Are we being honest about ordination training?
There are some compelling arguments for the (relatively new) blueprint of 'contextual grooming' for ordination. Steven Sherman, in his snappily titledRevitalizing theological epistemology(2008), argues that the celebrated separation of the seminary from the local church building has created major problems for our whole concept of how we grow in the cognition of God. His primary target here is the N American scene, and the sense inside evangelicalism that knowing God is comprised of grasping the meaning of propositions about God'due south identity, and so not all of his concerns translate across the Atlantic.
Just the older reflection by Robert Banks hits some targets nearer home. InRe-envisioning Theological Teaching, he reflects on his ain, highly traditional, experience of seminary didactics, and finds piddling to fault with it. Certainly, some lecturers were ameliorate than others and some placement experiences were more useful than others. But overall, at the time, he felt there was lilliputian problem with it. Only looking back, his most immediate determination was that 'my theological teaching had required me to learn as well much too shortly.' He is conspicuously not alone in this. Every now so I am contacted by someone I taught at theological college, who asks about a particular aspect of biblical interpretation or preaching, and my response starts with 'Practise you remember that lecture/seminar/discussion we had?' Later on a interruption, the next question is 'Could you send me the handout again please?'.
Banks goes on to review the 'classic' model of theological teaching in the light of his observations well-nigh how Jesus went about the task of theological and spiritual formation in his disciples. He wants to repossess learning as a missional activity, which of course is not unrelated to the series of issues effectually the notion of discipleship. And and so it is not surprising that Banks' text has been influential for those promoting 'contextual training' in the Church of England, and I was recently recommended it equally reading to reverberate on new forms of training.
Having previously taught on a course, been a visiting lecturer in colleges, and spent nearly a decade at a residential higher, my feel of teaching on a contextual preparation scheme has been fascinating. Despite the good arguments for residential training, there is no doubt that extended exposure to the grade room creates fatigue, especially for those who feel called to the practice of ministry. In contextual training, the motivation for learning is clear, as the class room is such a contrast to the rest of the calendar week. Encountering a theological perspective on ministry building seems fresh, and students can immediately run across the implications of new ways of thinking in the ministry they are engaged in.
Only in that location's a trouble, and it is highlighted when we 'do the math' (to coin a cliche). The third years I teach are taking a 20 credit module, which according to Higher Education standards should involve 200 notional learning hours. The 'notional' bit means that 50 of these are 'other learning' which I have to be thinking about life whilst drinking coffee. Another l are given over to the assessment task. I have 24 hours contact time, which leaves another 76 for preparatory reading. This ways that, over the eight weeks of didactics, they should be doing around 9.5 hours preparatory reading for my module, and the aforementioned again for the other module they are taking. Information technology is difficult to imagine anyone with ministry building responsibilities exterior the classroom achieving this consistently.
The situation is worse elsewhere in the country. In the institution I accept been teaching in in that location is a very articulate statement of expectations, which requires students to set aside three days a calendar week for their study (one in class contact, the other two as independent learning). They also have a very detailed learning agreement which models both practiced practice and excellence in advice. Merely a more typical design for contextual preparation elsewhere in the Church is one day a week in class; another day a week in private study; perhaps 7 residential weekends; and i intensive study calendar week a year (this is an actual pattern). At the most optimistic reckoning, this adds up to 632 learning hours—and all the same this is to earn 120 credits, which involves 1200 notional learning hours. Supervision in context will supplement this, as might personal report over the summertime. But there is no denying the fundamental reality of this arroyo: we are trying to cascade a quart of training into a pint-pot of learner availability. This is not a sustainable method of training.
I am happy to exist open to correction if I have missed anything—just I am baffled as to why quality balls processes from either Church or University (in the class of External Examiners) hasn't picked this upwards. Let me be quite clear: I am not here beingness disquisitional of any individual institution. I know full well from my own experience that institutions can only operate within the framework that they are given. It is the framework that is at fault, and in 3 notable ways:
i. Competition
Since the 'Hind' report more than a decade ago, theological education has operated more or less as a free market place. The advantage of this is that it prevents the centre having to make any difficult decisions near resourcing and planning, leaving the market to decide whether whatever 1 institution needs to close—as indeed information technology is doing correct at present. But the serious problem is that information technology pushes didactics to the everyman common denominator. This ways that those offer contextual training are not able to create courses that lead to amend but lower qualifications (a contextual diploma compared with a residential BA) since few will choose that in the context of a competitive market.
2. Split between pre- and postal service-ordination training funding
There is a fiscal firewall between pre-ordination training (which is national) and postal service-ordination preparation (which is diocesan), so that if an institution offers fewer learning hours prior to ordination, it cannot easily be paid to deliver further hours post-ordination, and and so loses out financially. To push all funding (pre and post) into dioceses is no answer; a better solution would be to take a national (rather than diocesan) upkeep for post-ordination training so that pre-ordination training institutions can offer continuity of learning after the point of ordination.
iii. Lack of common syllabus
The failure of the Common Awards process to agree on a shared syllabus ways that diocesan post-ordination training still struggles with the diverseness of preparation and experience brought by clergy who trained at unlike institutions with dissimilar syllabuses where they have covered unlike ground in different subject field areas.
There is one thing which isnon an obstacle to better coordination: the distinctive theological traditions of the residential preparation institutions. There is no pedagogical, theological or organisational need to merge training into theologically baggy diocesan or national institutions. The just problem here (if there is one) is a lack of trust between certain dioceses and certain grooming institutions—only the three factors above are much more than significant.
If nosotros are to do some serious—and honest—rethinking of theological pedagogy in order to fit information technology for ministry building in a missional church building, then information technology is these structural bug we demand to address. Trying to squeeze likewise much teaching into too few hours whilst loading as well much other responsibility does non deliver Robert Banks' vision of learning as a missional task. Removing the artificial barriers between pre- and mail-ordination training, financially and institutionally, must surely be the way forrard. This volition involve addressing some painful truths. It would mean doing some more honest assessment of dissimilar training patterns. Information technology would mean recognising that yous cannot provide a theological or pedagogical critical mass by distributing your educators across 44 departure diocesan centres. And it would mean looking honestly at educatee workloads.
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