Is It Working? Researching Context to Improve Curriculum: A Resource Book for Theological Schools

by Stuart Brooking (Editor)

Overview

It is a bold thing to ask, “Is what we are doing working?” We know the danger of evaluating things as the world does — with measurements and financial strength. We rightly rejoice at the stories of faithful ministry with little fruit and know that it says something profound about our God and his true servants. And yet . . . Good leadership has always asked whether the wineskins are adequate for the new wine. Traditional Western theology has brought various benefits throughout the world but has failed to sufficiently encourage the development of local theologizing required in every context. At the triennial ICETE international consultation in 2015, institutional leaders from a diverse global background presented research-driven revision of theological education designed to improve understanding of the real ministry needs and better equip students to minister in their own contexts. These reports of institutional change and their insights, compiled in this publication, show a new path to effective theological education. With widespread support across the world from educators involved with ICETE, the concept of research-driven change in theological education institutions is here to stay and will continue to grow in importance. This book is an invitation to courageously embrace these concepts and join in understanding and theologizing for your own context.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783684427
Publisher:	Langham Global Library
Publication date:	07/31/2018
Series:	ICETE Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	168
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

STUART BROOKING is Executive Director of Overseas Council Australia, one of five organisations in the Overseas Council network dedicated to assisting the development of theological education in the Majority World. Stuart has degrees in five fields with doctoral studies in Theological Education from the University of Sydney, Australia. He also contributes to the training of women and men for gospel ministry in his own context, as Head of Department of Ministry and Practice at the Australian College of Theology in Sydney.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface: Engaged and Effective!

Introduction: “We Want to Know if It Is Working”

Section I: Assessment of Context: Why? What? How?

1 – Effectiveness and Impact in Theological Education from a Biblical Perspective (Christopher Wright)

2 – Assessment Beyond the 4Bs (Scott Cunningham)

3 – Connecting Curriculum and Context: The Foundations for Relevance in Theological Education (Rupen Das)

4 – My Assessment Journey (Ashish Chrispal)

Section II: Stories from the Field: Institutions Which Assessed Their Context and Changed Their Curriculum

5 – A Colombian Experience: Doing Research in the Context of Displacement (Jhohan Centeno)

6 – An Indian Experience: Seeing the Gaps (Havilah Dharamraj)

7 – A Zimbabwean Experience: Journey to Maturity (Ray Motsi and Robert Heaton)

Appendix: Proposed Curriculum Model

8 – A Sri Lankan Experience: Some Surprising Outcomes (Lal Senanayake)

Section III: Issues in Change

9 – Leading for Change: The View from the President’s Office (Elie Haddad)

10 – What’s It Worth? Developing the Library (Melody Mazuk)

11 – Practical Notes on Impact-Based Curriculum Development (Scott Cunningham)

12 – A Critical Assessment of the Impact Agenda (Marvin Oxenham)

13 – Culture, Communication, and Research on Impact (Perry Shaw)

14 – What Difference Do We Make? Impact-Based Assessment (Elizabeth Sendek)

Postscript

Bibliography

Resources

List of Contributors

Editorial Reviews

The fast-changing world we are living in is facing unprecedented challenges: economic, technological, social and personal. Meeting these challenges calls for new educational priorities or even new paradigms of education. This book helps us to rethink how to develop our curriculum in view of our socio-cultural context and challenges us to establish educational priorities in fulfilling the mission of the church. The generous sharing of these theological education institutions and various leaders involved in curriculum revision has opened our eyes to see the importance of sensitivity, openness, innovation, and collaborative efforts in bringing the needed changes. This book is definitely an invaluable resource book for institutions determined to have impact in this age.

Rev Luke Cheung, PhD, Professor in Biblical Studies, Vice-President, China Graduate School of Theology, Hong Kong

Is It Working? extends the reach of the stimulating presentations and discussions on impact assessment at the ICETE 2015 Consultation in Antalya. It provides theological institutions with a helpful framework for assessing the effectiveness of their training programs and in implementing a "research-driven curriculum revision" to strengthen their impact on the church and in society. Several examples from the field were presented to flesh out the concept. These serve as an inspiration for theological schools to take on the challenge of investigating the impact of their graduates and making the necessary curriculum change informed by research data. Furthermore, this book calls accrediting agencies to focus more on the assessment of outcomes and impact in their accreditation of programs. This invaluable resource is a must for all leaders and educators serious about maximizing the impact of their training programs!

Theresa Roco-Lua, EdD, General Secretary, Asia Theological Association

What a great initiative to make this book available - an ideal tool and resource based on the last theological educators forum (ICETE 2015). The continuous development of methods and approaches will bring tremendous benefits for the global church through theology studies.

Márcio Matta, President, Associação Evangélica de Educação Teológica na América Latina (AETAL)

This book argues that theological education benefits when we dare to ask the question: Is what we are doing working? As the leader of SAIACS and one of the participants in the research-based curriculum review process that led up to

the ICETE 2015 conference, I agree whole-heartedly. The testimonies show each institution learned unique and valuable things.

I began with some qualms - Should usefulness be the criterion of impact? Are we humans responsible for kingdom outcomes? Does action trump contemplation? To echo Marven Oxenham's fine article, does "Martha" trump "Mary"? I decided that such research-based review needn't fall into these traps, and it sure beats keeping our eyes shut! In fact, in SAIACS' case, we discovered employers and alumni both wanted more "Mary" emphasis on spiritual formation.

This book will encourage more theological education institutions toward confidence they are meeting their goals. It certainly helped SAIACS towards "excellence for the sake of mission."

Ian W. Payne, PhD, Former Principal, South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS), Bangalore, India

From the Publisher