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)

In the video the migrant farm workers are the teachers and the learners are those watching the video.  The teacher could also become the one utilizing the video for learning.  The explicit learning is that the migrant farm workers work in the fields, share meals with family, go grocery shopping, share ice cream with friends, make tortillas, live in the U.S. (as evidenced by the flag), and have communion outdoors.  The implicit learning is that the work of a migrant farm worker is very hard, they live in poverty, and yet they are very similar to other Americans and other Christians- they enjoy spending time with friends and family and they worship the same God.  One person suggested that implicit learning could also include that the migrant workers have a deeper sense of family and faith than people in easier circumstances.  The null or unintentional learning is harder to identify but we could learn from the video that the migrant farm workers do not interact much with other Americans since they are not shown doing this.  We also are not shown how/why they arrived at the life of a migrant farm worker.  We could assume that they chose this life and that they enjoy it when that may not actually be the case.

In regard to the “Who is my Neighbor” curriculum, the teacher is the Colorado Council of Churches and/or the person or people leading the studies/utilizing the curriculum.  The learners are those participating in the studies.  The explicit learning in general is that God/Jesus calls us to be hospitable to and to love our neighbor.  Explicit learning is also found in the various statistics and charts showing facts about immigrants and immigration.  The implicit learning is that we should allow immigrants into the U.S. because it is the morally right thing to do and also based on the information provided in the statistics which show benefits of immigrants/immigration.  The null or unintentional learning could be that Jesus wants us to be hospitable and to love our neighbor even at the expense of our own welfare.

Regarding the coherence of explicit, implicit, and null criteria, there is a contrast drawn with the culture of the migrant worker among the dominant American culture.  God is seen for this family in many ways familiar to other Christians: embodied, participating, and at work in the circumstances, daily lives, rituals, and well-being of the people, and worthy of praise for God’s faithfulness.  And yet there is also dissonance in viewing this video: wanting to commend a life of simplicity that is clearly integrated with faith amid struggle, and a simultaneous desire to lessen the struggle that family experiences.

Ages/Stages of faith formation applicable to this learning environment:

1) Within the film: Sr. Medrano’s film portrays two older adults and three younger people, all in the same household.  Guessing age is always a challenge, but the two older adults, if over 50, would be in the “new senior” age, and the three younger people appear to be either all “young adults” (20’s) or perhaps a mix of “young adults” and “ages 16 to 18″.  It is interesting to try to put the Augsburg resource within this film — the Nurturing Faith booklet draws common experience from the dominant culture in America (ethnic/class), so many of the stereotypical particulars given for age group may not apply.

Those that do appear to apply include:

- 16-18: engaging in making plans for the future, finding mentoring relationships, concerned about physical appearance (on Sabato, especially), can have their own money and transportation (one of the young men — not the driver — refers to the color he wants to paint his truck).

- young adult: forming dreams, finding mentoring relationships, learning job skills.  One of the young men is shown symbolically watching the road behind as they drive to town… while his speaking parts focus on his individual and material concerns, he also shows no outward youthful angst against the older adults, and participates seemingly very willingly in their daily life of intermingled work and faith.

- new seniors (with or without the tilde): both the director of the film and the oldest adult characters show elements of “taking inventory and making judgments,” and also “desir[ing] to leave something behind after death that will benefit others.” [As a related aside, the Augsburg publication seemed awkwardly afraid to connect people in each of the age categories to *their own* other-generational family members (i.e., as mother/father, son/daughter, etc.).  For the sake of the film, it is fair to assume the "others" being benefitted also include their own children.]  For example, the film itself is being left behind as a meditative learning offering; the father(?) and mother(?) in the film exercise spiritual leadership through teaching moments of worship “when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise” (Deut 6:7), recognizing the connectedness of God, the people, and the land, leading by example in prayer and in communion; living life as prayer, seeing and giving glory to God for God’s significant participation in the daily and mundane, whether that is giving life to the land, or shaping that life into tortillas that sustain them.  The mother(?) shows us some of her “conjunctive faith” as we see her reflect momentarily on the disjunctive tension between her Hispanic-American identity together with their modest income, and the Americanized (pre-packaged, processed) Italian pizza box that she rejects in favor of mixing flour and water into tortillas herself at home.

2) For those to whom the film and the packaged curriculum on immigration form the learning environment: all ranges of adult learners (plus ages 13-15 and 16-18, if not younger) might be anticipated for this learning.  The two offerings (Sr. Medrano’s film and the CO Council of Churches curriculum) form a sharp contrast.  The film by Sr. Medrano offers a meditative opportunity for open-ended possibilities of transformation of the viewing community into new thinking, relationships, and living.  The Colorado curriculum instead works from the convictions of its preparers to direct learning along a specific course toward a pre-determined outcome of preferred action (using techniques such as selection of scripture, use of the word “fear” to minimize opposing viewpoints, and a pre-selected list of people who are acceptable to “know” in the immigration debate.  Our group of four seemed to be together in harmony with the Biblical challenge presented in the curriculum (toward loving/inviting/embracing the neighbor, in the midst of the defined “illegality” of many immigrants), but the contrast between presentation/teaching styles was nevertheless marked.  This contrast also mirrors a central point of Eunjoo Mary Kim’s book, “Preaching the Presence of God,” which highlights similar differences between traditional Western and Asian approaches to preaching and teaching.  To directly address the Augsburg booklet, congregational learning communities would presumably also include “middle adults” and “older adults”, each with their own generationally-gifted locations and contributions to bring to the circle.

In Maria Harris’ Fashion Me A People, Harris reflects on how we are educated to pray and we are educated by prayer.  This education is not limited to simply the church, but is happening in all places throughout all facets of our daily lives. It is this education by prayer and learning taking place in the seven songs, group one focused on. We contemplated, reflected personally, and discussed the three forms or curriculum which are presented, implied or left out in these songs.

*Song One: Where were you when the world stop turning, written and sung by Alan Jackson

It was evident in our group deliberation of this song, we came to the table with varying opinions and experiences. Some took the explicit teaching in this song to be Jesus gave us faith, hope and love, and love is the greatest gift. While other experiences influenced those who felt the song was manipulative and offensive, therefore the explicit teaching of this song frames the belief that America is at the center of all things and was used by political bodies and others as a medium to get what they wanted, in reference to the Iraq War. Our thoughts on the implicit and null learning also varied:  what happened on 9/11 being not of God, returning to simpler times, excusing lack of education, a view of Jesus being on “our” (American) side, to remembering the tragedy were all examples given for implicit learning. We felt the null learning in this song included: only the tragedy on 9/11 was exclusively at the World Trade Center, the lack of clarity in what could be considered an explanation of what motivated the 9/11 attacks by the song writer.

The learning curriculum we developed in our deliberation was coherent in that our offerings came from personal experiences and deeply reflective opinions. What made the learning coherent also worked against each other in the lack of coming to a consensus. This song as a prayer and our discussion speaks to leaders and teachers in (not limited to) faith settings to be more discerning and thorough in our teaching as well as engaging critical thinking components in our teaching and quite possibly our praying.

*Song Two: Ordinary Miracle, sung by Sarah McLaclan

The explicit teaching in this song could be that everyday we witness miracles in the ordinary natural occurrences. We felt the implicit learning reveals the idea that miracles tend to be viewed as big, life changing events, rather than simple, natural occurrences. We also spent time in dialogue about how the lack of mentioning God in creating the miracles could be an example of null curriculum. We attributed the miracles to God, yet also came to the understanding that often we are able to find God in what could be considered by some as “ungodly” or “secular”. The curriculum is then coherent in naming miracles do happen, it is the claim of whom or what is attributed to the miracles and the significance of this attribution that works against the three curriculums.

 * Song Three: Where is the Love, written and sung by the Black Eyes Peas

The rhetorical question, “where is the love?” is revolve in our definition of explicated curriculum. In the song, we are learning the reality of the world being full of hate, anger, and discrimination. The implied learning is love and truths are not in the previous named realities of the world. We concluded the null learning would support the idea of needing guidance from above, turn our hearts to prayer, doing justice because we are doing enough.  The learning curriculums in this focus point seem to work against each other on a surface level, but with great analysis the explicit and implicit learning illuminate the need for the message of the null curriculum.

* Song Four:  My City of Ruins, written and sung by Bruce Springsteen

The intended teaching in this song could be when we are broken and have fallen down we can rise up with God’s help. The implication then could be to think of why we have fallen down and God’s role in it, if any. The null learning would be we only need to pray when we are in desperate need. All  the curriculum illustrate our response in the state of complete brokenness. Do we pray for strength, question God’s motives, or wait until all else fails then pray?  The implicit curriculum could leave to further discussion on the effects of free will or God allowing brokenness and suffering, a topic in which we will meditate on throughout our journeys as church leaders.

*Song Five:  God’s song, written and sung by Randy Newman

The explicit learning in this song asks us why we put our faith in God. The God portrayed by Newman seems cold and calculating and only loving us because of our dependence on God. The implicit learning can draw us to the nature of God and the possibility that God is responsible for all evil. The null curriculum leaves us questioning who is God and can there be differentiating views on who God is? The set of curriculum form a platform where we can explore the image and descriptions of God. We can also uncover our bias’ of preference of law and gospel, if we have any.

*Song Six: Jesus Walks, written and sung by Kayne West

The explicit lesson in this song is that God is present with those who suffer in this world. One gets the sense the implicated lesson is rappers, especially West, would like to proclaim Jesus in their music, but are silenced by producers and music executives. The reasoning being rapping about Jesus is not cool and Jesus doesn’t sell to particular audiences. Another implicit message is held in the worry of West about not maintaining conversation with God and the believed effects that could hold. In our discussion the mention of what the null learning in this song would be, seemed to enforce and relate to an implicit lesson.

* Song Seven: The Story, written and Sung by Brandi Carlile

The explicit message in this song supports the need and desire to have a relationship with God, and it implies God knows us better than anyone else. It is in our suffering and brokenness we come to experience God’s love and healing. Again, the actual naming of God as the one we are made for was left out, but as posted earlier in previous summaries, we felt God could be the recipient of the prayer. These curriculums in this particular song bond well in establishing why we desire to be in a relationship with God, only in the null could it emphasized our ability to replace or name someone else or something as our intimate knower, rather than God.

In conclusion, as a group we never got to the Nurturing Faith handout, in the given time period and because of the in depth discussions on learning within particular songs. I can only speak for myself when I state I feel most of these songs would likely fit starting with the ages from 13 to 15. However, I would emphasis the high school student, young adult, and adults being the primary groups of these focal points.  I could see my 29 year old brother enjoying discussion on Kayne’s song, yet see total confusion on the face of my 55 year old father.  I think once youth can start to think in the abstract and are examining their faith in light of their life experience we are able to use these focus points to teach about prayer.

This is not in reference to our particular assignment, but rather the physical exercise on prayer.  If the exercise on the Lord’s prayer was of interest to you check out signchido.com.  This is a mind, body, and soul exercise which uses chi flow, breath, posture and some physical movement to create a overall sense of well-being and emphasis prayer. I have facilitated these exercises with people of all ages (it can be done seated). It is truly the art of moving prayer.

summarized and posted by Rebecca Breddin

“Wailing Wall”- Learning, Group 4

1. Who are the teachers and learners in the situation? What explicit teaching is going on?
Most of us identified the Sunday school teacher as the teacher & the students as the learners. One person noticed that throughout the course of the class, the clear boundaries because more fluid, as the teacher began learning from her students and working with their abilities.

The teacher had some clear examples she had prepared, like showing them that she couldn’t drink a drink box when she was holding a pen, and needed to let go. It also included the story of the wailing wall, taught in a manner that would interest children of this age.

2. What is the implicit message?
One student commented that implicit learning occurred when the teacher was shocked and shouted out; while she may have had no other intentions, this action may have sent mixed messages and confused them about whether or not she cared for them.
Another person saw that the fact that she continued teaching even after she was sat on, likely gave them the message that she really cared for them.
One person saw implicit learning that God loves them and they are special through the Chosen game. Also, the open space and interactive activities shows them that they are free to be imaginative and sensory.

3. What do they learn though null learning?
Perhaps the lack of prayer at the beginning and end (although it was in the middle) may have sent mixed messages about what the focus of the class was.
Neshama learned that over everything is not always the solution because you’re not the one doing the work.
Null learning also occurred in the fact that the classroom was not regimented, meaning that it would not be a sterile environment, but would adapt to the needs of each child.

4. Depending on which angles you take on each of the previous questions, you get different answers as to whether or not the three types of learning in this situation create a coherent whole. I think that general, it is often the case that something that is implicit or null learning contradicts the explicit larger picture, because a teacher cannot think of ahead of time every possible null/implicit learning that could result from his or her classroom setting, and because teachers, too, are only human. I think it is particularly interesting to attempt to think about them as a coherent whole, however, because it forces us to try and identify the implications of every choice in the classroom and then rectify it to the larger goal of the class by possibly behaving differently or making different choices, if necessary. This way of thinking forces the teacher to be intentional about every choice.

5. Everyone seems to agree that the teacher worked hard to have activities which were appropriate for their ages, and allowed them to learn things through their senses. Nurturing Your Faith mentions welcoming each child in the 5-6 age range, and the text mentions that the teacher does this, but the teacher also plays the Chosen game, which clearly does a good job of making them feel welcome and special.

In summary, the group in general seemed to think that the teacher did a very good job adapting her plan to the age group, and keeping them engaged. We varied as to what was considered null or implicit learning, but we all saw both going on, as well as a lot of really solid explicit learning.

Prayers & Peace,
Group 4 (Julie Bender)

Working through the “explicit, implicit and null” curricula, I would note the following. First, her “explicit teaching” is to an audience wondering where sermons and proclamation might exist outside of church. It is evocative rather than being instructive or directive. Implicitly the essay points to the deep transformation that can come through reflection and memory of experience and relationality. The null curriculum is most evident in reflecting on the “not seeing” that I pointed to in an earlier post.

Given the stages noted in the Nurturing Faith handout, perhaps this focal situation, this essay, would be most applicable in a young adult context. There is much in the Harris text (where she talks about diakonia and koinonia) that would be applicable to this focal situation. Gunderson’s text also has a lot of useful material in it that points directly and explicitly to the learning that takes place in this essay, as well as to its implications for further learning were you to use this essay as a focal text in a young adult education event. [I won't point to that here, leaving it to your groups to find for other summaries.]

[Again, I won’t belabor the resources of Greek term section. See the other posts for examples.]