| Summary: | The revival of Christian religion has once again placed the focus on
man's faith and thus also on the teaching of Christian Faith at school,
so that Christian Faith can appeal to the pupil anew.
The teaching of Christian Faith is the most important discipline of
religious subjects since it is the determining and directing factor
which governs one's whole life, i.e. to whom the child will devote
his life, at school and extra-murally.
The pistical modality (faith) is man's supreme function and all other
human functions are subject to the guidance of faith. Human functions
are developed under the guidance of the pistical function. Thus the instruction
in Christian Faith can be seen as the heart of Christian
education; the foundation on which the child can build.
The task of the educator is to help determine norms and supply
directives in the development of the functions of the child.
Christian Faith is directed towards the religious as well as the
other functions of man. Education is thus subject to the guidance
of faith.
In Christian Faith the dogmatic should be taught, but not a specific
non-Scriptural dogma. However, the teacher cannot shed his personal
religious conviction which must, perforce, influence his instruction
of Christian Faith.
Every lesson in Religious Instruction should reinforce the faith of
the child. Although Christian Faith as a subject is restricted to
standerd ten, every lesson from standerd six onwards should confirm
the pupils faith. Lessons in other subjects, like History and
Science, should contribute to the confirmation of faith. As a
consequence the child will experience and realise his faith.
The teacher of Christian Faith must guide the pupil to an acceptance
of a specific religious conviction, otherwise the child will form a
neutral idea of God. The clauses on dogma in the education ordinance
expect a neutral Christian Faith instruction. To circumvent neutral
instruction, it is recommended that Christian Faith is presented on
a differentiated basis, so that the members of each religious group
will receive instruction according to their specific religious conviction.
Christian Faith instruction makes high demands on the teacher, viz.
that the teacher is not a minister, that Christian Faith should be
Biblically centred, that the psychological development of the child
should be borne in mind and that the teacher must guard against
factors which could affect the nature of Christian Faith instruction.
Christian Faith instruction requires a specific method in which the
following may be used successfully: class discussion, dialogue
teaching, the buzzing groups, the question-and-answer method, the
method of setting problems, and the self-study method.
The teacher of Christian Faith should be aware of factors which could
have an adverse effect on pupils. Intelligence, feelings and morality
should not receive undue stress, Churchism may not be encouraged
through the absolutising of personal opinion, nothing in the Bible
that seems unacceptable maybe omitted and Scriptural Truths may not
be presented euphemistically. The Bible is, furthermore, no Scientific text-book.
The principal and the subject inspector must see to it that the
foundations for Christian Faith are properly laid and developed. === Thesis (MEd)--PU vir CHO
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