Teaching Christianly
Abstract
What does it mean to teach Christianly, teaching in such a way that faith would inform pedagogy and not simply course content? For this question posed by David I. Smith in 2018, the author develops an answer by drawing from Smith himself as well as from broad literature that includes the Bible and research findings in behavioral science. His working answer is to incorporate personal narrative into teaching while serving as a role model for students. He conducts a practical exploration of his working answer in the classroom by telling his own story from both Christian and non-Christian viewpoints, giving students a choice of model for their own narrative. Students then tell personal stories about their character formation as a form of engaged learning in the discipline of strategic management in an undergraduate course. The author frames the assignment in the context of the course in terms of the strategic management concept of organizational capability. Students are not required to incorporate faith explicitly in their stories.
The author simultaneously studies the classroom assignment as a qualitative researcher, making observations of over two hundred students during four-year period. The qualitative study provides some support for the author's working answer and thus advances understanding of of what it can mean to teach Christianly and what the consequences of such pedagogy might be.
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