Foundations of Christian Education: Unveiling Learner's Nature and Brain-Based Strategies - Paper Sample

The sixth chapter is "The Nature of the Learner" by Gloria Goris Stronks. This chapter is relevant to the psychological foundation for school education and the nature of which a learner understands God's creations. It states the originality in nature and education. Various books such as Education on the Edge of Possibility and Biological Brain in a Cultural Classroom are appropriate in discussing the human brain and learning. For instance, in East Africa, the tradition of greetings illustrates the significance of understanding how children learn, think, and fare, which is essential to parents. The chapter contains several insights into how people learn, including how the search for meaning happens by forming patterns in the mind. Teaching consists of unconscious and conscious processes. The brain is modular and uniquely organized (Braley et al., 2003). For teachers, developing a thinking framework helps them recognize whether a specific part of learning fits the framework correctly. The frameworks consist of beliefs based on biblical teachings. In the Bible, each command to follow Jesus has the reward of being with him in eternal life/ glory (Braley et al., 2003). Therefore, expecting learners to strive hard and not reward them does not follow the biblical norms.

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The author presented enough information to understand learners' relationship with God by staying obedient and working on mending whatever they can in the broken world. The connections have various responsibilities; therefore, it is essential to teach in Christian schools the value of fulfilling these responsibilities. James Fowler presented different kinds of conscience in the moral life: the conscience of craft, which shows the habit of doing work well and thoroughly by being responsible. Other people can be accountable for them to do a task. The conscience of membership describes the actual nature in that whatever other people will see from them is their real self. The conscience of responsibility shows being true to whoever decides to trust you with their truth, but not if it brings hurt or pain to other people or leads to sinful actions. The conscience of memory and imagination shows how identifying the weaknesses and strengths of role models gives a clear understanding of whatever it takes to live a Godly life; by striving to be a better individual who helps the oppressed, afflicted, and the broken. Striving to attain these consciences among learners inspires them to develop hope, which is a realistic and optimistic vision of the future that permits them to dream and create positive steps in achieving it.

In this chapter, the learner's nature is described in three principles according to the biblical perspectives. The first principle is that even though man is God's creation, he still depends on God (Braley et al., 2003). In the same way, students rely on their teachers to be informed of right and wrong choices. The educator's role is to direct the learners back to God. The second principle is that all are sinners. Students are, have, and will sin. The learner experiences improved learning in an environment; however, the ground fails to deliver the students from their primary issue of being a sinner. Therefore, it is evident that human beings still require Jesus Christ's salvation and deliverance even when they do not need it.

In the same way, learners might learn several things when specific conditions are attained but will continue retaining their problem of sin. The third principle is the roles that Christian teachers are required to possess. A teacher's importance is to create and maintain the students' stability and stand for the truth since they will make bad choices and be corrected. Learners need training to avoid arising problems and correction whenever the problems occur from their teachers who care and observe. If a student does work and does it well, they will take responsibility and respect themselves. Additionally, students upholding themselves with honesty, and no pretension will help demonstrate a positive regard for their worth in life and other people. When students have role models from the past, it helps them think of the potential for a better experience.

Students in Christian schooling learn different ways of enriching their lives and being long-term adult learners who find delight in recognizing more. Ruth Deakin-Crick stated the dimensions useful to a long-time learner (Braley et al., 2003). The dimensions included learnability vs. stuckness, dependence vs. resilience, sameness vs. challenge and creativity, and learning relationships vs. dislocated and isolated relationships. Using dimensions shows that whenever students refine and extend knowledge, they progress in obtaining knowledge, and if they use knowledge significantly, they still expand and acquire knowledge. The relationship of the dimensions illustrates the sort of thinking, which is not sequential or discrete. The dimensions of learning provide an image of the learning process. The dimensions give a particular method of reviewing the exceptionally complicated learning procedure for students to attain some Christian aspects and gain insights into their interactions. It is a useful mechanism that helps students to acquire knowledge.

Additionally, dimensions might affect almost every educational aspect since education's main objective is to improve learning. It ensures that academic learning focuses on whatever teachers do to ensure that students are taught about the word of God (Braley et al., 2003). More so, the dimension should confirm efforts in classrooms and schools to improve learning; however, there must be ways of continuing to enhance knowledge. Instructional strategies are used as a source for study-based instructional design. Due to various effective strategies, it's essential to know that a manual isn't a model. Teachers should understand that the strategy must be chosen and their efficiency measures based on the preferred learning effect. Therefore, educators need to understand every dimension when they are selecting and using a strategy.

Chapter Seven: The Nature of Learning

The third chapter, "The Nature of Learning" by Barbara Bode, presents Christian education, neurological systems, and brain-based education. The importance of acquiring knowledge, which leads to obedience to God's word, is exclusive to Christian education (Braley et al., 2003). Learners are perceived as bearers of Adam's reflection as sinners; therefore, they are accountable for God's re-creative commands for their sanctification and salvation. The nature of learning helped learners get into the right relationship with God based on his word. Chadwick explained that learning involves both heart and head in that with the head, the learner could learn the word of God like an exposed body of information. In terms of heart, learners maintained and developed the correct relationship with God, themselves, and others. The chapter’s education examines the relationship of gender differences, emotional influences, memory, gender, and personal learning differences towards the learning process (Braley et al., 2003).

Learning theories distinctive concerning Christian education offer a framework and focal point from which several other approaches are learned. The Bible is a clear understanding of self and gives a basis for a theory. Whenever a child matures, self-discipline starts to develop as a strong respect for parents enlarges to include teachers and eventually God. The heart is the location where all decisions are made for a whole individual (Braley et al., 2003). Parents' discipline and love are essential to all children. For instance, whenever a breakdown in learning occurs, the heart will reject knowledge since it will shut down; hence, creativity and learning shall be hindered. Therefore parents should discipline their children lovingly to a heart-set that encourages a positive attitude to learn. No person acknowledged the human heart compared to Jesus Christ (Braleylearn 2003). Parent's relationship with their young kids is the key to learning; however, educators should enthusiastically create a partnership with parents since they have a powerful impact on the learners' determination, purpose, will, and motivation since all the attributes are heart-related. The idea of nurturing children to be God's followers is evident in the book of Proverbs 4:23.

Also, the chapter explains brain-based educational strategies. For instance, classroom instructions are brain-antagonistic since they dwell on acquiring surface knowledge. In brain-based learning, the brain is equipped with a set of brilliant features comprising the ability to detect patterns and make approximations, a unique capacity for different kinds of memory, the capability of self-correcting and learning from experience, and finally, a vast ability to create (Braley et al., 2003). The human brain contains the need to find inner meaning more than whatever it receives in a classroom. Additionally, the brain organizes information continuously by creating connections on various levels repeatedly. There are two specific types of memories a spatial structure and a collection of designs for rote memory. The brain tends to remember and understand better whenever skills and facts are set in a natural spatial memory. Generally, educators need to orchestrate experiences from which students learn effectively.

Additionally, educators should move from easy memorization strategies and significant learning by creating"real-world" communities where learners get involved in actual experiences like school chapel and newspapers. Doing this is the same as following the methods used by Jesus, which are grouped in the type of locale memory. Hippocrates acknowledged the essential temperament types in the nature of learning, which consist of phlegmatic, melancholic, choleric, and sanguine (Braley et al., 2003).

Behavior, self-esteem, moods, and feelings, and motivation are the real state of mind that might frustrate the learning procedure. Since stress changes the brain's neurotransmitters that control attention and memory, learning gets interfered with by performance anxiety. Therefore, it is essential to help learners cope appropriately with their stress before it causes depression. Underlying system deficiency might lead to misbehavior (Braley et al., 2003). Learners with weak attention control might experience trouble in the classroom environment. Low social-thinking aptitude might impede children’s capability to solve conflicts and communicate well with peers. In this chapter, the gender difference is explained in the notion that God created both girls and boys differently. Girls usually have a weakness in risk aversion, reaching their potential, and avoidance of confrontation; however, LEGO's strategies assist girls in succeeding by helping them create their own practices and methods of coping with stress. On the other hand, boys' strengths are based on spatial skills, goal orientation, self-reliance, and maths skills.

Feeling and thinking are connected since human patterning is emotional. Learners should create a sense of connection with a subject and a felt meaning—environment and heredity shape an individual's modality strengths. A dominant modality is a sensory channel where a learner processes information more efficiently and is mainly seen during childhood. As they develop, learners can manage to integrate several modality implements. Christian education relationship theories show that there are essences of truth discoverable by learning of universal revelation. The Bible identifies the essentials of instructing children on how they are required to act.