Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Religion in education'

Given the current amount of cheating in our society and more specifically in our schools, the focus of this dissertation was to examine the impact of religiosity on cheating behavior in an academic arena. Additionally social norms and the individual difference variable of self-monitoring were also investigated to determine their impact on cheating behavior. Furthermore, self-regulation was examined to determine if non-cheating high self-monitors deplete more self-regulatory resources than those non-cheating low self-monitors in a cheating situation.

Participants completed a religiosity and self-monitoring measure prior to coming into the laboratory. At a date of their choosing, participants completed the laboratory portion of the study. In the laboratory, participants were given a job-competency measure to complete, at which time they were given an opportunity to cheat. The participants completed the job-competency measure alone or in the presence of a confederate. Four different conditions were formed: a control condition, a cheating condition, a passive condition, and an active noncheating condition. It was also in the laboratory that their grip strength was measured.

Contrary to expectations, religiosity was not a significant predictor of cheating behavior. However, norms did impact cheating behavior; there was more cheating when the confederate cheated and less cheating when the confederate discouraged cheating behavior. Additionally, there was an impact of self-monitoring in response to the created norms, such that high self-monitors tended to follow the behaviors of the confederates more so than low self-monitors. Contrary to expectations, self-regulatory resources were not significantly impacted for noncheating high self-monitors in a confederate-induced cheating condition.

The purpose of this study is to look at the school choices of Muslim parents in New Jersey and the social and academic experiences of Muslim students and young adults. The participants included 90 Muslim parents, 126 Muslim young adults, and 52 Muslim students currently attending a public, private, or Islamic school. Participants completed surveys, and a few were administered interviews that included questions pertaining to the purpose of this study. Findings showed that Muslim parents who choose Islamic schools do so to teach their child (children) about Islam and to surround them with other Muslims; whereas, Muslim parents who chose public schools do so for the quality of education. Overall, this study demonstrated that most Muslim students in either Islamic or public schools didn’t encounter social challenges any different than other students; in addition, an overload of schoolwork was reported as an academic challenge.

The purpose of this study was to test a ministry model designed to foster growth in the understanding and practice of bringing miracles, signs, and wonders to bear in life situations. The spiritual effect on individuals and congregations was measured. A qualitative/quantitative strategy utilized a comparison of a pretest and post-test, participant testimony, and peer review to generate the data. The results suggest participants experienced spiritual growth, individually and collectively. This study is part of the Randy Clark scholars' theme "Randy Clark Scholars: Presenting the Gospel as Jesus Intended, in Love, Authority, Signs, and Wonders."

Chapter 1 is the introduction, which gives an overview of the entire study. Chapter 2 is the literature review, defining the problem of stunted spiritual growth and considering coaching as a possible catalyst to move people out of stagnation. Chapter 3 covers the methods of the present study, describing how the treatment and effects study was set up in order to determine if the participants who were coached would experience more spiritual growth than the non-coached participants and how the focus group interviews were conducted to ascertain any noticeable difference in the spiritual growth between the two groups by looking for areas of growth that the coached group experienced that were not reflected in the DSGS and then seeing if the non-coached group grew in those same areas or different areas. Chapter 4 details the results of the study. The hypothesis that coached participants would score at higher levels of spiritual growth than non-coached participants was not supported by the results. The data showed that both groups scored at the same level of growth with no significant difference when t-tested. Chapter 5 addresses conclusions of the study and suggestions for related studies that could help address the problem of spiritual stagnation in the United States church.

This dissertation analyzes and compares the curricula within and across the eight Eastern Orthodox Christian seminaries in the United States of America through the lens of Theological or Pastoral orientation of the seminaries. This dissertation aims to address this deficiency in the literature on religious higher education in the United States of America.

This comparison of Orthodox seminary curricula is guided by three questions: What are the curricula in use at the eight Orthodox Christian seminaries in the United States of America? What distinctions arise from an analysis of these seminaries’ course descriptions and curricula? How do these curricula achieve the Assembly of Bishops’ goals for unity?

I employed an emergent design methodology to code, analyze, and compare over 400 course descriptions obtained from bulletins and course catalogs of the eight Orthodox Christian seminaries. The course descriptions were compared with other courses of the same institution, other courses offered by comparable institutions, and other courses I designated as similar based upon coding outcomes.

I found that the seminaries exhibited one of two innate foci: Theological orientation or Pastoral orientation. I compared the seeming orientations with the schools’ mission statements. I then solicited course syllabi to explore the courses in more depth to determine whether the course descriptions were accurate reflections of what was taught in the courses.

I surveyed seminary administrators and professors about the Theological or Pastoral orientation of their schools, and the preparedness of their seminary’s graduates to fulfill priestly duties. This allowed triangulation of data with the syllabi and course descriptions.

This dissertation engages the field of comparative and international education, providing a comparative analysis of internationally and ethnically affiliated schools. It aims to explore in more detail the variations in how future religious leaders are educated within one faith group. This dissertation also explores the international and historic diversity of Orthodox Christian groups in the United States of America. These analyses will enrich the field of religious higher education studies by revealing the inner workings of an entire religious community in the United States; a religious community little studied and little understood.

The purpose of this research was to develop the components of a theory for retention of young people after their high school years by examining the factors that contribute to continued spiritual vitality in Assemblies of God (AG) post-high school young adults. Data was collected from a stratified sample of ninety-five young adults in the United States during their senior year of high school in 2011 and two years later in 2013. In line with research by the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI), continued spiritual vitality was operationalized by using the Religious Behavior Scale, the Religious Identity Scale, and the Risk Behavior Scale. The results identified nine elements from spiritual formation factors, social considerations, and high school youth group experiences that produced fourteen statistically significant correlations with higher levels of retention and spiritual vitality in the sample two years after leaving school. This research appears to suggest that it is the aggregated effect of intentional youth group experiences providing opportunity for the internalized guidance of the Holy Spirit, recognized as God's work, and not specific youth group programs or religious activities that have the potential to create a unique spiritual journey that would ensure spiritual vitality for the youth after they leave high school.

The purpose of this study was to provide a case study on the application of service-learning curriculum in a youth ministry at a traditional mid-size church. The intent of the curriculum was to provide a new and creative way for the church to impact youth by getting them involved in actions that correspond with Biblical principles. Church leaders hope that this curriculum change will not only impact youth in their teens but also influence them to remain involved in a traditional church as they reach college and become young adults.

The researcher used the process model of curriculum study from Lawrence Stenhouse (Smith, 2000) to investigate the selection, implementation, and desired outcomes of service learning. The researcher, who also served as the Student Minister at the church, used qualitative data collection methods to discover the thoughts of students who left the ministry prior to service-learning implementation. He then compared that to focus-group research, survey responses, and interviews of youth and young adults as well as adult leaders of the youth ministry.

The research sought to demonstrate the impact of service learning on the youth ministry, as well as the potential impact on youth as they grow into young adulthood. The youth and adults involved had very positive reactions to the curriculum; however, the church did not share that reaction. In fact, certain elements of the church tried to block certain aspects of the curriculum. How the youth and the church respond organizationally and educationally in the future will determine the overall impact of the curriculum. If changes and improvements can be implemented, the present case study may provide a model for youth ministry that can have a positive impact on young adults as well as the larger Christian community.

The project director chose to design a church revitalization partnership strategy. This strategy would enable First Baptist Church of Rockwood to assist another church in the Big Emory Baptist Association needing revitalization. The nature of the seven-step strategy provides flexibility, so the strategy can be used in a variety of ministry contexts.

Chapter one presents the purpose and nature of the ministry project. After listing the project’s ministry and professional objectives, the project director described the project’s ministry context, rationale, assumptions, limitations, delimitations, description, and definitions of terms. Through these descriptions, the project director explained the how and why of the project.

Chapter two addresses the biblical foundations for the ministry project. The project director details the benefits of a revitalization partnership from Ecclesiastes 4:9–12, the necessities for a revitalization partnership in Nehemiah 2:11–20, and an example of a revitalization partnership in 1 Corinthians 16:1–4. Each of these passages support the purpose for the strategy created through this ministry project.

Chapter three examines the ministry foundations for the ministry project. First, the project director discloses the historical foundation for revitalization partnerships. Next, the project director cites current authors emphasizing the need in revitalization partnerships for strong leaders and intentional planning. Finally, the project director details the seven-step structure for the project’s strategy.

Chapter four details the course of work the project completed to accomplish the project’s goals. The project director enumerates three phases of work. Phase one describes the people involved in the ministry project. Phase two explains the process of the ministry project. Phase three details the product of the ministry project which was validated by the expert panel and members of FBCR.

Chapter five analyzes the results of the ministry project. After presenting a summary of the project’s seven step strategy, the project director evaluates various issues such as objectives, strengths and weaknesses, and the project’s process. The project director then reflects on lessons learned and future implications for the project’s strategy.

The author presents that Cuban house churches lack leaders who can evangelize their own people without help from Christians of other countries. This is a problem in ministry for the indigenous house church leaders in Cuba. The project was “experimental research,” in which an intervention in evangelism training was introduced and then evaluated. He recruited 60 participants and used a 40-item Evangelism-Ready Checklist to measure participants’ perceived confidence levels in their ability to do evangelism. The researcher interviewed 60 participants and searched for indicators of increased confidence levels in students’ ability to do evangelism on their own. The true picture of the participants’ confidence in their evangelism-readiness was to take into account their sense that some topics were not covered sufficiently. Both the quantitative data and their interview data at six months post revealed great confidence and was combined with qualitative interview data to give the full picture. Recommendations were offered on how the evangelism training course could be improved.

ABSTRACT Title: An Evaluation of a Mentoring and Partnering Program to Mobilize Small Harlem Churches to Intentional Community Engagement Author: Carlton T Brown Degree: Doctor of Ministry Date: 3-1-17 Adviser: Dr. Frank Chan The purpose of writing "An Evaluation of a Mentoring and Partnering Program to Mobilize Small Harlem Churches to Intentional Community Engagement" is to address and evaluate a mentoring and partnering program designed to mobilize small Harlem churches to intentional community engagement. The approach of the project focuses on the modification of ministry views of the pastor and key leader(s) of small, less resourced churches through the intervention of the Pastor of a large 500 or more member church in the area of community engagement and potential partnership opportunities for that purpose. Chapter 1 provides the purpose, goals, context, and rationale of this project. This chapter includes the Researcher?s inspiration for the research, purpose of the study, ministry problem addressed, Bethel Gospel ministry and community context in which research was conducted, research questions and model of research, definition of terms ?Ark Mentality, black liberation theology, great commission, theology of the priestly and prophetic, storefront churches ? and possible limitations and delimitations of the current project. Chapter 2 provides literature review and theological foundations for historical and current state of the ministry of the black church inner-city and its approach to community engagements and partnerships dealing with the prevailing spiritual and social condition in context of the churches mission. Chapter 3 sets forth the research methodology utilized in approaching managing attitude changes of pastors and leaders of small less resourced churches, the instruments used to establish initial position, procedures employed during mentoring session, and data collection procedure. Chapter 4 presents an analysis of the findings including: quantitative and qualitative data of the 5 areas of assessment and intervention including: Discipleship, Mission and Vision, Community Engagement, Great Commission, and Shared Missional Commitment, along with information gleaned from interview and finally post-intervention Church Philosophy Questionnaire. Chapter 5 summarizes the purpose of the project, the findings as regards the attitudes and commitments of the participants. The research questions are restated. The Researcher?s conclusions include challenges of participants? schedules and ministry commitments, and the possibility of conflicts around theological issues.

Although typically not responsible for leadership decision-making that impacts the spiritual growth of the entire organization, youth ministers play a vital leadership role in congregational health as leaders of smaller communities within greater communities of faith. This leadership role is threatened by numerous challenges facing youth ministers of all denominations. Specific to this study, the vital role of youth ministry in Churches of Christ is threatened by high turnover rates of those within the profession. The purpose of this study was to determine leadership practices and strategies that are employed by long tenured youth ministers in Churches of Christ, identify the challenges those youth ministers have faced in implementing leadership practices, discover how they measure successful youth ministry leadership strategies and practices and ascertain their recommendations for implementing leadership strategies and practices within their profession.

Data were collected from 15 full time youth ministers in Churches of Christ from throughout the United States. The qualitative, phenomenological study utilized a 12-question semi-structured interview format to gather the lived experience of subjects. Key study findings identified 70 themes that answered four research questions. Specifically, self-awareness was the top trait study participants used to describe themselves as leaders. Additionally, participants identified creating an others-focused environment as the top strategy or practice as a contributor to long tenure at the same church. The findings of this study have substantive implications for men and women considering youth ministry as a career or calling, and for institutions of learning that train those preparing for the youth ministry profession.

This final project report set out to design a peer-led learning model that would assist pastors in building competencies and strengthening peer relationships among Presbyterian pastors in northern New Jersey. The project addressed a national trend that reveals an increasing number of pastors are leaving Christian ministry today because of inadequate support and their lack of varied and specialized skills to serve congregations. However, some of the most recent research by the U. S. Congregational Life Survey (US CLS Wave Two), the Sustaining Pastoral Excellence (SPE) project, and the Faith Communities Today (FACT) survey confirmed pastors and their congregations benefit by pastors participating in peer learning.

Grounded in the theology that Christian ministry is nurtured by communities that embody and practice what they believe, and by theories that enduring learning takes place in association with others, this project drew from Presbyterian ecclesiology, the company of pastors (Calvin), a community of practice (Wenger), self-directed learning (Knowles), group theory (Johnsons), and the areas of learning pastors volunteered to lead. There were no attending costs and the monthly format was simple: pastors shared a meal and fellowship followed by worship and relevant teaching led by the pastors themselves.

Twenty-five pastors, representing one-fifth of the congregations in three regional bodies, attended one or more of the nine gatherings. A large part of the report concentrated on the more active twelve mature, highly stressed, and highly motivated pastors who represented different urban and suburban communities, genders, races, and sexual orientations. The report evaluated what facilitated and hindered this project's objectives. Its conclusion provided seven insights for pastors and seminarians, denominational agencies and regional body leaders, seminaries and foundations concerned about pastoral preparation for the rigors and challenges of congregational ministry.

This report is based on a field study that was carried out in India. The aim of this field study is to find out how the religious education is carried out at Jiva Public School in Faridabad. The questions that are tried to be answered are if the teachers at this school integrate religious education in some of their subjects, if they see any problems performing this kind of education and what attitudes teachers’ have towards religious education.

In the presentation of previous research, opinions of several international researchers regarding religious education and their thoughts about how a good religious education can be designed will be made.

The empirical material has been assembled by doing qualitative semi-structured interviews with teachers at the school mentioned above. This kind of method suits well the aim and questions since the focus will be on trying to understand these teachers way to reason and act. When describing the methods, other problems that can occur during a field study are presented.

The results are presented in text but also in diagrams, so that the reader can get a good overview. In the analysis and discussion the results will refer to the previous research.

While analysing the empirical material a result was that a majority of the teachers did not integrate religious education in some of their subjects. They did not see it as their task and they meant that it is less important to get absorbed about people’s different beliefs since India is a secular state. You should not give any religion preference so why should you discuss about religions in your teaching? The focus should instead be on acceptance and to teach the pupils to respect each other no matter what. The teachers that did integrate religion in their subjects did this by celebrating religious festivals within the school. Only two teachers practised “ordinary” lessons when teaching about religions.

Denna uppsats baseras på en fältstudie som har utförts i Indien. Syftet med fältstudien är att undersöka hur religionsundervisningen ser ut på Jiva Public School i Faridabad. Frågeställningarna som ska försöka besvaras är hur lärare på denna skola integrerar religionsundervisning i något av sina ämnen, om de kan se några problem med att utföra denna typ av undervisning och hur lärarnas inställning till religionsundervisning ser ut.

I avsnittet Tidigare forskning redovisas flera internationella forskares syn på just religionsundervisning och hur de tycker att bra religionsundervisning kan vara utformad.

Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med lärare på ovannämnda skola. Denna metod passar syftet och frågeställningarna bäst eftersom fokus kommer att ligga på att försöka förstå dessa lärares sätt att diskutera och agera. I metodavsnittet kommer också andra relevanta problem man som forskare kan ställas inför då en fältstudie skall utföras att tas upp.

Resultatet presenteras i löpande text, men också med diagram för att göra det hela mer överskådligt samt lättförståeligt. I analys- och diskussionsavsnittet kommer resultatet att knytas till den tidigare forskningen.

Vid analysen av det empiriska materialet visade det sig att de flesta lärare inte integrerar religion i något av sina ämnen. Detta på grund av att de ansåg att det inte var deras uppgift. De menade också att det var mindre viktigt att fördjupa sig i vad andra människor har för trosuppfattning eftersom Indien är en sekulär stat. Ingen religion skall ha företräde och varför skall man då diskutera religion i sin undervisning? Istället borde fokus ligga på acceptans och att lära eleverna att bara respektera varandra utan vidare. De lärare som däremot integrerade religion i sina ämnen gjorde detta genom att fira olika religiösa högtider på skolan. Endast två lärare använde sig av ”traditionella” lektioner då de undervisade om religion.

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is professional theological education that emphasizes experiential learning through a process of action and reflection referred to as the "clinical method." In Clinical Pastoral Education, theological students, ordained clergy, and qualified lay persons, under the direct supervision of a trained supervisor, are given opportunities for learning and growth in the art of pastoral care. CPE seeks to integrate knowledge and insights from theology, the behavioral sciences, and learning theory into pastoral functioning.

This ministry project examined the future of Clinical Pastoral Education in light of a profound cultural shift toward a postmodern worldview, and presented an integrative theistic model for a basic unit of CPE that addressed the most pressing challenges that epitomize this paradigm. It incorporated three of the most salient dimensions of postmodern contextualization, a sense of community and relationship, an appreciation for diversity, and a holistic approach focused on the whole person with emphasis on emotional health and well-being and spiritual formation. Since Clinical Pastoral Education is first and foremost theological education, the primary goal of this program was "to prepare God's people for works of service" (Eph 4:12 NIV)

The ministry project was designed as an extended, part-time unit of CPE. The clinical setting was Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton, Virginia. The age range for participants was limited to the generations most affected by the postmodern worldview. Since CPE is graduate-level theological education, the targeted age range for participants in this project was from age 26 to age 51.

The integrity of the CPE learning process requires small group interaction. Five chaplain interns were participants in this ministry project. Because of sample size, a qualitative approach which relied on the self-report of the participants was used in evaluating the ministry project. The responses given by the CPE interns who were a part of this study strongly supported the premise that an integrative, theistic model for Clinical Pastoral Education designed specifically for postmodern individuals would be efficacious in helping them meet their professional ministry goals, equipping them to do the work of ministry in their churches and communities.