Theologische bijdragen voor leraarschap

Theological contributions for teacherhood A secondary school curriculum is not only about the content and the learning of the students, but also about the teacher behavior. I assess which contributions theological teacher models can make to education. To investigate this, I first study whether and how theological teacher models can be placed within recent scientific educational literature. Subsequently, I elaborate on the theological teacher models by considering the effectiveness of a discussion, as well as typical theological teacher guidance skills. The book Teacher models from Isaiah to Bioshock by Bart Koet and Archibald van Wieringen discusses, amongst others, the following theological teacher models: the book of Isaiah as a teacher, Socrates as a teacher, Ben Sira as a prime example of an interpreter of biblical wisdom, Jesus asking questions, the Torah against the background of family relationships, Augustine’s vision on the transfer of knowledge and skills, The Dutch Cardinal Willebrands’s learning through dialogue,1 and the game Bioshock as a teacher of virtues. I studied whether and how these theological teacher models can be placed within Pratt’s five perspectives on teaching (transmission perspective, apprenticeship perspective, developmental perspective, nurturing perspective, and social reform). The five perspectives are used as ideal types, which are heuristic instruments that show how my observations exemplify a certain fixed pattern of thinking, understanding and action. The analysis below makes use of these five perspectives, where I do not intervene in the debate as to whether they exclude each other or overlap and what would be the most effective, best or any correct form of teacher or teaching.