This week our group reflected on the Bible cluster questions, which asked us to examine the Bible’s presence in the situation, what other texts would relate to the situation, as well as the learning goals especially in relation what the people were learning about God.

All of us agreed that the Bible is present in the film, but not in chapter and verse form. Since the whole movie takes place in and around church means the Bible has a huge role, even implicitly. There were many references to Jesus and his disciples, but there were no specific references to text or stories from the Bible.

 When our group reflected on what texts and stories might relate to this situation we thought of several.

• Exodus 22:21 says: “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”
•  Leviticus 19:34 which states that “The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
• Matthew 10:34: “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”
• John 4:1-42: The story of the Samaritan woman at the well who as seen as an “other.”
• Acts 10: The story of Cornelius and how Peter sees the vision of animals in a sheet, and God says that what God has sanctified one must not call common.

 As for learning about God, we didn’t really feel that what God wants or who He is, was ever really focused on. The biggest learning that occurred was by the one social ministry chair person and that learning was not due to formal education, but actually experiencing first hand having a discussion with someone who was of a different race.

 The learning goals should focus on a discussion of how to show love as a Christian and also talk about change in the church. When teaching on these learning goals we thought the devotional, theological and historical methods would work together best to create a study around these issues.

 Outside of the Bible cluster questions we also discussed how we thought that the Pastor definitely represents a boundary leader in that he is trying to integrate faith and the civil rights movement together, where other churches put that as “out there” impacting only schools and businesses. If we were in this church, we thought about holding discussions with members to outline what we believe to be true when it comes to worshipping God, studying His word and sharing His love and then examine those beliefs to determine if they are man made or aligned with God’s Word.

“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)