Tag: Learning

Some of Us Are Slow Learners; Like Me

Ryan@educationandfaith.com

If it is true that God doesn’t waste anything or any circumstance, then boy do I make Him work hard. I think of how much has to happen for me to be alerted to His nudges. Looking back at my last blogpost, it is embarrassing to see that it took 11 years of teaching f

or me to move just a blip toward professional competency. Although I’m glad that Zechariah 4:10, shows that God works through little details and “small beginnings”.

Slow and Stubborn

I can also find joy for His grace is sufficient for me. I often choose to live without tapping into His strength but there’s not a day that I’d survive without His grace. I’ve missed God’s cues even in glaring details that I’ve stepped over each day. Just this morning I’m sure I missed H

is higher route for me due to selfishness. An opportunity to serve a coworker crossed my mind. I declined. I was pretty busy. “His grace is sufficient for me.” There’s really only one reason I continue to require His grace.

An Abundant Life

After reflecting on my first 11 years of teaching and the progress I’ve made I can’t help but notice the root of the problem. My definition of abundant life has been severely flawed. I’m glad my God is patient because he’s only managed to gain a fraction of my attention through a dozen years of family arguments, job failures, and consequences of my many poor decisions. In John 17:3 Jesus clearly explains that the only ingredient of an abundant life is a growing knowledge of God. The knowledge of God, that’s all. It’s both a little and a lot. Honestly I read and understand this truth but my day-to-day mentality displays a still flawed view of life. I try to achieve my abundant life through my occupation, my family, my health, my golf game, and many other shiny things.

In his book Epic, John Eldridge writes that our purpose is for the restoration of life. Repent and turn away from my human desires. I’m so joyful to have a career that gives me unmeasurable ways to restore life in students, families, and coworkers. And God is definitely using my job to restore an abundant life in me. My last 12 years is a testament to that!   

 

God has given me an ability to gain knowledge of him through my daily interactions in my career. I’m curious if others notice these same opportunities in their workplace. I mean we spend a huge junk of our life there, I’m guessing God wants to reveal himself there.

 

Peace in growing through your workplace

Human Growth: A Simple Process

Ryan@educationandfaith.com

Since the fall of man, God has used mystery to draw people to himself. Every conflict or failure is a chance to either move toward him, or away. I think few find this to be a fun way to learn, though I I learn the most when my curiosity is piqued with wonder. These are the times when the easy answer is the wrong answer. When faced with uncomfortable circumstances the progressive learner didn’t ask why. Instead he looked around, reflected, and considered the path of humble inquiry. Socrates had this figured out a long time ago when he said something like, the more I know the more I don’t know.

Eureka! The power of knowing how we learn   

We’ve been designed to learn, develop, and grow in every way: socially, physically, emotionally, and intellectually. I feel like our culture is beginning to grasp how we learn. Smart people are revealing ideas like “The Growth Mindset” and “Event + Response = Outcome”. The growth mindset is the idea that dedication and working through struggles is critical to growth, and talent is just a starting point. It’s obvious to me now that it wasn’t Carol Dweck who came up with this mindset theory, but this is the perspective God has intended for our life ever since the existence of sin. I mean, he does tell us to consider it pure joy when facing trials because he is developing perseverance and maturity in us through circumstances (James 1:2-4). Could he be more clear about the perspective we are to have when given the chance to learn? Don’t avoidingly sidestep anything because anxiety, worry, and fear cripple our ability to learn.

Our time on Earth has been designed to be filled with purposeful conflicts and problems so I suppose we should teach our children how to deal with those problems. After all we’re to “Train up a child in the way he should go,” (Proverbs 22:6).  Our response to those issues determines how we grow. In this place there is a growing sense of entitlement. Many hold the perspective that the events that happen to them are controllable. The myth of “Because of who I am, bad things can’t happen to me” is a very dangerous stance. Look at the story of Job and imagine if his response to problems was from a point of entitlement!

Entitlement is just our Earthly desires on display. One of the most unattractive attributes is a puffed out chest filled with pompous disposition. This is grown from a complete misunderstanding of the truths and reality of our life. Thank God for his pure plan, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 8:28

It’s a battle we all fight, everyday.

Tools for Learning

Sorry to break it to you, but please consider this news with pure joy! When we need to develop in an area, we are given conflict. Yes, we are asked to embrace the struggle, hurt, grief, and frustration that comes with conflict. I think a great example of this is marriage. The first couple years of my marriage was littered with purposed conflict. We worked in it and responded to it and it made all the different. I must say, I tried to avoid it but thankfully my wife is much smarter than me and she helped me realize the process of growth takes effort and intention. Or if you’d prefer a much different example, let’s look at Lebron. The greatest basketball player on the earth has conflict too. Other teams got smart and decided to double team him or punish him with fouls every time he got close to the basket. So Lebron didn’t just continue to practice. He knew if he wanted to enjoy a long successful career he had to work on an alternative to going to the basket and getting beat up. He developed his outside shot and is now even more difficult to guard. (I love sports analogies and have a baseball one that applies as well, but I’ll spare you the boredom).

So you see you will not go through life unscathed, if you claim to, you’re an infant in every way.

I find Isaiah 43:19 very encouraging. “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

The path of development is filled with challenging elements. Each element has been divinely designed.

 

May you take joy in your wilderness or desert.

 

The Way We’re Made to Learn

Ryan@educationandfaith.com
“Are we there yet? Are we there yet? How about now?” Curiosity can be annoying sometimes. Especially when it is the persistent kind. Don’t worry parents and teachers,  it’s been documented that we, as humans ask less and less questions as we age. On the surface this might sound relieving to the exhausted caretaker, but I actually find it quite concerning. I’d much rather be surrounded by learners who question and search for truth, rather than ones who just want to know they’re right. Unfortunately I’ve witnessed education that has produced the latter.
We label children as being naive and ignorant when really the adults are the ones too busy with the mundane to engage with what matters, resulting in a harmful ignorance. So often today I find people are fighting to be heard (myself included), instead of a people who first: engage, explore, research, and consider.
I see a shift in our curiosity as we age. Children ask questions and explore based on genuine personal interest. As adults our curiosity is driven based on a motive to be right, and to build support for our predetermined position. When does such a shift happen? What are we doing to cause this? 
 
Why don’t we follow the development methods God has used in reaching His people spiritually. He speaks to us using a personal authentic experience, our inquiry, and then application of what has been learned. Obviously God knows how His creation learns best, so why don’t we use this same model in our academic process.

Why would God choose to leave us with such wonder and mystery, not only about this world but also about who He is? I think he desires His learners to have a healthy practice of wrestling in wonder and deeply exploring curiosities that result in perspective, overarching respect, and of course wisdom. I look to C.S. Lewis as being a fantastic model of this, and boy did he land on those three resulting characteristics.  

So teach them to explore and to be curious. Let’s be quick to question, thorough in seeking, and slow in concluding. For if our kids can maintain and engage their curiosity over time they’ll be equipped for a life full of learning. When God draws their attention to Himself, these learners, filled with curiosity, will not dismiss it or misinterpret the encounter. They will engage, seek, and discover who He is. I this this concept of inquiry learning closely relates to “God’s Vision for the Classroom” (a past post).

 

Imagine how better prepared our kids would be if we didn’t just quickly give them an answer loaded with bias, but took the time to wonder, inquire, and discover along side them. This world would be relieved of much hate and ignorance.

 

What do you wonder about? Engage your wonder. You will not be disappointed!