Discovering Views of the Divine: An Interreligious, Transcendence-Orientated Approach to Theological Content in Religious Education

The development of students’ theological understanding(s) in British multi-faith Religious Education (RE), specifically in schools without a religious affiliation, has been much debated (Astley and Francis, 1996; Cush, 1999; Copley, 2001, 2005; Reed et al., 2013; Chipperton et al., 2016; Freathy and Davis, 2019). Critical views on the use of theological approaches aimed at furthering such understanding(s) are often based on the assumption of a general incompatibility between the discipline of Theology – especially if interpreted in the sense of ‘faith seeking understanding’ – and certain values of non-confessional, multi-faith RE such as impartiality and tolerance of a plurality of perspectives (Smart, 1983; Netto, 1989; Brine, 2016a, 2016b). Herein, theology is generally described as presenting a risk of religious indoctrination (see Parsons 1994; Hull, 2004; Copley, 2005; Cooling, 2010). Yet, what has not been sufficiently explored is whether or not, and if so, on what argumentative grounds, this theory is tenable – by clarifying, for instance, what conditions theological approaches would have to fulfil to be adequate for schools without a religious affiliation. Using the method of critical analysis of selected literature in a process of dialogic philosophical argumentation, this thesis seeks, first, to reveal that the (perceived) compatibility problem described above is unnecessary, only occurring if Theology and RE, and the relationship between them, are defined in mutually irreconcilable ways; and second, to propose an alternative theologically orientated approach to RE designed, specifically, for the study of multiple theistic religions in religiously unaffiliated schools. The thesis draws the following main conclusions: to ensure that approaches aimed at furthering theological understanding(s) are suitable for non-confessional, multi-faith RE, they must never presuppose faith in the divine on the part of the students (or teachers) and should be applicable to all monotheistic and polytheistic religions studied in RE, thereby offering opportunities for interreligious investigation. Moreover, in an attempt to propose an approach that meets these requirements in a way that maximises the distinctive contribution Theology can make to non-confessional RE, alongside other disciplines, the thesis promotes the view that, in this particular educational context, theology should be defined primarily, but not exclusively so, by its objects of study (rather than methods), that is the key concepts, beliefs and doctrines relating to the divine found in these traditions. And finally, this content-based and (potentially) interreligious view of theology should, in turn, be embedded in a broader hermeneutical framework within which theistic religions are explored through an interpretive lens that assumes the centrality of transcendence in religious belief, which – for theists – arguably manifests itself in an orientation towards the divine in their personal and communal lives. This is in order to balance philosophical focal points in the conceptualisation of religion(s), e.g. emphasising conceptual/doctrinal aspects, with a more life-centred view of theistic faith that defines being religious in this context as standing in a meaningful relationship with the divine. Advantages of choosing this combined content-based/life-centred approach to furthering theological understanding(s) (e.g. as one element in a broader multi-methodological, interdisciplinary approach to RE) are that it enables students to explore the complexity of theistic belief, systematically and with the potential for careful interreligious comparison, which neither crosses the line to confessionalism, nor disregards the self-understandings and specificities of individual theistic traditions, revealed in their various ways of ‘God-centredness’. This discussion is particularly important today because current literacy-focused propositions for RE (see Clarke and Woodhead, 2015; Dinham and Shaw, 2016; CoRE, 2018) pay little attention to the role theological understanding(s) may play in developing religious literacy as a broader aim of RE

An Exegetical and Historical Examination of the Beginning and Ending of the 1260 Days of Prophecy with Special Attention Given to A.D. 538 and 1798 as Initial and Terminal dates

Purpose The interpretation of prophecy fills an important place in the teachings of Seventh-day Adventists, Among the many prophecies they interpret is one which concerns a period variously described in the Bible as lasting 31/2 times, 42 months, or 1260 days. The accepted Adventist interpretation of this prophecy makes of this period a special era of 1260 years, and places its beginning and ending dates at A.D. 538 and 1798 respectively. It was the purpose of this study to inquire into the adequacy of these dates. Stated in another way, it was the purpose of this study to find out what period in history God had reference to when he spoke of 1260 days. The problem From the time of Joachim of Floris at the close of the twelfth century down to the present day, many men have assigned dates to the 1260 days. These dates differ widely, though they can be grouped so as to show trends and schools of opinion. The interpretations and conclusions of Seventh-day Adventists in this matter are, in some aspects, unique. In view of this the question naturally arises, What dates really are the right ones with which to bound the 1260 days? It is this question that constitutes the problem. Nature The nature of this paper is both exegetical and historical. it was felt that to examine history for the fulfillment of prophetic symbols without first determining what the symbols portray would be to put the cart before the horse and to ensure failure. The historical section is devoted to an examination of history in an attempt to discover the fulfillment on the basis of the exegetical study. Scope The scope of this paper is rather broad for a Master\u27s thesis, including as it does a survey of 1260 years of history and of two limited eras, any of which phases could become the basis of a separate thesis. But it was fait that in order to be solved, the problem must be grasped as a whole. The period is always presented in the Bible simply and as if it were a unit of time to be taken up and considered all at once. Importance The importance of this study is derived from the value of Bible study in general and of the study of prophecy in particular. The Apostle Peter instructs Christians to know the reasons underlying their faith, and says, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Ellen G. White further instructs that prophecy should be presented as the foundation of the faith of Seventh-day Adventists. If prophecy is the foundation of the beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists, and if the Bible teaches that Christians should be able to give a reason for their beliefs, then there is importance enough attached to an inquiry into the validity of any given prophetic interpretation. Organization of the rest of the paper Chapters II and III of this paper deal with interpretation while chapters IV and V present a study of historical fulfillment. There is also an appendix containing, among other things, a report on over twenty questionnaires returned from Adventist college Bible teachers in four countries; an inquiry into the historical validity of the 533-38 to 1793-98 sliding-scale dating; a summary of a 750-year survey of 135 expositors who have assigned dates to the 1260 days; and a history of the Ostrogothic war, with seven periodic maps

Analysis of productive e-learning exercises : A study of upper secondary school English e-learning materials

The research focuses on the productive e-learning exercises in upper secondary school English learning materials provided by four publishers in their e-textbooks. Digital learning materials have become increasingly common, and the introduction of the new National Core Curriculum for general upper secondary schools has prompted publishing houses to publish new materials, with an even bigger focus on the digital version. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive description and a critical evaluation of the variety of productive e-learning exercises that the publishers provide. Previous research on this topic in the Finnish context is very limited and learning materials in general have mostly been studied by master’s students in universities. The materials for the analysis come from the productive e-learning exercises that are related to text chapters in the four publishers’ (Sanoma Pro, Otava, Edita, and Studeo) e-textbooks. All the analysed materials are brand new and have not been researched before. The research method for this study is content analysis, which is conducted through both quantitative and qualitative methods. The analysis was conducted by coding the data based on three main categories that are What is the learner expected to do?, Who with?, and With what content?, and in several subcategories under them. The findings show that the available published materials provide a wide variety of different e-learning exercises for the upper secondary school students. Most often the results of the comparative analyses showed similarities, rather than dramatic differences between the four publishers’ materials. With regards to the four characteristics of learning, the results of the study showed that one of them was supported especially well (students’ activity and initiative), two were supported well (sense of community and clear, authentic, and demanding exercises), and only one characteristic was not supported well enough (learning skills) by the analysed e-learning exercises. The current study provides useful data for the, still lacking, learning material research in the Finnish context. The presented findings give insight to the publishers into what factors should be considered when designing exercises for new products. For teachers, the findings can be useful when making use of one of the e-textbooks in the classroom, whilst planning lessons and courses, or when choosing which publisher’s material they would like to use next

Principals' attitudes towards guidance in the historically disadvantaged secondary schools at Madadeni East and West circuit.

Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.This is a qualitative study which investigates the attitudes of school principals towards school guidance in the historically disadvantaged secondary schools in the township of Madadeni. The sample consists of five secondary school principals recruited from Madadeni schools. Structured interviews were used to collect data. A set of questions were drawn up by the researcher and aimed at collecting such information as the opinions of the principals on the importance of school guidance, what school guidance should provide, adherence to school guidance periods, the role of a guidance teacher, and the expected position of school guidance in the Curriculum 2005. The results indicated that although the school principals see the need for school guidance in secondary school, there seem to be problems emanating from lack of resources and insufficient personnel. There were also indications that school guidance will have an important role in the Curriculum 2005 in the form of Life Orientation learning area

Interpretation in the art museum :authority and access

The thesis investigates the rise of wall texts and display captions positioned\ud alongside paintings in Tate Britain between 1987 and 2007 and considers possible\ud reasons for this increase: the return of philanthropic attitudes of 19th century social\ud reformers; changes in the national curriculum for art and design; partial devolution\ud of financial responsibility from government to museum bodies; income generation,\ud funding and sponsorship; increasing inclusion and access policy and internet use. All\ud of these factors have changed the manner in which museums see themselves and\ud address the needs of their visiting public.\ud However, the principle focus of the thesis is the text itself and asks what it means to\ud write words intended to inform, explain and interpret artworks.\ud Using filmed interviews the research investigates differences in the manner in which\ud people describe a painting in the gallery after they have read accompanying text\ud with descriptions they give from memory i.e. seeing a painting in their mind's eye.\ud Archive research tracks the authoring and institutional positioning of interpretative\ud text from its original home in the publications department, to the curatorial team, as\ud part of education and currently provided by a dedicated team. It asks whether the\ud function and nature of such text is best described as literature, marketing,\ud promotional or a tool of access and asks whether it would help its development if it\ud had a dedicated theory to govern and structure it.\ud Throughout, the issues raised are complex and cross many disciplines. To\ud acknowledge this, I organised an international conference at Tate Britain with\ud speakers who approached the subject from literary, philosophical and sociological\ud perspectives.\ud I conclude that the phenomena of text based interpretation in museums needs to be\ud re-examined, that text should be repositioned away from art works and that visitors\ud should be given more opportunity to bring their own personal, corporeal experience\ud to looking at art