Religion and education

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Permalink Reply by ruthokoye on September 30, 2007 at 6:15am

What age are the kids you are working with? Are they all at High School or are you working with students at other levels as well?

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Permalink Reply by Ian Carmichael on September 30, 2007 at 4:20pm

All high school (- 13-18 year-olds). Some days the effective mental age is nothing like the chronological one!

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Permalink Reply by Wade Welch on September 30, 2007 at 4:43pm

I don't want to say it can't be done, but that's about as close as there is to it. Seriously, is the school you are working at (or you even) ready to allow an honest and open dialogue on this topic? I have seen very few schools that are allowed to discuss a topic like this actually be open to discussing it. If the students don't feel their voice is being heard throughout the campus, they will blow it off in a heartbeat. I'm just saying, don't ask your students to think critically and then tell them Dinosaur fossils are here to test their faith.

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Permalink Reply by Ian Carmichael on September 30, 2007 at 6:42pm

There's another reply to this lost in the digisphere. So I'll reconstruct it. First, I mean what I say at the start of this discussion. Second our school does not overtly or covertly impede discussion of these issues. Third our senior course is externally set in a state context and has an expectation of many views being examined, explored and understood. Fourth, (to pick up the ideology point I explicitly wasn't looking for) if I introduce the claim that dinosaur fossils are here to test faith, I expect to see some critical thinking skills in action in response. (As well as the comment that if the bones are that big, how big must the dogs have been!?)

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Permalink Reply by James Dykstra on September 30, 2007 at 7:57pm

I'm assuming if you're exploring how your faith affects science, ethics, etc, that you're familiar with www.biblegateway.com which is perhaps the greatest Bible search on the web (more languages, more versions, and more different ways to search than just about any other site). Some of the study tools at www.bible.org might prove useful, too. (I haven't looked closely at those.)

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Permalink Reply by Ian Carmichael on September 30, 2007 at 9:26pm

Well, I'm not demanding that we start from a faith position - I'm happy to track some trajectories which will touch on what is (are) science and its operations, similarly for religion - and ethics. The exploration then needs to continue with regard to independence, interdependence, dialogue, integration, or conflict of these trajectories.
Yes, indeed, I know the resources you've mentioned - already point my students here. I guess I'm looking for ideas which help engage students, the study tools and resources are OK.

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Permalink Reply by Wendy on September 30, 2007 at 8:02pm

Our pastor set up a social network on NEXO (I think it is similar to NING for his confirmation students. He has polls, he starts discussions on things touched on in class, etc.

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Permalink Reply by Ian Carmichael on September 30, 2007 at 9:27pm

Thanks for that.

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Permalink Reply by Ali Boumoussa on October 1, 2007 at 4:40am

Exposing students to altenative ways of interpreting 'reality' is perhaps the best strategy we can opt for to set ourselves and our students 'critically thinking' together.

This link www.sacred-texts.com may contribute towards achieving such an objective.

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Permalink Reply by Ian Carmichael on October 1, 2007 at 4:59am

Thanks for that too, Ali. And the whole idea of interpreting 'reality', whether there is one reality, several, none, and whether our disciplines are capable of fully interpreting the realities in which we are set or - if you want to be postmodern about it - the realities which we construct or choose is of central importance to critical thinking. Then of course the chain leads into questions of truth and verification...
My difficulty, I think, is that I find all these questions fascinating [my students, by and large don't - in a world keen on commodification of everything: from sex to knowledge; I'm looking for a way beyond the pragmatic 'what's the dollar value on this?' objection. It shouldn't worry me, but many of our educationalists have swallowed this line, and it becomes an intense pressure bent on warping the value of knowledge and wisdom into a facility with technological tools.

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Permalink Reply by James Dykstra on October 1, 2007 at 7:41am

To clarify, you're talking about some sort of presuppositional apologetics? They have to realize their starting point and underlying assumptions, defend them where appropriate, and figure out how they play out in different fields. Is this what you're after?

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Permalink Reply by Ian Carmichael on October 1, 2007 at 3:56pm

Ta. Yes, that's more or less in my mind. Perhaps more - presuppositional explorations (to avoid the word metaphysics). I have an apologetics agenda - for both science and religion - Carmichael 1.0 is a mathematics and physiocs release, Carmichael 1.5 is a philosophy of education version, Carmichael 2.0 is theology and pastoring, Carmichael 2.95 is a portal to the earlier releases through computer science.

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