Implications of Survey Findings
Claiming the ministry of religious education as central to the ministry of our faith is an essential step towards enriching and supporting teachers and our congregations. While the mission of many religious educators is to support teaching as a faith development experience, often their time and attention is spent attending to the critical, pragmatic efforts of running a program. Connecting teachers to each other and to their work in lifespan faith development programs as part of their spiritual or UU identity development is at the heart of the future visions of religious educators. They are constrained, however, by available resources. The efficient delivery of basic training materials about UU faith, child development, multiple intelligences, behavior management, curricula, and enriching additional activities such as games or music, might free religious educators to concentrate more on the relational aspects of teaching in faith. At present, religious educators usually create their own training materials. Religious educators are interested in centrally developed materials, if they are well designed and usable. They are particularly interested in providing such materials online and in other home-use formats.
The results of this survey is a living document that will inform the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregation's development of resources and materials about teaching in faith. Because of the generosity of the religious educators who completed the survey, we have volumes of comments about specific teacher development content and processes. We have details about priorities and pragmatics. Many religious educators provided contact information, which has allowed us to communicate with them directly. Some resources are already being shared through the Teacher Development web site. The wisdom and innovations of religious educators will both inspire and guide future resource sharing and development. It is clear that religious educators need truly quality resources that are sensitive to the constraints of volunteer teachers, congregations, and lifespan faith development programs. Understanding current practice and future visions, we are better prepared to support the efforts of religious educators and congregations, as we move towards a deeper embodiment of lifespan faith development.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
