2012 CSCF Curriculum Statements.pdf - Lutheran Schools ...

The Learning EnvironmentTeachers play an important role in creating an exciting, supportive, inclusive and collaborative learningenvironment which helps students to explore and discover their spirituality. Such a learning environmentvalues students’ different perspectives and fosters critical dialogue. It empowers students and encouragesthem to be actively involved in their learning.The LearningThe pedagogical approach in Christian Studies makes learning personally relevant, creates deep thinkingand brings students to a place where they act on the challenges, values and beliefs communicated in thetheology of the framework. A significant aspect of learning involves developing religious literacy which givesstudents theological and philosophical frameworks for what it means to be human and provides them withopportunities and means to make life choices. A person is religiously literate when he/she can make senseof and engage with texts, practices and beliefs of a religious tradition. Being religiously literate enablespeople to access and communicate their experience of spirituality.Authentic learning that brings new understanding, transforms and challenges students to take actionrequires a rich learning environment where students:are challenged to think critically and laterally about increasingly complex issuesare given a range of strategies to solve problemsare engaged in meaningful debateare stimulated to think in new waysinteract with a range of people, data and mediamake coherent links with prior learning and experienceslisten and are genuinely listened toshare their growing understandinghave opportunities to be still and reflectembrace the new and different with thought, creativity and respectrespond in a multiplicity of waysmake meaningful connections between learning and their experience of the worldRefer to Appendix 5 for a summary of the above points in The Pedagogy Design Process chart.Link to Lifelong Qualities for LearnersPedagogy of Christian Studies is closely linked to LEA’s vision for learners as expressed in the EducationalFramework and Lifelong Qualities for Learners documentation (LEA, 2002, revised 2005) which articulatesthe principles of a meaningful education in Lutheran schools. See Appendix 5 for more details of the linkbetween the Lifelong Qualities for Learners and the Christian Studies Curriculum Framework.CSCF Curriculum Statements September 2012 – Page 6