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Integrating Faith and Learning. By Rick Ostrander Academic Dean, John Brown University August, 2008. Background: Where did the notion of “integration” come from?. The Colonial Era. The Puritans: Harvard, 1636 1600s and 1700s: Yale, Princeton, etc. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Integrating Faith and Learning
By Rick OstranderAcademic Dean, John Brown University
August, 2008
Background: Where did the notion of “integration” come from?
The Colonial Era
The Puritans: Harvard, 16361600s and 1700s: Yale, Princeton, etc.Foundation: A Christian framework and worldview
The Harvard Seal, 1692
The 19th Century: Christian Colleges Proliferate
The 19th Century: Christian Colleges Proliferate
Evangelical Christianity as the “Establishment”Education: Fusion of Christian and American
values
The Secularization of the Academy, late 1800s
The Secularization of the Academy, late 1800s
Modern scienceGrowth in size and stature of universities
Public land grant universities, 1860s New private universities A new purpose A new faculty role: the “objective” scholar
The Secularization of the Academy, late 1800s
Modern scienceGrowth in size and stature of universitiesResult: elevation of learning, marginalization of faith.
The Harvard Seal, 1900
Responses
Mainstream colleges: Adaptation, secularization
Learning trumps faith.
Responses to Secularization
Conservative colleges: isolation, withdrawal
Anti-intellectualism: Faith trumps learning
The Revival of Explicitly Christian Higher Education
Abraham Kuyper, late-19th century Jesus Christ as Lord of all creation Reconquest of culture and institutions “Integrate” a Christian worldview and academic disciplines
The Revival of Explicitly Christian Higher Education
Abraham Kuyper, late-19th centuryCalvin College, 20th century
The Big Three: Plantinga, Wolterstorff, Marsden Marsden, The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship
The Revival of Explicitly Christian Higher Education
Abraham Kuyper, late-19th centuryCalvin College, 20th centuryFrom Calvin College to the CCCU, 1970s
Wheaton College: Holmes, The Idea of a Christian College Conferences, symposiums, faculty workshops, etc. “Through the Eyes of Faith” book series
Integration of Faith and Learning: The Current Situation
Challenges to the Integration Model, 1990s
Integration of Faith and Learning: The Current Situation
Challenges to the Integration Model, 1990s The Baylor University controversy
Sloan’s vision: Baylor 2012 Yankee Evangelicals vs. Texas Baptists
Integration of Faith and Learning: The Current Situation
Challenges to the Integration Model, 1990s The Baylor University controversy Messiah College: “Enlarging the Conversation”
Integration of Faith and Learning: The Current Situation
Challenges to the Integration Model, 1990sCriticism #1: Too narrowCriticism #2: Too negative
Military metaphors: “taking captive,” “battle of ideas,” etc. Christians should build bridges, not fortresses
Integration of Faith and Learning: The Current Situation
Challenges to the Integration Model, 1990sCriticism #1: Too narrowCriticism #2: Too negativeCriticism #3: Too philosophical
“It turns professional scientists into amateur philosophers.”
Conclusion: Integration vs. integration
Integration: A worldview-based model of relating faith and learning based on Reformed Protestantism but applicable in part to all Christians.
integration: The act of relating one’s Christian faith to one’s academic life in a variety of ways, depending on one’s institution, Christian tradition, and field of study.
Varieties of integration
By institution: Public institutions:
Accommodation, resistance, “intentional reframing”
Varieties of integration
By institution: Public institutions Christian institutions: more public, explicit, and systematic
Varieties of integration
By institutionBy faith tradition
Roman Catholic: the “sacramental principle”
Varieties of integration
By institutionBy faith tradition
Roman Catholic: the “sacramental principle” the created world and human culture can serve as a mediator of
God’s grace
Varieties of integration
By institutionBy faith tradition
Roman Catholic Reformed: The Kingdom of God vs. Kingdom of Satan
The Christian scholar plays a role in this conquest by analyzing and critiquing (taking captive) the philosophical foundations of one’s discipline.
Varieties of integration (small “I’)
By institutionBy faith tradition
Roman Catholic Reformed Anabaptist: the Kingdom of God is among the poor and
powerless; living brings understanding. Emphasize practical application (ethics, social sciences)
Varieties of integration
By institutionBy faith traditionBy academic discipline
Calculus vs. sociology of religion
So What? The Practice of integration at a Christian College
Integration at the institutional level
Faculty hiring: potential over practice.
Faculty development is essential.
Faculty evaluation (after development). Course evaluations, position papers, portfolios
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
A synthesis of the literature:Three levels that apply to all
institutions, faith traditions, and disciplines.
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The motivational level
Because the world is God’s creation, the Christian scholar is motivated to pursue truth in one’s discipline as an act of worship and to know him better.
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The motivational level
Charles Murray, “For God’s Eye: The Surprising Role of Christianity in Human Achievement”
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The motivational level
The 50-yard line prayer vs.quiet excellence on the field.
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The motivational level
The danger: The “separate spheres” fallacy.
LearningFaith
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The motivational levelIf Christianity is a body of truth (not just an attitude), then it will sometimes have substantive implications for the world of ideas.
Ex.: Archaeology and the Resurrection.
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The foundational level
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The foundational level
Worldviews, paradigms,
interpretive frameworks
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The foundational level The Christian worldview:
Creation Fall Redemption/Consummation The natural world: real, but finite Human beings: in God’s image, but corrupted
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The foundational level The Christian worldview:
Creation Fall Redemption/Consummation The natural world: real, but finite Human beings: in God’s image, but corrupted
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The foundational level The more a discipline deals with foundational,
worldview assumptions, the more explicit the role of Christian faith will be.
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The foundational level
The Implicit/Explicit Continuum
Implicit ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Explicit
Mathematics Natural Social History Arts and Philosophy/ Sciences Sciences Literature Theology
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
An example: American History in a Mennonite key.
Juhnke and Hunter,
The Missing Peace
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The foundational level
Implication: The Christian scholar must be an amateur theologian/philosopher.
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
The Applied/Ethical Level E = mc2: practical consequences Biology: How does a Christian view of human nature affect
the use of biotechnology? Communications: How does a Christian view of sexuality
affect the use of images in advertising?
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
An example: Francis Collins Motivation: DNA research as an act of worship. Foundational: God as designer Application: The human genome project
Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act
Integration of Faith and Scholarship
An analogy: Jazz music1. Christians often have special insight into the
meaning of their field of study.2. This insight may be implicit or explicit, depending on
the nature of their scholarship.3. Despite this special insight, Christians can learn
valuable truths about their discipline from non-Christians.
4. That insight should generate greater interest in scholarship, not less.
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration at the general level:
Locating a subject in a Christian framework.
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration at the general level: How does “X” connect to God’s original design for Creation?
“naming the animals”: knowing Creation “tending the garden”: developing Creation
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration at the general level: How does “X” connect to God’s original design for Creation? How does “X” connect to God’s plan for redeeming
Creation? “making disciples” “healing the sick” “feeding the hungry” “setting free the captives” Etc.
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.
The three levels, but at times more intentional and explicit.
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.1. Motivational level:
Opening prayer. The classroom as a Christian vocation. Share your passion. Not just a class but a campus ethos.
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.1. Motivational level2. Foundational level
The Implicit/Explicit ContinuumImplicit ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Explicit
Mathematics Natural Social History Arts and Philosophy/ Sciences Sciences Literature Theology
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.1. Motivational level2. Foundational level3. Applied/Ethical level
In the discipline itself (science, history, etc.) In its application (business, law, nursing, etc.)
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.
Some practical suggestions…
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.
Generally, small, frequent exercises and reminders are more effective than “Christian
foundations of X.”
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.
Keep a file of articles, films, etc. that illustrate motivations, foundations, and applications in your field.
An example: Engineering
Value On Life 11 Percent Lower Than 5 Years AgoListen Now [4 min 21 sec]
All Things Considered, July 11, 2008 · The Environmental Protection Agency has put the value of a human life at $6.9 million, 11 percent lower than five years ago. Seth Borenstein, science reporter with The Associated Press, says the number is how much a person is willing to pay to reduce his or her risk.
Foundational: Does a Christian value human life higher, lower, the same? Ethical: How much value do we place on a human life when designing a
car? How does a Christian engineer balance the need to value human life with the
need to make a profitable automobile?
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.Reflection papers, essay questions:
1. In what ways does this subject help us to fulfill God’s creation mandate?
2. In what ways is this subject affected by the ripple effects of the Fall?
3. How could this discipline be “redeemed”?4. How could one apply this subject to advance God’s
redemptive activity on earth?
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.The “integrative question” (Harold Hie)
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Political Science: Is representative democracy the most “Christian” form of government possible? If so, then how far should one go to create such a system in non-democratic nations? Is a “war for democracy” worth the cost?
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Economics: Is a tax system that takes money from the wealthy to distribute to the poor a proper application of biblical social ethics, or is it an infringement on the Christian notion of human freedom and accountability?
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Literature: To what extent are we obligated to read a text according to the author’s original purpose? Is it possible to transcend the bounds of race, class, gender, and culture and truly understand an author’s intent?
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Music and Visual Art: Is beauty simply in the eye of the beholder, or are there external, objective standards of beauty that can be applied to all works of art? Does the eight-note major scale sound “right” to us simply because we have been conditioned that way, or because it corresponds to some universal standard created by God?
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.Demonstrating the process of integration:
A two-way street.
Faith Learning / Learning Faith
An analogy: Crossword puzzles
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.Demonstrating the process of integration:
In real life:Astronomy
Observation, calculation Psalm 104(“He has set the earth
…”)
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.Demonstrating the process of integration:
In the classroom: “How does what we learn in psychology/economics/philosophy affect our Christian worldview?”
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.
Not a formula but a process; a habit of mind.
Integration of Faith and Teaching
Integration in the classroom.
Much of our integration in the classroom will consist of vocational scholarship.
Conclusion
Find an approach that is appropriate, natural, and distinctive to your institution.
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