In today’s Scholar’s Call piece, Paul Yandle meditates on how the experience of teaching shows him more about God, even in those moments when a student’s response is not what the professor was hoping for. [Read more…] about Scholar’s Call: The Student Who Walked Away
student
“Time” to be imitated?
 The Marks of a Christian Scholar: A Vocational Description (Part Three)[1]
Mark Eckel, ThM PhD, Professor of Leadership, Education & Discipleship
Capital Seminary & Graduate School, Washington, D.C.
By guiding attention we take in our hands the key
to the formation and the development of personality and character. — Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky[2]
My first stint as an educator was chosen by a four letter word: time.
My training was in pastoral studies. But I was being offered a position as a high school teacher in a Christian school. Should I become a teacher, something for which I was not trained? I made my decision based on time.
I asked myself how much influence could I have within a certain amount of time? Teaching five times a week for 45 minutes a day over 180 days a year equals 135 hours per year.
But discipleship was the key to my decision. [Read more…] about “Time” to be imitated?
Owning education
 The Marks of a Christian Teacher: A Vocational Description (Part Two)[1]
Mark Eckel, ThM PhD, Professor of Leadership, Education & Discipleship
Capital Seminary & Graduate School, Washington, D.C.
The true function of the teacher is to create the most favorable conditions for self-learning.
True teaching is not that which gives knowledge, but that which stimulates pupils to gain it.
One might say that he teaches best who teaches least.[2]
“I do not want you to believe anything I tell you.â€Â My mantra was repeated daily.
“I want you to be Bereans. The Bereans did not take at face value what Paul said but searched Scripture for themselves to see if he was correct.â€[3]
“This is not Eckelology.â€Â The comment always brought smiles. More serious expressions were given when I said, “We study God’s Word for the sake of God’s world.â€
“My responsibility as a teacher is to make sure you become lifelong learners. If you only learn to follow an authority’s words without thought, you will allow anyone with the loudest voice or the most letters behind her name to sway your thinking.â€
“You need to own what you believe. The one word definition of education is ownership.†[Read more…] about Owning education
I Just Need Time to Think!
Incline my heart. – Pascal.
Ever find yourself shouting out, I just need time to think! How do you and the communities of which you are a part respond? Looking for a resource with some clear, focused recommendations to assist you in taking another step on the journey?
Over the past year I have enjoyed getting to know Mark Eckel[1] and keeping up with his challenging blog posts (warpandwoof.org). In the coming weeks Mark will share material with us on the ESN blog :) As an introduction, I am drawing from a book review I posted for his new release: I just need time to think! When I mentioned this ESN blog post to Mark, he passed along news of a book signing. Wow!
Back to the book . . . From the moment I saw the cover and the description of I just need time to think!, I knew this book was speaking to the Emerging Scholars Network. Why? I just need time to think! all to often applies not only to Emerging Scholars, but also to my own life. Yes, even in a campus ministry focused upon Emerging Scholars, enrolled in a seminary (2 classes this term at Evangelical Seminary), and part of a local congregation with a Christian Scholars Series, I have seasons where I lose “reflective study as Christian practiceâ€. When such occurs, I find myself rudderless. [Read more…] about I Just Need Time to Think!
Returning to Graduate School – Thoughts by Michael Stell (2)
Part Two – Being a Graduate Student
When I entered grad school, I entered with a sense of purpose that was in my mind akin to the idea that the Puritans had of vocation or calling. Attending a Catholic university, I realize that many use the word vocation in strictly religious ways, but the Puritans viewed all of life as religious, and so all of life should be understood as vocation. I had been involved in the vocation of teaching, but not at the place where I felt I was fulfilling my true calling. I was going to grad school with the intent in my mind to complete that calling, to fulfill my vocation. But shortly upon arriving at grad school with the above ideas in my mind, I realized I needed to change the way I thought about my own vocation. So, what changed in my own self-understanding about the vocation of academia?
First, I realized I had to become a scholar if I was going to take seriously the vocation of an academic. In the first six months, I shifted my thinking in a variety of ways, not the least of which was changing my vocabulary from studying theology, to being a theologian. While this change might be subtle, it was a reflective way for me to begin to think of myself as a scholar, not just a teacher. I do think there is not enough emphasis placed on the development of the craft of teaching in doctoral programs, but I needed to do a reset of my thinking about my own place in scholarship.
I came into the program with very vague ideas of what I wanted to study, and I had no real settled person who I wanted to study under. My previous work had been very general, and I liked thinking about things in big picture terms. But I soon realized that to become a scholar meant mastery, not just generalized knowledge. I was very fortunate that in spite of my lack of vision, God saw fit to bring both a great mentor to study under and a theologian whom I could study in depth whose papers were close to my current location. My studies have opened doors to present papers and work on writing articles about my research which I never envisioned when I began the program. If we as evangelicals are to fulfill the vision that Mark Noll laid out, it is necessary that we become scholars. I needed to learn that lesson. [Read more…] about Returning to Graduate School – Thoughts by Michael Stell (2)