Theological Education
Resources for Practices of Excellence in Theological Education
From the Editor
I have wanted for a long time to do more to help theological schools with the practice of theological education. This web site arises directly from my passion for excellence in theological education.
As I have talked with other theological educators in a variety of settings, I find a great deal of interest in learning exactly how others are trying to go about the challenge of assessing student learning. Some of the mystery and concerns about assessment would be dispelled if faculty could see concrete examples of processes being used by other schools. Some faculties feel stymied about assessing skills like written communication or critical thinking that colleges have been assessing for 20 years or more. (Information is out there, but they don't know where to look.) What worries us most is assessing things like spiritual formation, and yet there are some exciting strategies schools are using to get at some of these "hard to measure" things.
At the same time, as I have visited other schools, I have been intrigued by the innovative and effective things many faculty are doing in the classroom. Perhaps it is partly a function of my own learning style, but I find my thinking particularly stimulated by the concrete strategies others use. As I have shared with others some of the ideas I have encountered, they seem interested as well.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am an evangelical. My hope, however, is that this web site will serve the full spectrum of theological schools. While many strategies for teaching and assessment reflect our theological commitments, many others do not come with a great deal of methodological baggage. Other strategies are built on great insights that could readily be contextualized into our own settings. (If you don't believe me, look at the sections of this web site on teaching, assessment, or connecting learning.
So I have come to believe that theological education would benefit from a forum in which we could share specific tools and strategies in areas like assessment, teaching, and (integrating across disciplines and integrating field education with classroom). Since there seems to be no such forum available, I decided to create one. (Perfectionists often lead difficult lives and much of it, like this web site, is self-inflicted.)
I cannot do this alone, however. The wisdom lies with you, out in the community of theological educators. I hope that you will share your ideas and strategies with me, so that I can share them with others. Please send your comments and (especially) examples of practices of excellence in teaching, assessment, and integration.
Jim
P.S. If you want to know more about my own background, go to About the Editor.
