Spiritual Development for all Pupils: The contribution of worldview education (Proficient)

Purpose of this course:

The course has been designed to give you access to some of the current thinking on addressing the spiritual growth of all students in your class, acknowledging their multi-faith backgrounds and with a heart to want students to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. The course is based on the research of Professor Trevor Cooling and associates and the Agora of the same name.

Course structure and timing:

Spiritual Development for all Pupils is a five-hour, online course. The course has three modules and involves Readings, Videos and Interactive Learning Tasks – discussions and reflection exercises that are an application of the learning to the participant’s school situation.

Explicit course outcomes:

1. To develop a critical understanding of the place of a worldview in understanding the development of the whole child.
2. To reflect on and set achievable personal goals for improving classroom practice in encouraging all students to explore their own worldview that gives meaning to their life.

Success criteria:

1. The participant can express an understanding of the key research findings.
2. The participant engages with the discussion and raises concerns about critical issues raised by this research.
3. The participant shows evidence of engaging with other participants in dialogue about the components of building resilience suggested by this research.
4. The participant reflects on their own practice and sets achievable improvement goals for their practice.

Course outline:

Module 1: The power of exploring worldview

This module explains the key concept of 'worldview' and how it is formed over time. It then looks at the overlay of secularism in today's world. There are two short readings and participants complete two learning tasks.

Module 2: Understanding the research 

Module 2 explores the research in this area. It begins with a summary of the key ideas, then you will watch the video presentation from the EdComm Agora and have an opportunity to engage at a deeper level with the ideas presented by asking your questions about the video. The video examines how exploring worldview and its presuppositions can be used to in the faith development of students. Participants also read parts of two publications before completing two learning tasks.

Module 3: Application of the research

In this module you are challenged with the idea that 'the job of a teacher is to create a conversation in the gap between knowledge and personal worldview' and you will be applying your learning to your school situation. As the focus of this module is the application of the research, the tasks ask participants to experiment in their classrooms. Participants also complete self and course evaluation exercises.

Course cost:

Anglican EdComm Member Schools: Complimentary

Anglican EdComm Individual Members: Complimentary

Non-member Schools: $200pp

Course dates:

July 26 to August 15, 2021