The Bible and Human Transformation—Part III: Miracles and Human TransformationPosted on November 10, 2014 by Yung Suk KimOften students of the New Testament do not find transformative lessons in miracle stories in the Bible. Usually, miracles are rendered God’s supernatural power that makes impossible things happen. But miracle stories also involve human issues or human responses. Therefore they can be read as a story of human transformation…
The Bible and Human Transformation—Part II: Jesus’ Parables and Human TransformationPosted on October 31, 2014 by Yung Suk KimBecause of the parable’s nature as such, it has double-entendre. On the one hand, students of the New Testament may find parables to be easy to understand because they are taken from everyday life. On the other hand, however, they are very difficult to understand because parables involve figurative language which needs careful attention and skill from the reader. It is here, at the points of overcoming difficulties in understanding the text, where we find their power unto human transformation….
The Bible and Human Transformation—Part I: The Nature of the BiblePosted on October 24, 2014 by Yung Suk KimNo matter how disparate biblical writings may be, the bottom line is that they are life stories involving some sort of human transformation, whether it is personal or communal change: a change in terms of human behavior, a change in terms of human attitude or a change in terms of society…
Sustainable Service Learning: A SLO TransformationPosted on July 11, 2014 by Julia FoggI began incorporating service learning over a decade ago, fresh out of grad school. I had few committee and no administrative responsibilities so all my time and energy went into teaching. I quickly learned two things: service and experiential learning are deeply transformative for students but incredibly time consuming for faculty…. Designing service learning or experiential learning courses presents two make-or-break challenges. The first is challenge is logistical…the second is relational…
Teaching as Vocation—Part III: Formulations to RealityPosted on August 13, 2013 by David RhoadsThe following excerpts of David’s upcoming book, Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach: Reflections on Education as Transformation through Dialogue (Fall 2013 ), are used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers.To a person, my elementary, middle, and high school teachers in the small western Pennsylvania town of Hollidaysburg were conscientious and cared about us.Depressurizing StudentsI recall one typifying moment in which I went to a ninth grade history teacher, saying that I was afraid I might be having a nervous breakdown—going to school, doing homework, working 25 hours a week in a barber shop as an apprentice, being in the school band, and practicing for a school play at night. What Miss Ruck said to me (words I clearly recall) was unbelievably liberating and healing…