In Chapter 21 of Children's Spirituality Joyce Ruppell talks about assessment.
Ms. Ruppell's methods are largely based on watching, listening, and recording. In the classroom this is used to adjust teaching methods or curriculum and to communicate with parents about a child's progress. It's also an active way to get to know our children, to make sure we're meeting needs, engaging them, and that the time spent is meaningful to them. Anytime you parent or teach a small group or a large group it's nice to know that what you're doing is working.
She talks about deliberately watching, listening, recording.
She suggests recording
- how a child feels about him/herself as revealed through a child's participation in planned activities. There are probably also other ways that this can be observed. (Self-Concept)
- (Attitudes towards others) a child's attitude towards others as revealed through a child's participation in group activities
- (Attitudes towards church) a child's attitude towards church as revealed through his/her response to corporate worship experiences
- (Attitudes towards Scripture, prayer, Jesus, God) a child's attitude towards Bible, prayer, Jesus, God as revealed through a child's dialogue and how that reflects a child's understanding
Asking a child questions about a story (is he/she recalling details, does he/she understand what it means, can he/she apply it to him/herself)
Examining drawings, listening to what a child says about his/her drawings or other creations and the stories behind what the child is expressing.
We could probably talk about whether you think these are good indicators or whether you think there are other indicators. Although I think these are really good tools to assess growth, skills, interests in young children I wonder if the way God assesses us is similar.
We call Him, "Teacher". How does He assess us? How well does He know us? What does He expect? How does He determine what we need, whether or not we're growing or "succeeding?" What does that look like?
Does He ever wonder whether or not He's succeeding and change His methods?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
"Asking a child questions about a story (is he/she recalling details, does he/she understand what it means, can he/she apply it to him/herself)"
ReplyDeleteI know that we do way too much of this and not nearly enough of the other. It is one of my peeves when I hear a volunteer or colleague say that the kids "got" the lesson because they could regurgitate back the details.
I don't think it takes much for kids to "get it" at a mere comprehension level. Remember good old Bloom's taxonomy? I need to challenge myself and others in my ministry to look for the deeper levels of understanding that lead to life transformation.
For the times I taught Sunday school I think one of the biggest challenges was a child who could tell you all the things you wanted to hear, all the facts and details, and even knew how to pray and worship, good parents, good family but there was still something you couldn't get at.
ReplyDeletePrayer is a strategy but do you have other strategies for this?
Then you have a child who doesn't have it all together but obviously wants very much to please God...maybe it's just humility? The difference between teachers, coaches, trainers and the different qualities that they draw out of us? I don't know.