The two Secretariats have concluded that a joint convention is desirable, timely, and feasible, and that this feasibility study, including the recommendations of the ad hoc expert group, constitutes the basis for the elaboration of such a convention.

     

MUSIC IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL∗

One task facing adult religious education is to become more intentional in understanding homosexuality and homosexual persons, to the end that these persons might find religious groups to be more open and accepting and that religious persons of good will might become more articulate allies of homosexual persons in the larger society. The paper proposes a curricular design built upon Maria Harris's model for “fashioning a people.” The proposal is intended to be a framework by which professional religious educators are enabled to evaluate existing resources and to plan curricular strategies in light of their own theological understandings.

     

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF THERMAL PHYSICS IN EVERYDAY CONTEXTS

Thermal physics is in the realm of everyday experience, underlies current environmental concerns, and underpins studies in sciences, health and engineering. In the state of NSW in Australia, the coverage of thermal topics in high school is minimal, and, hence, so is the conceptual understanding of students. This study takes a new approach at exploring conceptions of students with a qualitative analysis facilitated by NVivo complemented with reference to sociocultural ideas of learning. A 2-part pen and paper question was given to 598 first year university students of different educational backgrounds (and therefore physics expertise). ‘The Question’ was based on 2 familiar scenarios and required the selection of a concept first, followed by an explanation. The results showed that concepts were favoured based on a student’s everyday experience and their curriculum through high school, and some were more effective than others in making scientifically congruent responses. The reported thermal physics alternative conceptions were also examined in our sample, and students’ reasoning behind such conceptions indicate that some conceptions do not inhibit scientifically congruent responses whilst others do. The results implicate language and the everyday experiences of the student in the teaching and learning of thermal physics.     

PARALLELS OF PROGRESS IN RELIGION AND EDUCATION∗

The careful distinctions in this article assist in clarifying the tasks of educators     

INSTRUMENTS AND ENDS IN SPIRITUAL WORLD CONQUEST∗

It is the conviction of the editor that there is a theological basis for a theory of Christian education. In some writings, this theological basis may be hidden or be an aspect of which one is not conscious. But today, as theological reformulations continue to challenge us, theories of Christian education also have undergone certain changes. The emphasis on kerygma among both Catholic and Protestant educators is an illustration of this

As a result of this concern, the editor wrote a number of people asking their cooperation in a brief symposium. The letter and the replies follow     

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ VIEWS OF THE ROLE OF MATHEMATICS IN THEIR FUTURE

We report on an international study about mathematics students’ ideas of how they will use mathematics in their future study and careers. This builds on our previous research into students’ conceptions of mathematics. In this paper, we use data from two groups of students studying mathematics: those who participated in an in-depth interview and those who completed an open-ended questionnaire. We found that their responses could be grouped into four categories: don’t know; procedural skills; conceptual skills; and professional skills. Although some students held clear ideas about the role of mathematics, many were not able to articulate how it would be used in their future. This has implications for their approach to learning and our approach to teaching.