Welcoming Children

Children of Many Cultures and Contexts

EL3537, Luther Seminary, Spring 2011

    This is a web page developed as an adjunct to a class taught at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, MN. Please be advised: these sites are contextualized in my presentations, and are not meant to be either definitive or endorsed without critical reflection.

    An upper level seminar in religious education which fulfills the ED2 MDIV requirement.

    This is a web page developed as an adjunct to a class taught at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, MN. Please be advised: these sites are contextualized in my presentations, and are not meant to be either definitive or endorsed without critical reflection.

    Here is the syllabus for this course.

    The essential questions this course takes up

    What does it mean in a community of faith to welcome children? How might communities of faith support families in the process of faith formation with children?

    Ideas and concepts central to understanding

    Children are at the heart of Christian faith, and communities of faith need to welcome them openly and include them fully. Doing so requires an awareness of the complexity of children’s lives, and the many cultures and contexts which children inhabit.

    Ideas and concepts that are important to know and to do

    1. why children are at the heart of Christian community
    2. how to support adult learning as a way to support children
    3. some of the issues that arise for children in diverse contexts
    4. some of the ways in which immigration shapes experience for children
    5. how to design learning environments that embrace children
    6. how to engage various cultural contexts that children inhabit
    7. how to support advocacy on behalf of children in public contexts

    Ideas and concepts that are worth being familiar with

    1. five elements of Christian curriculum (kerygma, diakonia, leiturgia, didache, koinonia)
    2. basic information about what Christian theology has to say about childhood and children
    3. basic information about what the Bible has to say about childhood and children
    4. basic information about brain function, psychological and social development
    5. basic information about forms of pedagogy and curriculum design for children’s faith formation
    6. basic information about immigration and how it shapes family function