Ongoing Assessment

Where do I begin? This week we read about the multitude of research studies that have been conducted with preschoolers on different biblical concepts and the concept of God. The study that bothered me the most, however, was a study conducted by Piaget on magical thinking and immanent justice. Magical thinking is defined as "the perception of two phenomena as having a direct influence upon one another, although no casual link exists between them, and that the supposed relationship can be controlled by a person to modify reality." Magical thinking is not only due to precausal thinking limitations, but also due to a partially "covert cultural process." Adults may acutally be promoting magical thinking instead of discouraging it. In Piaget's study, he told a story to the children where two boys stole apples. One boy was able to get away and the other fell into the water as he tried to cross a bridge. He then asked the children if the boy would have fallen into the water if he had not stolen the apples. Piaget's original results found that as children grow older they do not associate the fall with the theft. However, given different findings in the same study in different countries or other with other differing factors involved, Piaget found that belief in immanent justice increased as the children grew older. Piaget then learned that he had underestimated the result of environmental influences. Children do generally have the ability to show casual reasoning and abandon the belief in casual justice by the age of six, but if encouraged due to environmental influences, such as religious education, will actually increase their belief in immanent justice. How sad! Other studies showed various inconsistencies about the perceptions of God, Jesus, Heaven, etc. in the minds of preschoolers. There is so much more research needed because of how difficult the process is. For example, answers given can depend on the language development, children can often give answers that are guided by the one asking, etc. Even in using the use of drawings by the children, you are asking them to provide something concrete for an answer and this does not reflect the extent to which they may truly understand a concept. This week has really challenged me to think about the assessments we provide within a church setting about the topics that are taught in Sunday school. Are children leaving with the thought that if they do something good God will reward them and if they do something bad they should be frightened of the consequences? Is the message of our faith being truly understood to preschoolers and above to the level that they can understand it? We do assessments in various forms in a formal school setting to make sure that children understand concepts that are being taught, yet in a sense are leaving them to figure out something is much more complicated on their own within the church. Obviously, the ultimate source of the faith formation of a child is the heart, and assessing this is something I am not sure is entirely possible, but it is possible to assess in many ways the specific concepts and beliefs that we are teaching. This has left me to ponder the use of ongoing assessments in various forms within Christian education....even into the realm of adults. Are those that attend church, from children to adults, truly leaving with a better understanding of who God is, the truth of salvation, and the meaning of living a faith-based life? Hmmm....