Teacher & Learner

Pastor Bill is in both the teacher and the learner position throughout the program.

Teachers- council members, African American Preachers, high school students, Ernie Chambers (barber), mayor

Learners- council members, pastors, family members, congregation members

This question of teachers and learners was interesting to think about in regards to the movie.  As listed above there are certainly those who are teaching in a direct way, but there are also teachers in indirect ways.  I thought about what those parents were teaching their kids, by the way they reacted to what the pastor was trying to do, also what the community was learning from the congregations involved in the situation.

Explicit Learning- Pastor directly teaching to congregation and council members. Mayor’s discussion with church leaders. Pastor teaching on justice and mercy. Ernie Chambers  teaching throughout through discussion about racial disparity.  High school students engaged in congregations and conversations.

Implicit Learning- Pastor’s reaction to Ernie Chambers (sweating and walking out); Crossracial exchange of students leading to families staying away from church taught that Augustana was racist church; discussion of property decline within church setting taught that economics are more important than justice; The discussion in the barber shop lead to learning by young patrons about racism and status of African Americans; Prayer at table teaching God’s importance within the family; Pastor being forced to resign taught that church was not interested in reconciliation; Council members focusing on timing issues – “not the right time”, “we need to be strategic” – really teaches that they don’t want to make any “waves” and definitely are not interested in creating controversy.

Unintentional Learning- All White church teaches African Americans are not welcome; All male councils teach women are not capable of making important decisions within the church; Pastors and church members not speaking out against racism makes them part of the racial problem.  The Church not willing to take a stand because they are afraid of the reaction.

Type of Learner- Nurturing Faith Booklet

Most of the learners in this situation would be from the adults and more specifically the middle adults. These adults are: profoundly aware of life changes, often reassessing earlier tasks, need to make positive contributions to younger generations, often reevaluates self-identity issues, can move beyond cultural stereotypes, can be a caring mentor for others.

What To Do Next:

I would suggest a multiracial prayer meeting and continued small group meetings. Even though the church has lost their pastor, they still have a congregation who are the “ministers” who could take up the interracial meetings and begin the dialogue necessary with the neighboring church.  I would also suggest the church spend more time prayerfully considering their way forward – we didn’t see prayer about this issue in the video.

Group 3 (mjb)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 9:44 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through this RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.