1. Formation as the ‘Practice of many Practices’
I write in my book 'Pedagogy and Education for Life' that:
“Education is the whole of life of a community, and the experience of its members learning to live this life, from the standpoint of a specific goal”.
And of course the formation of our students is a critical part of how this occurs as we enact this through our pedagogy.
The challenge within our schools is that our students arrive from at times very different backgrounds. This might well have included growing up in a Christian home, and attending a church with strong biblical teaching. They may have been challenged by God’s word, to live in ways consistent with the Scriptures. Of course, if only this was always the case, our job as teachers would be much easier.
Christian and in fact, all faith-based schools have a significant role to play in an environment where students not only learn and grow as students and people, but also in faith and character.
Faith-based schools whether Christian or of another faith, make a commitment to the spiritual formation of our students. Hopefully, this is not just by sending them off to Chapel once or twice a week. True formation occurs in multiple communities, or groups as the “Outcome of the ‘Practice of many Practices.” I borrowed this excellent comment, from Craig Dykstra and Dorothy Bass.
I point out in my book that this might not be realistic in all faith-based schools. When I wrote the book I was thinking of Christian schools. It's worth noting that I’ve been invited to speak to staff at varied faith-based schools in recent years, and all have shown considerable interest in my work. Other religions also see much which resonates with their own desire to see their children grow spiritually. For example, a large number of school leaders, teachers and parents read my blog in Muslim countries. It seems, they also want their schools to demonstrate pedagogy and school communities that are true to their faith.
2. Going Deeper, to consider the subtle and almost unseen practices of our schools
Dykstra and Bass in their work, comment on formation and issue a challenge to teachers to bring to “consciousness the hidden dimensions embedded in and through our actions and relations.” (see p. 91). This sounds anything but practical, but hang in there. They define “Christian Practices” as:
“… the things Christian people do together over time to address fundamental human needs in response to and in light of God’s active presence for the life of the world.”
In short, Christian schools help students to see, respond to, and navigate all the practices of life (Christian and non-Christian), with a telos that is shaped by and directed toward the kingdom of God. NB: “telos” is an ancient Greek word meaning “ultimate end”, “purpose”, “goal” or “action”.
It is important to stress, that our task as Christian schools and teachers is NOT just to put our energy into inculcating our students with ideas, whether this is dressed up as “virtues”, “values”, "church traditions" or even “worldview”. If ideas become the focus of pedagogy, there is less chance of us inscribing a “Habitus” that actually ‘primes’ and shapes their actions.
Pierre Bourdieu developed the concept of “Habitus” (or Habit) and saw it as rooted in family life, and conditioned by social class. What’s more, “Habitus” is part of Aristotle’s teaching on Ethics. In a sense, it is within family life, and the way we bring our children up, that there is significant influence on how our children and students see ourselves in later life.
3. Being Shaped by ‘That Which is Invisible’
It is also important to discuss how the invisible things of life, have an influence on us and of course our students. I draw on the work of Charles Taylor and Lev Vygotsky in helping us to understand what I mean by this.
Charles Taylor argues that we need to stop assuming only ideas move people. James Smith makes a similar point drawing on Taylor. Taylor suggests that beneath any cognitive or intellectual discussion by a group or institution (e.g. a school), we have human imagination at work (p.99). This helps us to engage with stories, dreams, hopes, myths, images etc, and connect them with past and present experiences, as well as imagining the way we’d like the world to be.
Vygotsky used the word Obuchenie to discuss this ‘invisible’ action. In essence, this word points to the way that in life, as we live in communities, we adjust to one another. The teacher student relationship is a context in which this is very important. He argues that simply passing on knowledge doesn’t change people. If we follow his argument and apply it to our school context, then growing our students in knowledge and faith, might require us to make some subtle changes to our pedagogy.
Rather than simply transmitting knowledge about Christian faith which we hope students will accept and replicate, we need to grasp that our students must see connections themselves between such a life underpinned by faith, and the myriad of communities of practice they already inhabit. This of course, requires them to reflect on and adjust to these multiple communities.
So what might our role look like in such a context? Daniel Estes ('Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of the Child'), suggests that:
“The metaphor of the teacher as a guide includes both direction by the teacher and active involvement of the student in the learning process.”
