Education in the
modern world was primarily teacher-based. The student, it was supposed,
came to class with little or no knowledge of the subject, sat under the
instructor, and at the end of the course demonstrated how much of the
instructor’s knowledge had been imparted through a test or a paper.
At the Institute for
Worship Studies we do not follow this model. We follow the philosophy of learner-based education. In this philosophy of education the focus is on
a student-directed process of learning.
Here is how it works:
The majority of students who come to study at the Institute for Worship
Studies
are already accomplished in the field of ministry. They have ten, twenty, even
thirty years of experience in the classroom, in music and worship ministries
and/or in the pulpit. At IWS we value this background and experience and
treat students with respect for their wisdom and accomplishments. Instead of
having a typical teacher/student relationship, we enjoy a collegiality in
which all of us are learning together. Therefore, the teacher uses his or her knowledge in the field to stand
alongside the student and facilitate his of her learning.
Each course has a
particular content and students are to work within the parameters of its
subject. Each person is asked to think, “How can this material be integrated
into my ministry?” With that question in mind, the learner appropriates the
material of the course into his or her work: the classroom, week-by-week
worship planning or preaching preparation. In
this way the learner is not working for the teacher
but for his or her own knowledge and immediate use
in ministry.
The process of this
learner-based education is threefold. It begins with a pre-course reading
assignment. During this time the student is asked
to identify how this material can enhance his or her ministry (identify an
issue). The second stage is to interact with the material in the classroom
environment. Each course in the doctoral program is co-taught by
two highly qualified teachers who |
combine knowledge and
experience to create a dynamic learning situation. Presentation will be made. Discussions will follow. In this setting, the class thinks reflectively with
the biblical, historical, theological, missiological and cultural
disciplines. The
third part of the process is for each student, having dialogued with the
material, to prepare a paper or project integrated with his or her
ministry. For example, a college or seminary professor may create a syllabus
for a course, a worship pastor may plan services or a pastor may plan a series
of sermons. This material is turned in at the end of the semester for
evaluation.
Each semester lasts for
approximately four months. During this time the student may use the
discussion board or email fellow students and faculty for continued
interaction on his or her project.
Each semester, students
and faculty read an assigned book, usually on a discipline that interacts with
worship, such as a book on theology, the church, postmodern culture,
communication theory or missiology. The new semester begins with the
president’s panel discussion on the book, and then the theme of the book is
integrated with chapel services and classes.
In these and other ways,
the Institute creates an atmosphere of learning in community. It is
and exciting venture in high-powered but non-competitive intelligent and
experiential learning. As one student said, “I’ve never been involved in
education like this. Why can’t all schools teach this way?” In response,
another student, a seminary professor in one of the largest seminaries in
America, said, “This is the future of education. Someday all education will
be like this.” Whether it will or will not be so, we like to think we are
a different sort of school. And we intend to keep it that way.
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