Let Them Be Little

Socialization

One section that I found troubling was Nelson’s position on the process of socialization within the Christian community and culture. The conclusion he came to was that, “if that culture is the community of faith, the children will become believers, “ and goes on to explain why. However, this seemed to me as bringing up religious children, but not necessarily children who have a relationship with Christ. Thankfully, Darcy-Berube shared my dissatisfaction with this theory. She argued that the “ socialization model can produce religious church members who lack a real faith experience,” and goes on to say that “children can be socialized into a system of beliefs, become good solid church members in the mold of their elders, and never be converted.” I would in no way say that as a result we should abandon the idea of religious socialization, but I do agree that caution has to be given to the idea of simply raising a child to be a Christian instead of intentionally teaching about the love of God, the life of Christ, and the personal salvation and faith experiences. I also agreed with the statements that “what the parents are is more important than what they say” and that “religion is caught, not taught.” I agree that actions speak louder than words, but I would argue that modeling and teaching are both necessary components in a true understanding of the Christian faith, and that the combination of the two would breed the most powerful response. It is true that a child can catch attitudes, behaviors, and rituals, but without the explanations of ‘ why,’ these are the still somewhat meaningless. Adults are to live their lives and guide their children, and the explanation and reasoning behind our behaviors is just as important in leading them as the behaviors themselves. The biggest question this chapter raised for me was: are we truly institutionalizing children? I do agree in most situations, children are “not allowed freedom to play or to be different or to have the power to impact their environments.” This truly has been a strong concern in my heart when teaching children within the school system and feeling as though more times than not we are molding kids to a school, and not molding our schools to fit individualized children and are shutting down the ability for them to impact or have input within their environments. I guess the same could be said for religious education. Some may argue the time, effort, and resources that go into creating a cohesive environment for a classroom in combination with an environment that reaches each child individually is simply not possible, but I believe that if you truly want to teach and reach each child, it is your responsibility to give that child, every child, every effort you can and find the resources needed. It is possible to have a cohesive classroom with individualized learning taking place. I have very much thought about this in regards to public schools, but this struck a chord with me in regards to religious education. Are we reaching the needs of each child or are we molding children, without regard to home-life, developmental levels, emotional and social development, etc. to fit what we envision a program should operate as? There is a need for creating a structured environment for guidance and teaching of social and emotional rules and boundaries; however, do we take it too far and neglect the individuality of each child for the sake of fitting the society deemed “appropriate mold.” This will truly be the prayer of my heart tonight as I lay down to sleep. What can I do to make sure that God is ultimately molding the children that pass through our church walls, with the loving guidance and instruction for those He has entrusted us with? Am I recognizing the individuality of each child and each situation as a unique gift from God and a unique ministry opportunity? “Children are necessary bearers of culture, linking past and future, as well as being agents of God’ s ongoing activity in the world.” Will we be handing down a culture of religion or a culture where religion is based on a relationship with Jesus Christ? Response to Chapter 6: Religion and Social Development

Moral Development

I very much agree that this chapter ended with some concrete examples of how to facilitate the moral development of children. I also love that the foundation to moral development is “a warm, loving relationship.” The chapter presented multiple examples as to how the guidance a child receives from their parent, caretaker, or other adult forms their moral compass. I especially appreciated the section on “Autonomy, Discipline, and Internal Control.” The role of the adult is to ultimately guide a child to have the ability of internal control, not just obedience. I found that the statement,” there is an enormous difference between ‘good’ behavior autonomously chosen and ‘good’ behavior as a result of blind conformity,” set off a chorus of internal Amens! In the very first chapter, it is stated that moral development includes the “ability to understand the difference between right and wrong and moral action and the ability to do the right thing.” The end goal is not simply obedience, but for a child to be able to internally negotiate and choose to do the right thing, which will ultimately result in obedience. Piaget suggested that parents can hinder a child’s natural heteronomy when they use reward and punishment without explanations of “why.” I will digress on my personal soapbox of the use of rewards and punishments as a book by Dr. Marvin Marshall comes to mind that I have on my bookshelf, and this is an area that hits a soapbox nerve. ;-) I do believe that teaching a child “why” there are rules and “why” obedience is necessary is so very crucial. The thoughts that I am left to ponder deal with the implications the basis of moral development has on the role of the church. It was stated multiple times that “what we learn about morality we learn from the environment in which we spend our time” and that “the primary responsibility of parents and religious educators is to establish a warm, loving relationship with each child.” Given these findings, I would argue the importance of the church in helping parents and caretakers with the very issue of discipline. I believe that all parents, for the most part, want the absolute best for their child and do want them to grow up to be “morally competent” individuals, but I do not believe that all parents are aware of how to foster that. I think we have an obligation to not only provide an environment within children’s ministry that helps a child in their moral development, but I think it’s equally important to partner with parents and be able to have an open dialogue, and even Bible study classes, that help parents know how to “train up a child.” Response to "Preschooler Moral Development"

My prayer for schools and churches...

http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/02/20/neurodiversity-the-next-frontier-for-civil-rights/

TODAY

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....

Rise of Scholasticism

I have been fascinated in my Systematic Theology class by the rise of scholasticism. “Scholastic theology is to the world of ideas what those cathedrals are to the world or architecture.” I love this mental picture! I was drawn to the idea of the rise of scholasticism because of the lack of it I see, and I am guilty of being a part of that. Scholasticism “placed an emphasis upon the rational justification of religious belief and the systematic presentation of those beliefs.” I think all too often we know the basic theology of what we believe, but if we were asked to support it or where it originates or why, etc. we are not ready to give an answer. I think there is huge value in being able to fully grasp a huge picture of what this thing called Christianity truly is. Faith is a wonderful thing, but sometimes it can be used as a means for excusing needing to know the basis for your faith. “I believe it, that’s why.” A wonderful argument, however, if you do not truly know the origin for that belief or that method of worship or whatever it might be, then how do you know that in a world of many ideas, that one specific idea is what you truly believe? How, as Christians, are we to fully answer to those around us who have deeper questions that cannot be answered by a single line or word or the phrase, “Well, this is how I grew up and what I was taught to believe.” I absolutely love the quote on page 34 that “typical scholasticism at its best is the appeal to reason, the logical marshaling of arguments, the relentless exploration of the implications of ideas, and the fundamental conviction, that, at its heart, the Christian gospel is rational and can be shown to be rational.” God has used this passage to truly convict me of my own lack of “digging” into each and every ounce of Scripture that I read and the history of events and the denomination that I am a part of, to truly see the whole picture and be able to have a greater faith as a result!