Elyse Sandberg

Scottie Mae
Transformational Education
16 December 2014
Synthesis Paper

The various readings this semester have engaged, challenged, and encouraged me to think

deeply about transformational teaching and learning. The readings have stretched me to examine

the ways I teach and do ministry, and have pushed me to prayerfully consider what may be

effective, and what may not be. After reflecting back on the readings for the semester and the

main points the authors were trying to convey, there are a few themes that specifically stand out

to me as being important. The first is that effective teaching and true learning are always

transformational. In order for transformational learning to happen, the Holy Spirit needs to be

present and active in the teacher, as well as the learner, which is the second main theme. Finally,

the third is that the teachers purpose is to invite students into life-long learning, learning that

will continue apart from the teacher.

Effective teaching leads to transformational learning. Webber writes about the need for

learning to be transformational. Nouwen introduces the ideas of violent and redemptive teaching,

and proposes that transformational teaching is redemptive teaching; teaching that allows a space

for transformation to happen. Little, Wrobbel, and Harris believe that this space of redemptive

learning must be present in our churches. Richards and Bradfeld point out that in order to foster

this space for transformational learning to occur, we must continually be re-evaluating our

teaching in order to not repeat ineffective teaching styles; styles that Nouwen would deem as

violent and non-transformational. Redemptive teaching that leads to transformation is teaching

that invokes a response from the learners. Webber expresses this idea when he writes about God

wanting to have followers, not just believers. In order to be followers, our knowledge and our
learning need to be something that transforms our hearts to take action. Hearn and Galli agree

with this as well. They believe that knowledge of God and the Bible must be something that

transforms our hearts and helps us to become more like Christ. For knowledge of God to be

transformational, we must do as Buber says and treat God and the Bible as a thou and not an

it. Fee & Stuart agree with this concept. They stress that we must read the Bible for all its

worth; or in Bubers words, as a thou. These authors would agree that then, and only then, will

we be able to truly see its immeasurable worth. If we relate to God or the Bible as an it, seeing

them in separate parts and not as a whole, we will not truly experience either for all theyre

worth. Palmer believes that knowing requires a personal relationship between the knower and

the known, something that is encouraged by Nouwens redemptive teaching style. Nouwen,

Richards & Bradfeld, Little, Wrobbel & Harris, Webber, Hearn & Galli, Buber, Fee & Stuart, and

Palmer would all agree that effective teaching combined with true learning leads to

transformation.

In order for transformation to occur, The Holy Spirit is a necessary presence in the

learner, as well as the teacher. The Holy Spirit must be apart our teaching, allowing the Spirit to

transform our hearts and do his work through us. Palmer says that as teachers, we must

constantly be allowing our hearts to be known by the love and truth in which they were first

formed (108). In order to be effective teachers, he believes that we must continually be letting

ourselves be formed by the Holy Spirit, spending time with God in solitude, where we come to

discover ourselves. As teachers, it is important that we continually seek to be transformed by

Christ, since we are in a place of example to our students. Westerhoff determined the most

important questions in life to be, "How can I be what I say I am?" and "How can I live what I

profess?" When we are in a role of leadership, these questions are essential to ask ourselves. I
believe that Westerhoff, Palmer, Wilhoit, Gorman, and many other authors not mentioned in this

paragraph would all agree that we can only be who we say we are, and live what we profess

when we are walking with the Spirit, allowing him to continually work within us. Palmer says

that the knowledge we possess also possesses us, and therefore, we must allow the Holy Spirit

and the power of love to transform that knowledge; the way we teach it and the way we learn it.

Wilhoit says that knowing God personally is the aim of Christian education, and we must have

the Spirit for this to happen. Without the Spirits love, our knowledge is nothing. Gorman

emphasizes this in his writing, insisting that the Holy Spirit be apart of both teaching and

learning. He says that with the help of the Holy Spirit, learning about Jesus changes the whole

person, not just their knowledge. As Palmer would agree, the knowledge of Jesus possesses us

and changes our hearts when the power of love, through the Spirit, is welcomed and working.

This is when transformation happens. The Spirit must be welcomed and working in both the

learner and the teacher.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, the teachers purpose is, then, to invite students into life-

long learning, teaching them to grow themselves, rather than simply teaching them to know

things. Little, Wrobbel, and Harris believe that teaching in the church must be fostering the

transformation of lives and not simply teaching factual knowledge. WIlhoit agrees in saying that

knowing God is so much more than knowing about him. We must be teaching our students more

than knowledge about God; we must be teaching in such a way that invites them to personally

know the Lord as their personal Savior, Father, and Friend. However, this is not something that

we can simply hand over to students. Westerhoff says that instead of telling the learner the

different truths we are trying to teach them, we must let the learners come to know those truths

on their own. We cannot tell someone else their personal meaning. Wilhoit says that personal
meaning must be something that is discovered by the learners themselves. As a teacher, our role

is to help students to be able to find this meaning, and be able to, in the future, spiritually feed

themselves. Wilhoit believes we can do this by modeling ourselves what loving God looks like,

for loving God is the exact life-long learning we want to invite our learners into.

Percentage of Assigned Readings Completed: 80%