Learning style theories suggest that individual learners may have different ways of learning and will probably learn better with their preferred learning methods. Educators in almost all fields are increasingly aware of the importance of adopting learning style approaches, which requires instructors to understand the diverse learning styles of…

Martin Luther is primarily known as a pastor and theologian of the 16th century Reformation. However, he was also a pedagogue passionate about educational reforms that united the spiritual life with the daily lived life. Believing that education served the purpose of equipping students for a life in service of one's neighbor, Luther took a…

An Augustinian understanding of original sin can significantly contribute to the purpose of the teaching of the humanities. It helps at the point where Martha Nussbaum's understanding of the humanities is inconsistent. She argues that the humanities should cultivate a "world citizen," that is, a people aspiring towards a universal…

The gospel is central to life in the Christian community. It is formational to the church proper and to the pedagogical task of faith-based colleges and universities. The gospel is also significant for the education of non/nominal Christians who are present in our classrooms. This article describes the gospel as indispensable for faith-based…

Hindu sacred scriptures are a rich interweave of cosmological revelation that is embedded in melopoeia (melodic poetry) and sung in designated meters during rituals, liturgical services, festivals, and personal prayers. Revelation is conveyed through enigmatic dialogues, debates, parables, anecdotes, legends, and narratives. These occur between…

We make two interventions in two evolving scholarly literatures. First, we show how fractal metaphors escape a recurring dichotomy in Christian pedagogical scholarship, the either/or of alienation from one's object of study versus union with it in "an act of love." Second, we try to replace recent interdisciplinary work's emphasis on…

There is a longstanding discussion in child theology around the role of cognition for faith formation. This article explores research in the area of disability theology in order to examine potential benefits for Christian ministry to the child. It suggests three areas which may be profitable: the importance of increasing information to accompany…

This article discusses whether there is a contradiction in prescribing a religious, more specifically a Christian, tradition as the ethical basis for a teaching that is prescribed to be non-denominational. In the Swedish curriculum, the ethics borne by a Christian tradition and Western humanism are used as a platform for the school's teaching at…

Relating faith and learning is central to Christian education, but few large studies have examined how grade-school teachers understand this task. Witwer previously reported Likert-type data from 1059 teachers in Christian elementary and secondary schools. The present paper reports findings from 2356 open responses by 655 of those teachers.…

This paper takes up concepts from John Henry Newman's work to support contemporary educational personalism. Newman's ideas are developed in light of his sharp critique of the pragmatic educational model. This essay focuses on the transcendence assigned to the theological and philosophical foundations of Newman's pedagogical ideas, as well as on…

A comparison of the use of parables within children's ministry practice reveals two very different approaches: Jerome Berryman's Godly Play elevates the role of parables and is open-ended for the child to interpret. Examples of UK evangelical processes are then observed and are seen to make much less use of parables but mediate the intent of those…

Researches conducted on narrative as it relates to learning overwhelmingly agree on its benefit for learners. Benefits include better comprehension, retention, persuasion, meaning-making, and wisdom for navigating the world. Themes in the literature relating to narrative and epistemology include narrative theory, narrative identity, narrative…

Choral singing was embraced by many missionaries as a means of attracting potential converts to Christianity. A principal choral singing method in 19th century Britain, Tonic Sol-fa, was introduced by missionaries and others to the Indian subcontinent where it was used as both a pedagogical method and a music notation system. Building on the…

Drawing from research in the learning sciences, this article argues that educators, like Jesus, should use stories as we mentor students to move beyond passive reception of information and truly apply their learning to novel situations. Thus, students can go beyond "hearing" to "bearing fruit." This storytelling approach to…

Cultural change and global pluralism are causing an increasing plea for Christian-holistic education. However, this term lacks clear definition based on a proper description of the cultural background that provoked it. A secular definition of holistic education is taken from a worldwide movement for Whole Child Development and compared with the…