Contemporary Trends & Horizons for 21 st Century Curricula

1. Contemporary Trends & Horizons for 21st Century Curricula Karen-Marie Yust Union Presbyterian Seminary

2. Teaching and Learning Spaces for Christian Education Too often, the spaces where curricula are used do not reflect the culture, values, and practices of the faith community explicitly. Children meet in weekday preschool rooms geared to basic education rather than religious enculturation.

3. 21st century curricula need to… • Help teachers re-imagine the space (through diagrams, sketches, photos, and other visual prompts) • Provide patterns for simple drapes, par aments, murals, and other resources that help transform spaces • Point leaders to resource sites for artwork, decorating ideas, and practical furnishings that support the transformation of spaces into religious environments • Build the creation of classroom visuals (posters, murals, wall hangings, table drapes) into lesson plans. • Offer higher and lower cost/energy approaches.

4. Teacher Preparation for Educational Leadership Many volunteer teachers are underprepared for the task of forming persons in faith. Lesson plans provide instructions but often neglect to help the teacher understand why a lesson is shaped the way it is or the reasons behind the use of a particular pedagogical strategy.

5. 21st century curricula need to… • Recognize that teacher training supplements and separate teacher prep sections are usually ignored • Build information about human development, learning theories, and theologies into lesson plan instructions • Package lesson options within a clear and well-explained basic session structure or flow • Resist scripted responses or provide highly varied potential responses • Encourage variety by emphasizing less preferred styles among teaching options

6. Teacher Preparation as Spiritual Models and Mentors Religious education is often reduced to a process of conveying information about beliefs or presenting entertaining activities that promote good feelings about going to church, rather than focusing on learning how to be the body of Christ gathered and scattered.

7. 21st century curricula need to… • Introduce and reinforce repeatedly the concept of the teacher as spiritual leader who walks with students on a faith journey • Integrate spiritual and logistical/material preparation activities (or encourage outsourcing of the latter) • Provide models of brief but continual theological reflection on the lesson throughout the week (e.g. calendar, emailed thought, weekly cycle) • Encourage teachers to “try out” spiritual practices and develop a rule of life that shapes their calling

8. Educational Ministries as Communities of Spiritual Practice Classical spiritual practices, such as prayer, study, service, contemplation, worship, stewardship, practicing the presence of God, and examination of conscience are missing or perfunctory experiences in many church school classes and study groups.

9. 21st century curricula need to… • Develop a cycle of spiritual practices as part of scope and sequence • Introduce the concept of vocational discernment in age appropriate ways throughout materials • Encourage experimentation with a variety of spiritual practices over time alongside adoption of regular personal and communal practices • Provide models of accountability structures for all ages • Facilitate attentive movement through the inward and outward aspects of the spiritual journey

10. Faith Formation as a Partnership among Teachers, Worship Leaders, and Families Most children and youth spend very little time engaged in formal religious education, which means that faith communities and families must work together to create a religious culture influential enough to form strong Christian identities and resist assimilation to the wider culture.

11. 21st century curricula need to… • Develop more resources for family-based educational ministries (e.g. intergenerational church school classes, family bible schools, neighborhood groups) • Build worship education into scope and sequence • Key hymns, litanies, and other worship resources to church school lessons across age groups • Encourage the development of materials in lessons for congregation worship resource books • Develop e-group resources keyed to families (e.g. automated shared devotions for parents & school-aged children)

12. Are You Ready to Live in the Future?