Pedagogical Theory of Wisdom Literature

An Application of Educational Theory to Biblical Texts

Hinkle

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781498228657
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

How do you imagine the unimaginable or touch the untouchable? Through the characteristic use of teaching methods identified in Wisdom Literature, Adrian Hinkle discusses how religious training is described within the Hebrew Bible. Through her vivid discussion of the biblical texts, readers gain insight into teaching methodologies that stimulate new discussions and impact modern church leaders and educators.

Chapter 1

Active Learning

Active learning can be found within the confines of any community including families, organizations, and institutions. Humanity is composed of many different sizes and types of social communities that construct their own ethos and mythos based on their experiences and traditions. These communities typically share a geographical location, common beliefs, occupations, or other similar interest. Important aspects or characteristics of the group are transferred from elder generations to younger generations within the families or other organizations within the community. If a community is to succeed, it must concern itself with education. A great deal of information is passed on though the educational process, both formally and informally, promoting the growth and substance of the community. This information includes history, social and cultural norms including values and beliefs of the community. Its main objective is to prepare the younger generation for its future responsibilities. This includes expected skills, information, and standard rules of conduct. A historical and global look at the topic reveals that education has been used to convey ideas of governance, health, moral values and religious ideals.6

Formal and Informal Education

The value of education remains uncontested in most countries. In recent years, ongoing studies continue to build the body of knowledge on the best methods for educating both adults and children. Education is intrinsically integrating in many aspects of daily living. At its core, education is the transmission of knowledge, ethics, and worldview from one person to another. Though education continues to develop and adapt throughout history and cultural environments, its fundamental premise remains unchanged. Education involves the entire process by which accumulated knowledge, social norms, and religious ideals are transmitted from one generation to the next in each society.

While education is the product of the direct action of teachers, there is a distinction between formal and informal education. Formal education is “conventional, given in an orderly, logical, planned, and systematic manner.”7 Typically, this formal type of education takes place in a classroom, or other formal setting. The information in this setting is similar across the classroom, regardless of culture, gender, race, or socioeconomic status of the learner. While the teacher may attempt to address various learning styles, the learning objectives are typically the same. The resources available to the teacher may impact the instruction, but the teacher strives to teach the same lesson content to all learners.

In contrast, informal education occurs through the daily interactions that take place through shared experiences. Participation in social activities provides the learner informal education in areas such as social expectations, cultural heritage, and religious practices.8 Similarly, N.L. Gage and David Berliner define learning as “the process whereby [a learner] changes its behavior as a result of experience.”9 They go on to state, “learning is what we infer has taken place when the behavior [ . . . ] has changed.”10 These experiences, however, may be dependent on socioeconomic status and resources available. Arguably, children from a more affluent family or community would have opportunities not available to children of a lower socioeconomic status.11 Certain cultural tools may vary based on the learner’s community and environment. Arguably so, enhanced childhood experiences are not necessarily limited to income. Included in the both the formal and informal aspects of education, is religious instruction. Beliefs and values can be taught in formal settings such as a religious gathering as well as informally through family and peer groups. For the purpose of this study, the focus remains centered on informal religious instruction.

Imagination in Learning

Education calls on the imaginations of both the instructor and the learner. Imagination has long been associated with role play which is a natural occurrence in childhood. Through play, children practice and process new ideas and address frustrations in a safe environment. Winnicott claims, “In playing, and perhaps only in playing, the child or adult is free to be creative.”12 Dewey explains that this imagination, or play, allows experiences to be reshaped and create possibilities that do not exists in mere reality. Through this process, reality can be made to make some sort of sense. Even in adulthood, by considering a person’s imagination, it is easy to spot the frustrations that exist in their reality. This use of imagination allows humans to play, problem solve, and create, thereby producing a means for learning through imagination.

Within education, imagination, play, and learning can occur in many ways. This text will consider two ways. Education occurs as the teacher takes on the role of teaching directly to the learners or as a facilitator, creating situations and space where imagination and learning can occur. In direct teaching, the instructor creates an environment conducive to learning and determines the information to be transmitted to the learner. Lessons typically take place in an oral format. The learner’s responsibility lies in consuming the information, linking it to prior knowledge, and memory for future use. When the teacher takes on the role as a facilitator of learning, however, learning activities and inquiry replace the focus on oral instruction. Simply stated, education depends, in part, upon the philosophy of the instructor. In an environment, such as Dewey describes, education surpasses the boundaries of the information presented and becomes a place of inquiry where authentic learning can take place. Children learn from both physical experiences and imagined reality.

Educational philosophy varies greatly among educators. Many prefer to think in terms of extreme opposites. It is given to formulating its beliefs in terms of polarized choices, between which it recognizes no intermediate possibilities. When forced to recognize that the extremes cannot be acted upon, it is still inclined to hold that all choices are correct. Educational philosophy is no exception.13 Relativism or absolutism are two pedological techniques discussed in detail by scholars. While some scholars hold fast to one extreme or the other, consideration for a middle ground has also been discussed. Scholars such as Jennife...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Active Learning
• Chapter 2: A Literary Approach
• Chapter 3: Pedagogy and the Construction of Childhood
• Chapter 4: Pedagogy of Job
• Chapter 5: Pedagogy of Proverbs
• Chapter 6: Pedagogy of Ecclesiastes
• Chapter 7: Pedagogy of Song of Songs
• Chapter 8: Summary
• Bibliography