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Some questions that could form the basis for inquiry into religious beliefs and their impact on people’s thinking and actions are:

• Beginning Band: What is my story?
• Band A: What makes a group?
• Band B: What is a religion?
• Band C: Is the world a good place?
• Band D: Are all religions the same?
• Band E: What is truth?

The CSCF content suggests many more! Look at the scope statements and knowledge indicators, what will you build your inquiry unit around? Over to you…

for Module 3

This is a BIG question!! In any given classroom it is unlikely that all learners, teacher included, share one common set of beliefs. This has implications!! Ultimately, when we consider how we make sense of the world, we enter the territory of worldviews and the representational diversity they bring. In order to value such diversity and to embrace the richness that opportunities to share, think, reflect, discuss, analyse, question and critique allow, two important conditions are critical:

• a safe, inclusive classroom environment
• the practice of respectful dialogue

See photos for lists of ways these can be advanced (compiled in our workshop)

CHECK OUT: the Blogroll for a link to ‘Inclusive classroom communities’

for Module 8

The question how do I live my life? raises more questionns about ethical choices and decisions we can, and often must, take as we live our lives on a daily basis.

There’s quite a bit of thinking associated with making ethical choices and decisions: seeking clarity, reflection, reasoning, empathising, anticipating, projecting, questioning, analysing, synthesising, considering, and evaluating come to mind.

• How are you planning for these?
• How are you structuring learning experiences for your students?
• What opportunities are you giving them to practice these skills?

CHECK OUT: the Blogroll for links to websites focusing on philosophical and critical thinking

Sometimes starting a question with is/does/can/do will open up that question much wider than starting with how/what/why.

Think about it!

The latter set of question starters can come with inbuilt assumptions, whereas the first set of question starters requires justification and thus deeper thinking.

for Module 7

• In this module essential questions and deep understandings are placed firmly in their pedagogical role as inquiry drivers of content and theology in Christian Studies.
• The more you practice thinking, articulating and writing them the better you will get!
• Keep re-visiting the writings we used to review and refine your essential questions and deep understandings: play around with and rearrange the words, pick up key concepts, use the scope statements as a starting point.

Post them here on the blog and we can help one another!

Here are some examples of questions that were tweaked in today’s workshop:

From: What has Jesus taught us?   To: What is the purpose of Jesus’ teachings?

From: How do we have a positive relationship with God and with each other?  To: How do people (or Christians) develop a growing relationship with God?

CHECK OUT: the Blogroll for links to websites focusing on fertile questions and rich tasks!

for Module 1

• Expectations of you as a participant in the Equip journey: do you have any questions about this?(I will bring some sample portfolios to each of the Module workshops)
• Christian Education and Christian Studies: are you clear about the distinctives of each? Please use the ‘Comments’ if you have questions
• Organisation, structure and elements of CSCF: are there any aspects that are not clear for you?
• Planning a unit: after a full day workshop our brains can go into overload. Whoah! Please use the ‘Comments’ to ask questions about your planning
• Preparation for Module 2: how’s it going?

CHECK OUT: the Blogroll for links to websites focusing on inquiry

Of all of the embedding media online tools I checked out, Wallwisher has my vote as the one that I think will have wide application in my future blogging life. So I have created a board: What makes moments luminous? I would love to hear your views. Simply add a post-it!! Simple!! (I’ve already contributed one thought)

You can see my WallWisher below:

And here’s the link to see the full sized Wallwisher:

luminousmoments

Summertime presents a plethora of luminous moments from the luscious              f ragrance of ripening peaches, the early morning calls of a diverse neighbourhood of birds rising to greet a new day, the soft crunching underfoot of dried grasses touched by dewy dampness, the changing light throughout the day and the games it plays among the leaves in all the treetops, to the mesmerising, vibrant reds, golds, purples, and everything in-between, across the sky as the sun drifts beyond the horizon to cast it’s spell on a new day in another place.

Photo by Linh Ngan licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

• In what seems like another life, I once had emerging careers as a nurse, and then an office manager in two different jobs in two different Australian States.

• While I completed undergraduate and postgraduate work with specialisations in art, adult learning and professional development, and religious studies, I studied full and part-time for 14 consecutive years.

• You can’t keep me away from books. Increasingly, thinking about the big questions that life throws up consumes me.

• Food and wine are passions: food from slow food and cultural tradition perspectives, and wine from complexities of the product and its marriage with food perspectives. Recent additions to my growing food experiences: xima and mapata (Mozambique) and musakhan (Palestine) which uses one of my favourite spices, SUMAC (see photo!)

• A Japanese television crew filled my house on New Year’s Day in 2000 when my (annual event) party was beamed live to Japanese audiences as the millennium dawn unfolded across the Barossa Valley, here in South Australia.

• Favourite quote: one of the most beautiful gifts that humans have brought to earth is music. In great music the ancient longing of the earth finds a voice. (O’Donohue)

• More and more I am focussed on living the moment: keeping an openness to all dimensions of human becoming, applying sensory connections, and bringing new awareness to luminous moments (reading Alain de Botton’s The art of travel is partially responsible! As are significant friendships)

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