Follow up Discussion from October 30, 2009

1. Initial reflections on Wisdom
   
   1. Need to spend more time in the scriptures, particularly Proverbs.
      
   2. The "fear" of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is not fear as we think, but better interpreted as "reverence".
      
   3. We may be "the church" to some of our students
      
   4. Is it necessary to use the word wisdom with our students? Are they so biased that they miss the point?
      
   5. We must be teaching our students how to think critically
      
   6. What about the sticky issues that come up through this process? How do we handle them?
   
   
2. Intimate relation between culture and organized education. "We must be counter-cultural."
   
   1. Our task to help equip our student to rise above certain cultural expectations
      
   2. We must understand and then create "our way of doing things" that may or will be different than the worlds from which our students come.
      
   3. This is hard and requires us to answer the question are we willing to there.
      
   4. We must help students to consistently stop and think about their actions.
   
   
3. A biblical perspective on wisdom has to function as an alternative to the dominant ideology of Reason? "We are biased by Reason"

1. The mode of relating (or relationship) to students constitutes curriculum? "Wisdom is found in relationship"
   
   1. It is an act of the will to love our students
      
   2. Respect is key. Both in teacher to student and student to student context. Must be able to value others
      
   3. Relationship is not friendship. It's not a matter of liking.
   
   
2. There is a direct relationship between discernment and wisdom. Blomberg puts it as "critique is a concomitant of wisdom. "Problem-posing is a pathway"
   
   1. Always be ready with the question "Why"
      
   2. As in Warren's book, I ask students what is their purpose.
   
   
3. Education should disclose ambiguity rather than conceal it. "Pat answers to complex questions are not acceptable"
   
   1. Our job as teachers is to embrace complexity
      
   2. Some issues of ambiguity you deal with individually and not as a class
      
   3. Opens door to controversial topics: evolution, politics, dogma
   
   
4. Christian curriculum should be Integral rather than Integrated . "We begin with the whole. Faith and learning were never apart."
   
   1. We are attempting to create in students a God way of thinking