Class devotion Wednesday. Circle Time, Candles, Individual Prayers, Songs relating to God.

Chapel Every Friday

Grace before lunch most days

I want to start making Wednesday devotions more regular, most student input. Have students run the class devotions. More biblical passages

This-worldly. This largest group accounts for 23 per cent of Australian teens. “This-wordly” young people have no space in their worldview for religious, spiritual or non-material possibilities. They never or rarely go to services of worship and don’t identify with a religion.

Religiously committed. Making up 17 per cent of Australian teens, The very large majority of this group attend services of worship regularly, report affective religious experiences, and believe there is life after death. Almost all of them agree that religious faith is important in shaping how they live their lives.

Seekers. This finds expression in belief in life after death, and repeated experiences of a presence or power that is different from their everyday selves. Seekers have a decidedly eclectic worldview, seeking out their spiritual truth. They most likely consult their horoscopes, have seen a psychic, or both. At the same time, they identify with a religion and believe in God or a higher being.

Spiritual but not religious. 8 per cent of teens in Australia. God, faith and religion are not important to them, but the door is open to spiritual possibilities, including issues such as life after death, reincarnation, and belief in a higher being (but not really God)

Indifferent. As might be expected, one group is largely indifferent or undecided about all of it: religion, spirituality and atheism. They comprise about 15 per cent of Australian teens.

Nominally religious. This group is largely culturally religious, following the religious identity of their parents, guardians or community (for example, a Catholic or Islamic school). Certainly, they identify with a religion, and believe in God, but faith is not important in their daily lives and they don’t often darken the door of a temple, church or mosque. At the same time, they don’t care for spiritual ideas either, such as reincarnation or horoscopes.

My main passions are my family and friends, sport and all things popular culture. I love movies, TV and videogames. My passions are cooking and creating as much as possible and I mainly do this through my classroom or at home with stuff like LEGO.

Educating and teaching students holistically. NOT just mind and body, but spiritual as well.

I believe that Lutheran Education focuses a lot on key values such as grace, compassion, forgiveness, courage, justice, hope, service, love and appreciation

•What did Jonah learn?
I believe that Jonah learnt that when God calls, you must obey no matter what. 

“In my distress I called to the Lord,
    and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
    and you listened to my cry. Jonah 2 1-2

He tries to run away from he was called to do, and God did not accept that and sent the storm. Jonah also learnt that he had to walk the walk and simply not talk the talk. God has never ending grace of all people no matter who they are or what they've done.

•What is it saying to me?
I believe that this story is telling me that, Like Jonah, it is simply not enough for me to believe I am a follower of God. It is telling me that I need to act like a follower of God and that I need to always act what I believe, and simply saying "I'm a Christian God will forgive me" is not good enough.

•What might it be saying to our community?
I can use this in my community to help those who truly believe they can do whatever they want simply because they know God is merciful and forgiving. However, like the plant, we cannot simply let god take command, but we need to walk the walk and act ourselves. I also like the way that this video shows that God loves our enemies, and how we have to be ok with that, as we need to love our enemies as well.

•  Extend: What new ideas did you get the extended or broadened your thinking in new directions?  

The new ideas that I got from this session was the interpretation of how "Spirituality" and "Faith" are different in today's society and how people think these are the same. The new idea that I got from this session would be how to best work with these 2 concepts in my classroom and how my students can explore their faith as well as their spirituality. This can be explored through their beliefs and values, and then focusing on their relationship with God and how they can be the best Christians they can be.

•  Challenge: What challenges or puzzles have come up in your mind from the ideas and information presented? 

The biggest challenge that came from this session was the concept that God doesn't love the perfect person, as while that is what I believe, some students may find this difficult to work with. I know especially older primary students may take this concept and think to themselves "It's ok if I do bad things, God will forgive me". While this is true, I am slightly worried some may think I can do the wrong things all the time and its ok God will just forgive me. As an educator I need to walk a fine line in making-sure they know it is a matter of working on themselves and trying to get better.

•  Extend: What new ideas did you get the extended or broadened your thinking in new directions?  

The new ideas I got from this session were 2 fold; 1 about how God presented himself to his prophets, and the other about how I can implement various versions of different bibles into my classroom to help relate various biblical scriptures for my students. I wasn't aware of how God has presented himself to the various prophets in the old testament, and then how he uses Jesus as his representation in the new testament. I also have been extended through my new understanding of the different structures of Bible stories and how they can be taught and deconstructed like other forms of literacy that I use with my students. I can also use some of the links and new websites to look at how different versions and editions of different Bibles can tell the same story in different ways and language that I can relate to my students to give them the best possible chance of understanding the text as possible.

•  Challenge: What challenges or puzzles have come up in your mind from the ideas and information presented? 

The biggest challenge I took away from this session was the fine line we as teachers have to walk with this topic, especially for younger and middle primary students. We need to teach the Bible and the words of the gospel as God's word, however we also have to use Hermeneutics and look at the different perspectives in play with biblical stories. This could possibly cause some students to question the stories and especially for the younger years this would be an extreme challenge as many would see stories as either true or false with their black of white thinking. Students in older years can see and look at other's point of view, but the younger years find this challenging and could cause some students to just dismiss stories as untrue.

•  Extend: What new ideas did you get the extended or broadened your thinking in new directions? 

A new idea that was fostered by this session was the idea that every person on this Earth has individual importance to God, and that people aren't just seen as the same for God. As Bartsch (2013) states in his article Created as unique individuals;  Each person, therefore, has individual worth and value in the eyes of God. They are valued for who they are, and not because of ‘their utility’.  I was always under the belief that God loves us all and sees us all as the same. I knew we were all individuals with our unique talents and our unique personalities, but I was always under the assumption that God loves us all the same and sees us all as the same worth. Now I see that He sees us all as 'worthy', but we all have our unique 'worth' to bring to this Earth.

•  Challenge: What challenges or puzzles have come up in your mind from the ideas and information presented? 

After this session I have challenged myself to look at how I can bring more of my own gifts to Lutheran education and how I can provide my 'worth' that God has given me. I also need to challenge myself to interconnect to the community better, as I am only new to this Barossa community it would benefit myself and my Lutheran teachings to connect with the wider community to help my students expand their opportunities and perspectives.

•  Extend: What new ideas did you get the extended or broadened your thinking in new directions?  

The new idea that was presented to me was the topic of vocation. I had never heard this word previously, and it makes a lot of sense in regards to my teaching. My strength is not in teaching certain areas such as Christian Studies, as I am less experienced than a lot of teachers around me. However, there are so many more ways I can show and spread God's words through my use of service and my gifts and passions that I can instil into my students to get them excited and engaged about the Lutheran faith. I can use my passion of sport to show students God's love, kindness, compassion and patience. I can use my passion of leadership to show God's dedication and God's love for all to help students develop their capabilities in that area. There are several more ways I can show off my vocations to my community.

•  Challenge: What challenges or puzzles have come up in your mind from the ideas and information presented? 

The only challenge I have is similar to the challenge I faced in session 2, that being how can community service and community support be as strong as it can be when there are so many restrictions in place and so much differing opinions in society at the moment? With all the difficulties COVID has presented, how can be a strong, united community that relies upon each other when we are regularly not being able to meet, collaborate or discuss ideas?

The important aspects of spirituality from a Lutheran perspective are God's grace is a gift given freely to us, The Bible is not God, no one is climbing the spiritual ladder and finally the movement in our relationship to God is always from God to us (Bolz-Weber, N. 2014). These aspects look at God's love for us, how we as humans are both saints and sinners, and how God is always coming to us.

•In what ways might the concept of grace shape Lutheran education communities?

Grace might shape Lutheran education communities as the concept is all about how God gives us love as a gift, and we do not deserve it. God gives us the gift of grace to all and that is what we should be teaching our students and how we should act in our schools. We need to give all students love and compassion no matter what they do or where they come from. 

•In what ways might the concept of grace inform the understanding of my role and my contribution?

Understanding the concept of grace can help me in my role at and my contribution to society through how I present myself, but more importantly how I treat others. We need God's grace to help empower us and to help us love our enemies, to pray for those who do us harm and to do forgive those who have sinned against us. It helps me be a better person more positive person and a more compassionate person.

•What questions or issues does the concept raise for me and how can I explore my questions?

The biggest issue for me in regards to how this concept impacts on me is how can I measure if I am progressing as a person enough or how right my actions are if there is no spiritual ladder and no matter how hard I try or how much time I put into being a saint or the perfect person, I am still a sinner. This concept to teach as well could be an issue as if we tell students that we understand everyone is a sinner and a saint 100% of the time, then how can we ever really know if we are a 'good' person or not.

Creation Theology informs the why and how of Lutheran Education as God's creation shows all the good that he has given us and how he brings the best out of us. Everything God created was good. As Barbara R. Rossing states:

God saw everything, and how the whole creation works together as an interconnected living ecological system, that God declares everything to be very, very good.

This is the why and how Lutheran education I believe. We are all interconnected and we need to show students that connectedness in their education. 

Creation theory shapes an aspect of my work with students through us needing to develop the 'whole student'.  We are teaching students not just subjects, but helping them grow as individuals and as members of God's family. Teaching creation theology helps with this as it shows how much we need God and his love in our life, where we have come from, and the significance of relationships with each other to create the best world possible. 

The biggest question I have with this concept is how much do we take this bible scripture as 100% certainty and factual? Did this truly happen over 7 days of 24 hour time? As time is a human invention how factual is the story that God created the universe over 7 complete days. I wholeheartedly believe God did, but how accurate is the biblical scripture around it is my question. I am unsure how to explore this question and I am unsure who to turn too for these answers.

Lutheran education values community I believe because much like when God created Adam and Eve, he want us humans to spread his message as a collective, and to work with those around us to teach future generations about His message and His words. Lutheran Education values community through bolstering strong relationships within local communities, as well through the local Church to develop and grow that crucial relationship between school and the Church. Having that community reliance also allows for more chances for inspiration from local leaders, and it empowers staff and students to learn a wide range of skills from different experts.

Learning about the importance of community in Lutheran Education has really helped me gain a deeper understanding of the need and requirement of support, and how we need people around us with a shared goal in order to achieve our best. Lutheran Education has a strong focus on developing the whole child both academically and spirituality, and the best way to do that is with a strong support network around us to help guide us and help us correct course when we go astray. I have learnt my contribution to Lutheran Education is to help spread the word of God in my local community through how I act, how I speak, and through my service. I learnt that I can offer so much to Lutheran Education in so many different ways, and that how I conduct myself will show my students the value of devotion, service and kindness. 

The only issue I have is in regards to how we can be a united community throughout this pandemic? With all the new restrictions, online calls and lack of genuine face-to-face meetings, how can we best keep that reliance on community alive and give our students the best learning experiences possible when things are so restricted?

Theological concept: God looks after us and the universe he created.

 

The learning that I have gained through completing the Connect Module has greatly influenced not only how I integrate God and Lutheran studies into my education, but better shaped how I see myself as an educator. The first session in my critical reflection I spoke about the battle of spirituality verses faith and looking back on my notes through that session, I can tell that I was still very new to the Lutheran model of teaching. I discussed how I would incorporate both into my teaching and now I believe I have used that in my own life to help make a clearer image of God and my own Faith through these last few years and going on this journey. At that stage of my life, I only had experience teaching and living in the Catholic faith. I assumed it would be easy to just make the switch from Catholic to Lutheran. Now teaching a few years I can tell how different they truly are and that both concepts play a crucial part in my practice and my teachings in my classroom. I have learnt to accept all the different parts of the Lutheran theology and how I need to integrate into my teachings in not only a Bible focused way that I was used to teaching in Catholic schools, but in a way that makes it accessible and relatable to my students. An example of this was teaching the virtues of different characters from the Bible and their key messages through modern day celebrities and the traits that were the main message of different scripture. Incorporating the faith and tradition of the bible story with the spirituality and key traits of the message to develop both sides of learner. As Neville Grieger states in “Introduction to spirituality in Lutheran Education”

 

 

After session 2 and looking at Creation theology, the main influence that it had on my understanding, practice and contribution to my Lutheran school service was the ideology around every student having individual worth in my classroom. I was always of the mindset that God loves us all no matter and loves us all the same, and while that it still the case, I have learnt the importance of individual worth and the responsibility that that worth incorporates. As Bartsch (2013) states in his article Created as Unique individuals.  

 

 

While I always knew every student was unique and different and special in their own way, I never quite grasped that they all brought with them unique worth. This has led to me becoming much more open to change and developing a more relaxed nature when it comes to students’ abilities in my classroom to better utilise their strengths and make the classroom a more engaging, safe, and productive workspace that utilises each student’s worth and skills like God has taught us to do. An example of this was a student who was quite vocal about ‘not believing in any of this garbage’ when it came time to explicit Christian Studies lessons. His strengths were his leadership potential and his loyalty to his mates. I was able to use this strength to focus on developing his spirituality of the traits expressed in different bible stories to focus on his leadership abilities and through engaging lessons and an understanding that every story has a lesson, he turned this vocal angst into a time where he enjoyed ‘upgrading himself’ (his words).

 

Out of all the session of Connect, I most resonated with session 3. Learning about vocations and God’s calling helped develop a greater sense of self. I have known I have wanted to be a teacher since I was 8 years old. I knew that for that to happen I had to study hard and to defy the environment I was raised in. Having that calling from God to become what I was meant to be led to me going down the right path when it would have been much easier to succumb to other temptations around me. Having this calling and responsibility from God kept me out of trouble growing up and gave me the confidence and determination to overcome the harshness of my environment and become the first person in my family to graduate University. Having this understanding from God that I am enough and that my skills are what is required for teaching my students has also got me through some difficult learning curves in my teaching career. My strength is not in teaching certain areas such as Christian Studies, as I am less experienced than a lot of teachers around me. However, there are so many more ways I can show and spread God's words through my use of service and my gifts and passions that I can instil into my students to get them excited and engaged about the Lutheran faith. In “The spirituality of ordinary life” by G Veith, it talks about this need of being enough, and using your skills to better others and in return, you will better yourself for the set of skills they bring to you.

 

 

Finally, Session 4 helped me greatly develop a better sense of the Bible and how to best teach God’s word in a practical and engaging way. I have always been quite happy to teach literacy and have found it easy to break down the structure of information reports, narratives etc. Once it was brought to my attention that we can do the same with Bible scriptures, this was exciting to me as it gives me the opportunity to not only break down God’s word into a more personal understanding, but it will also be easier to teach its messages to younger children to ensure they get the most out of each scripture that I give them. I was taught to believe that the Bible is God’s Word, and that everything in there is 100% fact and to deconstruct it and to question it is sacrilegious. However, after looking back at the quote that Reverend Andrew Jaensch states in ‘God is Big Enough for our Questions: introducing learners to a critical approach to the study of the Bible’, it explained to me the endless opportunities that come from working with students to examine and learn about the Bible in their own, more meaningful, way.

 

 

I have always learnt best from making the learning meaningful and purposeful to me. Growing up learning in Catholic schools this was not the case when it came to Bible study. It was always simple rehearsal of stories, a play or drama performance and the odd cut out pictures and put the story in order. 

If I were able to deconstruct the stories and learn about different interpretations of these famous Bible stories, it would have been much more engaging and purposeful to me. This is what I want to bring into my classroom. Since Connect 4, I have changed how I teach bible study in my classroom by looking at different perspectives of stories, looking at the setting and time in which the stories took place, as well as the reasoning behind why characters acted certain ways. This has had great benefit in my lessons as students are gaining such a deeper understanding of not only the timeline of the stories, but the reasoning behind characters decisions and the meaning God is trying to teach us.

 

Analyse and describe the ways Lutheran theological perspectives can shape practices in an early years’ service, school, or classroom.

Theological concept: The belief that God creates people to live in 

relationship with him and with each other

 

Connect has given me many new skills and one of the greatest of those is the understanding of the theological perspectives in this faith and how it can alter the ways in which I teach within my classroom. The perspective I will focus on that was shown to me through Connect is the belief that God creates people to live in relationship with him and with each other. I come from an upbringing where God is the One and the Almighty. My understanding of this relationship has altered through undergoing Connect to realise that the individual-God relationship is one that is much more personal and more co-dependent then first thought. Having this mindset has allowed me to shape my teaching practices in my classroom to helping students develop their own personal relationship with 

God and within their own faith, as it allows them to use their strengths and unique personalities for the betterment of society. 

 

The theology of Grace helped me understand this relationship as the readings showed me that the relationship between God and us is always God coming to us. Knowing that God’s grace is given to all of us freely and that no matter if we are saints or sinners that He is there for us is a lesson in understanding my own personal relationship with God has really opened my eyes to how I can better implement my lessons in my classroom, as I can really highlight to my students that God is not this scary, authoritative figure who judges right from wrong, but more of a counsellor who is there for us when we make mistakes and will 

continue to love us no matter what. This quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke to me and helped shaped my practices in my teaching practice as it highlighted how I can maximise my students understanding of the relationship we should strive to have with God. He states God does not love an ideal person, he loves us for what we are and who we are. An example of how I have used this theology in my classroom has been through my work on Sin and Grace. I had students highlight the times they have felt blessed in their lives and times where they have felt like they turned their backs to what god has wanted them to do. 

 

Creation Theology informs the why and how of Lutheran Education as God's creation shows all the good that he has given us and how he brings the best out of us. 

Everything God created was good. This helps with the belief that God creates people to live in relationship and what he has created. As I stated in my Guiding Questions for Session 2, Creation theory shapes an aspect of my work with students through the need to develop the 'whole student'.  We are teaching students not just subjects but helping them grow as individuals and as members of God's family. Teaching creation theology helps with this as it shows how much we need God and his love in our life, where we have come from, and the significance of relationships with each other to create the best world possible. At the conclusion of this module, I have used creation theology and how we have a relationship to God’s Earth to improve my teaching practices to allow for more time to focus on not only the past of the Lutheran Faith, but also time to look into the future and using our skills that God has given us to benefit the World around us. An example of this was students thinking about their relationship with God and discussing how God would want us to treat his Earth. Students designed posters of ‘God’s Vision’ of our planet and how society has altered that. They then designed what they wanted our Earth to look like and how we can use our skills to make that a reality (Image 3 and 4). Some students even went above and beyond to form a club and created a school event to help raise awareness about what we can do as a school to get God’s vision of Earth happening in our school (Image 5).

 

Community is another key Lutheran theological perspective that has shaped my

teaching practice, as Lutheran Education values community through bolstering strong relationships within local areas as well through the local Church to develop and grow that crucial relationship between school and the Church. Having that community reliance also allows for more chances for inspiration from local leaders, 

and it empowers staff and students to learn a wide range of skills from different experts. Having a strong community helps students understand the living in relationship with him and with each other aspect of theology. Developing that understanding that they are not alone, that they cannot do everything themselves and that everyone has their own individual strengths they can bring to God’s Earth helps guides students in the knowledge that our relationships with each other is a key aspect of our faith. This has been explored with my teaching practices through developing trust networks and knowing the areas in which they need others to lift them up so they can be the best version of themselves that God wants us to be. It also shaped my teaching practices by allowing for a greater time of reflection in my classroom for students to identify people in their community who have made them the people they are today and who makes them a better person or someone who makes them strive to be the best version of themselves (Image 6).

 

Identify and critically reflect on unresolved issues or remaining questions to develop a plan for further learning that will advance your understanding, practice and contribution to Lutheran education.

I still have many questions regarding my own faith despite going through all the connect workshops, however it has truly helped me open to the idea of the role that God and the Bible play not only in my classroom, but my everyday life. It has shown me that having an intrapersonal relationship with God will make me a better Lutheran Studies teacher, as having the confidence, trust and understanding that He is always there for me despite what I do and that he offers his grace freely for all will show me and my students that we are not perfect human beings, but He still loves us regardless. I have been led my whole life under the ‘old school’ Catholic model of religion where God is this almighty judge that sends good people to Heaven and the bad people to Hell. The sessions on Grace and Creation helped shed that image for me, as it did open my eyes that God wants us to treat our students with the same love, acceptance, and patience that he shows towards us even though we are all sinners. My unresolved issues about this topic are that I am unsure why God treats us all as equal even though some of us sin more than others. Does he treat the parents of students who I have seen attack their children, neglect their children or put them in damaging situations get the same love that I do? Because that is not fair to me. I would like to explore this further as it will help me deal with those in the community that I work with that either annoy, or cause me worry outside of school time.

I plan on advancing this understanding through a variety of steps. The first of which is to continue with Lutheran Studies education that will help guide me In finding the answers that I need. This will come in many forms, such as:

·       Podcasts (I live 30 minutes away from my partner/family, so will give me plenty of time to hear the messages of God in a relatable, easy to digest format as well as time for critical reflection when I’m driving in silence afterwards.)

·       Talk to Collages (My school has many approachable, more knowledgeable people in it with many more years of Lutheran practice and I will sit down with them to help progress my own understanding)

·       Lead Devotions around this topic (I am on weekly devotion on average once a term, so I will aim to make this a talking point next year)

·       Readings

·       Talks with local Pastor

·       YouTube exploration around the topic

By undergoing these steps, I hope that I can put some answers to my question and find out why God gives out his grace so freely, as well as how he loves everyone despite their flaws. This knowledge will help my contribution to Lutheran Education as it will allow me to form better relationships with all families, even the more difficult ones, that will let me see how I can better teach those students who come from trickier families in the way God wants me too.

 

 

Bartsch, M. (2013). A God who speaks and acts: theology for teachers in Lutheran schools. Adelaide: Lutheran Education Australia pp 62-64, read on the 25^th February 2021.

 

Veith, G. The spirituality of the cross, pp 71-77, read on the 2^nd July 2021.

 Jaensch, A (2014). God is big enough for our questions: introducing learners to a critical approach to study of the Bible, Lutheran Theological Journal; 48, 3; ProQuest Centralpg. 186, read on 21^st February 2022.

 

Grieger, N (2018). Introduction to the spirituality of Lutheran education, read on the 30^th June 2020.

 

www.youtube.com. (2016). 5 Timeless Quotes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer. [online] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5MAdRt2qO0&t=71s, accessed on 25^th February 2021.

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