I'm preparing to teach a course next week, and for the first time I will be switching my pedagogical approach from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning. Taking my cues from adult education guru and Maryknoll sister Jane Vella, I will be forming the course around learning tasks/activities as opposed to lectures (but lectures may take a subordinate and chastened role). She has pioneered an approach to education that maximizes the 'aha' experiences of those participating in the seminar by assigning them tasks to perform followed by extensive dialogue.
I have learned from emerging church leaders that participation and dialogue are highly important in gatherings. Karen Ward calls this Montessori church, and our Alt. Worship friends in the UK have pioneered this approach to highly interactive gatherings. Even those communities where the preaching task has remained, it has transitioned from a one-man (sic) show to a much more dialogical process.
Jane Vella models an approach to teaching/learning that resonates with the impulses of the emerging church, taking the voice of the other seriously. Her teaching approach can be summarized as a way to structure dialogue, thereby creating deeper learning experiences. She may be a good resource for those looking to do teaching that takes the ways of the kingdom (e.g. including the marginalized) seriously while connecting to the egalitarian sensibilities within the culture. A great book to start with is her first, Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach.
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