Two faculty members in the language and literature department at Eastern Mennonite University will take part in a seminar, “Faith in the Classroom: Christian Perspectives on Teaching and Learning,” July 17-21, at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Martha G. (Marti) Eads, associate professor of English and department chair; and Moira R. Rogers, associate professor of Spanish, are among 16 participants in the seminar, sponsored by the Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning. Attendees are coming from across the U.S. and from Canada, Russia and South Korea.
The seminar program seeks to promote a strong Christian voice in the academy by addressing issues of current debate within various disciplines from the perspective of a deep Christian commitment and encouraging the production of first-order scholarship.
The seminar director, David I. Smith, heads the Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning and is associate professor of German at Calvin College. He is co-editor of the “Journal of Education and Christian Belief” and the “Journal of Christianity and Foreign Languages.”
The program will provide opportunity for faculty to explore significant scholarly resources that can frame an understanding of our calling as Christian educators. The approach will involve close interaction with two particular sets of resources, drawing past and present into conversation.
Going back to the roots of modern schooling, the program will explore the educational reflections of John Amos Comenius, the 17th century Moravian thinker, on the relationship between faith and learning. Comenius’ influence on modern education has been considerable, and his writings still attract international scholarly attention, yet his profound explorations of a Christian vision of teaching and learning remain unfamiliar to many in North America.
Alongside Comenius, the group will examine a number of more recent attempts to articulate the calling of the Christian educator, including work from influential Christian educators such as Nicholas Wolterstorff (on pedagogy and justice), Mark Schwehn (on learning and virtue) and Parker Palmer (on the spirituality of teaching and learning).
The seminar includes assigned readings in preparation for attending, and time will be given in the afternoons for individual study.