21st Century Lesson Planning for Faith Formation

2020.01.22.13.04.25 d0r ongoing 21stcenturylessonplanning
2020.01.22.13.04.25 d0r ongoing 21stcenturylessonplanning

Welcome to 21st Century Lesson Planning for Faith Formation. This course is broken up into several different units and within each unit there are a series of expandable/collapsible lessons. You can nativigate through each unit and the lessons by clicking the tabs below. May God bless you in your learning!

Course Goal Description
Click here for 1. Learner Centered Environment

Please download and print this organizer here so you can take notes as you are moving through this unit.

Applying the “head knowledge” of information, facts, and concepts through actively engaging the minds of each learner. Usually results in a product or outcome such as a document, reflection, project, problem solution, role play activity, etc.

One of the three categories of learning domains that involves forming attitude skills such as choices, feelings, beliefs and values.

Skills from the Affective Learning Domain which include choices, feelings, beliefs and values. 

Behaviorism involves external conditions to influence learning through rewards and punishment.

One of the three categories of learning domains that involves the skills of cognitive strategies such as planning goals and organizing learning tasks.

Skills from the Cognitive Learning Domain which includes planning goals and organizing learning tasks.

Cognitivism explores the activity in the brain during learning and how we can alter the environment to work with the brain’s natural rhythms

Constructivism is concerned with the process of active construction of knowledge and the social interactions that make it more effective

Teaching methods that have been adopted to support the learner centered environment. Frequently referred to as moving from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side”. Recognized by seven principles: students do more learning tasks; teachers do less telling so students can do more discovering; teachers do instructional design more carefully; teachers more explicitly model how experts learn; teachers encourage students to learn from and with each other;  teachers and students work to create climates for learning; teachers use evaluation to promote learning. (Weimer, 2012, pp 72-83) (link: https://www.amazon.com/Learner-Centered-Teaching-Five-Changes-Practice/dp/1118119282)

A learning activity to help young people construct knowledge by putting themselves in the place of a character or person and talk, act or write as that individual.

“Instructional Design is the science of creating instructional curriculum that is geared towards producing specific learning outcomes, based not only on pedagogical [related to teaching] research, but also on current instructional practices” https://educationaltechnology.net/instructional-design/

A person who specializes in planning learning experiences and uses an intentional approach to manipulate the learning environment so learners are more likely to be successful.

Skills from the Cognitive Learning Domain which include learning new definitions, concepts and rules in order to problem solve.

A philosophy of learning that puts the learner in the center. Gives more responsibility to the learner by building skills of lifelong learning, self-direction and problem solving.  Due to the very nature of the philosophy, reaching every student through relationship building is a central component.

Learning can be divided into three different categories or domains: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. It is important to identify the primary learning domain for the content you teach, because there are suggested conditions to include.

Skills from the Psychomotor Learning Domain that require muscles and the brain for actions.

An opportunity for young people to reflect on a topic or experience by freely writing from the heart for 60 seconds

A statement of intent. A tangible way for learners to demonstrate back a task to show teachers evidence of learning.

A learning or assessment activity where young people put together a folder of activities or goals they have accomplished related to the topic. This may be in traditional paper form or digital.

One of the three categories of learning domains that involves motor skills that require muscles and the brain for actions.

A way to try and recreate real life scenarios to allow young people to practice faith based decisions.

An opportunity for young people to collaborate by first thinking about a prompt individually, pairing up with another person, and each sharing their thoughts with the other.

A type of skill within the Cognitive Learning Domain which includes facts, terms, or ideas provided in written or narrated format.

The Big Idea

Take a few moments to do your own exploration on this topic. Open a new tab on your browser and look up the phrase “learner centered teaching” or “Learner centered instruction.”

  • What does it mean?
  • What are the characteristics?
  • What does it look like in the classroom?

What did you find in your exploration?

Go to the “class thread” here and share something that resonated with you about learner centered teaching.

Big Questions: What is facilitative teaching? Would you be able to recognize facilitative teaching if you saw it in action? What are the principles of facilitative teaching?

Guide on the Side

You’ve just heard how using a learner centered approach has changed Rich and his faith experiences. In my own experience supporting teachers through a lesson redesign, whenever a teacher changes to a more facilitative approach, it is a gradual process. The change does not happen overnight, so please give yourself permission to ease in gradually! Try to add one of the six elements of a learner centered approach at a time, until you are comfortable with that approach, and then build on. If it’s helpful to take a deeper dive into what a learner centered approach looks like, we can hone in on the principles of facilitative teaching. 

Facilitative teaching is when instructors use teaching methods that have been adopted to support the learner centered environment. Frequently referred to as moving from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side”, this teaching approach can be recognized by a set of principles. In the book, Learner Centered Teaching, Maryellen Weimer (2013) emphasizes that “there is not one single, correct way to execute it. The principles are what make the role recognizable, but the examples [in practice] are what make it individually unique” (p. 72).

In this segment, we’ll share Weimer’s principles with you and then translate them to a faith based perspective

Principle 1: Teachers let students do more learning tasks
Its’ not uncommon for ministers to do a lot of work ahead of time to prepare for the session, and then also do a lot of work during the session to deliver the material to young people, while young people kind of sit back and absorb. A facilitative teaching approach means that you’ve done due diligence ahead of time to prepare an effective learning environment that is specific to the needs of the topic. Once the session begins, young people take over and do the bulk of the work. You then become the guide on the side, helping to move young people through the experiences and walking around to listen in and ask leading questions.

Principle 2: Teachers do less telling so students can do more discovering
There is only so much time that we have with our young people. If we spend the bulk of the time presenting information, there is little precious time for young people to apply what they have learned. Instead, consider setting up learning experiences where the topic is covered by young people exploring information and discovering things for themselves. Perhaps giving a choice of activities or asking young people to teach each other. The jigsaw approach can be very effective for this purposed and can help cover a lot of information quickly by young people teaching each other. Do a web search to find out more about this approach.

Principle 3: Teachers do instructional design more carefully
A common misunderstanding about the learner centered environment (especially from learners and their families) is that young people do all the work, and the teacher juts sits back. What is not so transparent is that the teacher has already been very intentional about planning an effective learning experience. This is exactly why we will be diving into the steps of lesson planning next!

Principle 4: Teachers more explicitly model how experts learn
This principle is so relevant for faith formation. You’ve already got this one down!! This simply means that you are explicit with young people about your own faith journey and how you live out your Catholic faith every day. Cognitive Science tells us that beginners learn very differently than experts because experts have a breadth of knowledge to pull from. Bransford and Brown have a section in their book, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (2002) dedicated to how experts differ from novices from research of chess players, scientists, computer programmers, electricians, mathematicians and historians. “Deep understanding of subject matter transforms factual information into usable knowledge. A pronounced difference between experts and novices is that experts’ command of concepts shapes their understanding of new information: it allows them to see patterns, relationships, or discrepancies that are not apparent to novices.” (p.17) Be sure that you “think aloud” with your young people to help them experience firsthand, how you make the faith decisions that you do.

Principle 5: Teachers encourage students to learn from and with each other
It’s a fact that individuals learn better from someone in their peer group who is just slightly above their knowledge level, rather than from an expert who is more advanced. As we learn more about a topic, we begin to forget what it took to learn that topic in the first place! This has resulted in methods such as peer instruction and peer tutoring that have become incredibly popular both in traditional teaching and learner centered environments. These are really just fancy ways of saying that young people are learning with and from each other. This could be accomplished from bringing in outside role models that are similar in age, or using peer mentors, or simply providing ways for your young people to collaborate and work, think or talk together (one of our 6 characteristics of a learner/person centered environment!).

Principle 6: Teachers and students work to create climates for learning
One of the messy parts of effective learning, is that it often involves some level of risk. Risk of branching out in a new direction, not knowing the answer… failing. There is an increasing amount of focus in educational discourse about the idea of embracing failure as a requirement for learning and helping our students to embrace failure instead of shrinking from it. Many of us, would agree that we’ve learned the most important lessons from failure. (See Deb’s related blog post: Don’t give in). Creating a climate for learning in faith based environments means not being afraid of the tough questions and challenging concepts. Faith is messy. Living out our faith in this time of moral relativity is challenging. We will have more success if we work together with our students to learn from each other.

Principle 7: Teachers use evaluation to promote learning
Facilitative teachers are constantly evaluating- how it went and how they can refine the experience for next time. Like principle 6, we can’t look at evaluation from the lens of failure, but from the perspective of learning. Get feedback from your young people; get feedback from participating families; get feedback from other ministers. Take advantage of moments during the experience to change your plan if you notice something isn’t working. It’s ok to stop the momentum and provide a min-lecture or clarifying questions to get young people back on track. Use evaluation as a temperature gauge to guide your faith experiences. 

Big Questions: What is the impetus for changing my approach? A learner centered approach is harder for everyone, so why put forth the effort? What reasons might I give to parents, young people and parishioners for why I’ve changed my approach?

5 reasons

We won’t lie to you. In our own experiences, we’ve found that designing and facilitating a learner centered environment in faith formation is not easy. It’s somewhat new and not as familiar to Ministers or youth and takes more time and effort. That said, research in academia now tells us that there are benefits from this approach that we are just beginning to realize in this 21st century. 

Why Invest in Intentional Planning?
In the book “Faith formation with the New Generation”, John Roberto shares statistics about the current state of affairs of faith and reaffirms the “many reasons why it is important to invest in faith formation during the first two decades of life” (p. 6):
⦁ If Americans leave their childhood faith, they will do so before the age of 18. (6 in 10 or 62%)
⦁ Thirteen is the average age when young Catholics leave the faith; 18% leave between 5 and 9; 24% leave between 10 and 12  (Exodus Study, Going, Going Gone by St Mary’s Press)
⦁ “When children and young adolescents leave a religion, we can safely assume that their parents (or the whole family) have stopped practicing as well. We now have two generations of religiously unaffiliated: parents and their children.” (p. 8)

What You Do Matters!

Roberto is raising the call to action. One of the answers to reaching young Catholics and helping affirm that faith is relevant to their lives, is through facilitating a learner [person] centered environment during

What we do

catechesis, faith formation and faith development opportunities. This requires intentional lesson planning and we’ll begin to hone in on this process in the next lesson. Before we go there, we need to address the “why”. If we know designing a person centered experience is harder, why in the world would we do it?! One reason- because it’s better for our kids! 

Designing a person centered faith experience can help engage your young people better because: 
⦁ Youth are changing
⦁ Young people are learning differently in school today
⦁ It’s a condition for teaching attitudes within the Affective Domain, such as faith and values
⦁ This active approach has been shown to increase critical thinking & learning 
⦁ Jesus did it

Let’s unpack each one of these reasons in a little more detail.

Big Questions: How is the current generation of young people different from other generations?

Generation Z

How is this difference impacting their faith? How might this change influence our lesson planning?

According to Wikipedia, Generation Z are those children born between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s (currently under 20 years of age), which is the population we currently serve. 

How is this Generation Different?

In a workshop at the Rochester, NY Diocese in October 2018, we asked participants, what changes are you noticing in youth today. There was no question that Ministers were noticing a change. To the left is what those participants had to say.

Oct 24 Workshop How have youth changed

In an article from Forbes in 2016 three key differences are highlighted between Generation Z and other generations: 
⦁ population size
⦁ digital natives 
⦁ diversity
The first notation is simply the sheer size of this generation, “with over 74 million kids (yep, teenagers and younger), Gen Z makes up almost one-quarter of the U.S. population. As a cohort, Gen Z is already the same size as Millennials and Boomers (and will no doubt soon eclipse them) and has surpassed Gen X.” (para 2)
These young people are the first generation to be pure “digital natives”- there has never been a time in their lives so far, where there has not been technology. “Tuned in and socially connected, for Gen Z, there is almost no separation between online and real life. According to Pew Research Center’s “Teens, Social Media & Technology Overview 2015, Ages 13-17,” about a quarter of Gen Z’ers are online “all the time.” They send and receive over 67 texts every day (this figure is for SMS texts and does not include other IM services, such as Snapchat or Facebook Messenger).” (para 6)
Finally, this generation is more diverse- “Gen Z is likely to be more comfortable and familiar with different cultures, races and ethnicities than previous generations. The convergence of technology and ethnic diversity helps create a group that is entirely fluid and playful, and where identity is a highly nuanced concept.” (para 8)
Technology certainly has its benefits and can make many things easier. However, new research is beginning to highlight organic changes in the brain that are being attributed to the continual use of technology. All of those past generations who said, “ah the kids are so different now”, had nothing on the adults of today who seem to now have some legitimacy to back up those claims! In 2017, Samuel Merritt University identified five ways technology is altering our brains (https://www.samuelmerritt.edu/news/5-ways-technology-altering-our-brains)
1. decreased attention
2. more easily distracted
3. can more easily focus on multiple things at once
4. have grown addicted to digital technology
5. ability to interact socially is impaired

Generation Z and Faith Formation
This fits fairly well with the opinions of those who participated in our workshop. There is no doubt that the youth of this generation are changing. So how is this impacting the faith of this generation? 
In the book “Faith formation with the New Generation”, Roberto identifies 10 characteristics of the youth noted as Generation Z: 
⦁ technology is pervasive 
⦁ worldview is individualistic 
⦁ gender identity is fluid
⦁ financial security = success
⦁ racially, religious, and sexually diverse
⦁ parents not central
⦁ religious identity is central for engaged youth; not relevant to a majority
⦁ ¼ believe morality and values change over time based on society
⦁ the practice of faith and church is mainly irrelevant
⦁ “learning is one continuous, multifaceted, completely integrated experience” p.9

Planning Differently is the Key
These seem to be negative changes, but don’t be discouraged and don’t lose heart. With every challenge comes a new opportunity. The opportunity that lies ahead is for thinking and planning differently. We can find new ways to immerse ourselves into the world in which they live, so we can better understand the decisions that impact their lives. Although technology is not required to facilitate a learner [person] centered environment, it can certainly provide positive ways to reach young people who are not attending Mass or faith based activities. In addition, when technology is used to solve a particular teaching pain point or learning need, we are using what God has provided for good. We are on the cusp of new opportunities to think more intentionally about lesson planning and using new mediums to meet various learning styles and provide our youth with more choice and control over their learning experiences.  

Big Questions: How has the concept of knowledge and learning changed over time? What is the current understanding of knowledge and learning? How is this current understanding impacting learning approaches in schools?

What do you notice about these images? How is the image on the left, different from the image on the right? Which do you think is most common in classrooms today?

Over time, there have been three dominant learning theories that have influenced our educational system. The discipline of Behavioral Psychology has played a large part in the formation of these theories, including how knowledge happens and what learning is.

Although we don’t expect you to remember the details of these philosophies, it’s important to recognize that the advent of technology has changed the concept of learning in our world today, and the idea of how we obtain knowledge. This has dramatically changed the way that students are learning in schools in this 21st century.

Behaviorism

Behaviorism is the earliest influence in our education system and is the belief that external conditioning changes behavior resulting in learning. In this philosophy, there is a large focus on structure, order, discipline and stimuli. Performance Objectives came from this time period and are still used today as a tangible way for learners to demonstrate back what they have learned to teachers. Two famous theorists during this time were BF Skinner and Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov trained dogs to salivate at the ringing of a bell by introducing stimuli and rewards.

Learners are:empty vessels waiting to be filled
Knowledge happens through:interacting with the environment; experience
*Knowledge/truth exists independent of the learner and is imposed on them; reality is external; objective 
Learning means:A BEHAVIOR CHANGE/ OUTCOME through reinforcement, rewards, punishments administered by the teacher (Pavlov, Skinner)

Cognitivism

Once computers came onto the scene, theorists started to understand learning differently. Although theorists still believed that humans were empty vessels waiting to be filled, some theorists believed that the processing that was occurring in the brain was more relevant and needed to be explored- hence the philosophy of Cognitivism was introduced. With the advent of this theory, there was a huge focus on memory and recall in the classroom. The more we could remember and recall, the more we were learning. These theorists believed that if certain internal (within the person) and external (within the environment) conditions were met, learning was more likely to occur. In addition, theorists realized that what we have learned in the past, influenced our ability to learn something new. David Merrill and Robert Gagne are known theorists of Cognitivism.

Learners are:empty vessels waiting to be filled
processors of information (like a computer)
Knowledge happens through:inputs from the environment, and our experiences that are processed in the brain
*Knowledge/truth exists independent of the learner and is imposed on them; reality is external; objective 
Learning means:-Inputs > Associations (categories) > Outputs
-Results in a PRODUCT: an output in the form of an ability or capability thanks to RECALL from MEMORY 

Constructivism

Knowledge and learning changes dramatically with Constructivism. No longer were learners empty vessels waiting to be filled, but active organisms seeking meaning. This changed the understanding of how knowledge occurs- through active inquiry and critical thinking. No longer is the end product the most important outcome of learning, but the process through which one actively constructs knowledge. A critical result of this influence, is the idea that truth is internal and relative to an individual’s beliefs. This means that truth can mean different things to different people. As long as peers find validity in the process by which the belief has been constructed- it is truth… until another better valid explanation comes along! Constructivism can be further divided into Cognitivist Constructivism, theorists John Dewey and Jerome Bruner, and Social Constructivism, where theorists like Lev Vygotsky believed learning occurs through social interactions within social systems.

Learners are:Active organisms seeking meaning
Knowledge happens through:reasoning, questions & working hypothesis | social interaction.
*Knowledge/truth is actively constructed. Reality is internal; relative.
If truth comes from within me- truth means different things to different people! 
Learning means:-inquiry & thinking PROCESS over PRODUCT; mental models
“Knowledge has been constructed after testing their own understandings against those of others, notably those of teachers or more advanced peers.” (Driscoll) 

Which Philosophy is Most Influential Today?

In truth there is still a little influence from each one of these philosophies in this 21st century which has led to controversy and debate among educators. Although there are still teacher centered approaches through traditional methods, new learning paradigms have resulted in the explosion of teaching methods to support constructivism via learner centered instruction.

Behaviorism is the traditional teacher centered philosophy and is still prominent in some classrooms, especially in higher education lecture courses.  Because of the idea of chaining together skills using positive reinforcements and rewards, this philosophy can be very effective for beginners, young learners, students with disabilities, workplace performance, classroom management problems, and psychomotor skills.

Cognitivism is still very relevant right now. Current research and innovations in understanding the brain have expanded the influence of the field of Cognitive Science and how instructional designers organize learning to support the brain’s natural rhythms. 

Constructivism is ramping up in this 21st century and is the dominant perspective in the Sciences. Why? The advent of technology has moved us into a place of the unknown. We have never been here before. No longer do we need to memorize details. The web is available 24/7- any minute of the day and is full of millions of facts and information on how to do almost anything! The young people that you minister with now, will have jobs that don’t even exist at this moment. How does the school system prepare our youth for the future?  By embracing philosophies like Constructivism where the focus is on PROCESS and not PRODUCT, the belief is that we can teach students to problem solve and think critically so they are able to handle whatever comes in the future.

This is being accomplished through projects, activities, and technologies in schools that incorporate the 4Cs: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity. What do you notice with these 4Cs? Each is a natural byproduct of a learner centered environment- and two are included in the six characteristics of a learner centered environment that we have reviewed!

Big Questions: How do we learn different things throughout our lives? How should we teach a faith topic?

Affective Domain

Robert Gagne, 1985, 1992 was one of the instructional theorists from Cognitivism who gave us some really nice suggestions for teaching different skills that are still very relevant today.  

The Three Learning Domains

When planning a lesson, one of the early tasks of the Instructional Designer is to identify the main learning domain for the topic or subject matter being taught so you know how to go about teaching it. Gagne identified three (3) categories of learning domains: Affective, Cognitive, and Psychomotor.

  • When we teach something within the Cognitive Domain, the main focus is on obtaining knowledge. This requires three different types of skills: verbal informationabout facts; intellectual skills to learn new definitions, concepts and rules in order to problem solve; and cognitive strategies that help learners plan goals and organize learning tasks.
  • The Psychomotor Domain is made up of motor skills requiring muscles and the brain.
  • The Affective Domain involves forming attitudes or choices and includes feelings, beliefs and values. 

Although each topic we teach, belongs within one main learning domain category, the other learning domains might also be needed to help support learning. Cognitive theorists tell us that it is helpful for learning, to provide certain conditions within the learning environment when teaching different types of skills. 

For instance, when teaching someone to build a kitchen cabinet, you would want to provide conditions in the environment that support the Psychomotor Domain because the most important skills needed are motor skills to coordinate muscles and brain to create the cabinet. That said, as a supplement your learners will already come with some knowledge from the Cognitive Domain- such as intellectual skills to learn the vocabulary of woodworking and apply concepts and rules (if…then) to build the cabinet and problem solve difficulties along the way; as well as cognitive strategies for learning such as organization and goal setting. At different times, you might need to provide different conditions in the environment.

Faith belongs to the Affective Learning Domain

When teaching someone a faith topic, you would want to provide conditions in the environment that support the Affective Domain because values of the Catholic faith are skills called attitudes and belong within the Affective Domain.Faith is ultimately a choice (an attitude) of how to live our lives based on feelings, beliefs and values.

In order to make this faith choice, young people will also need to tap into knowledge and skills from the other two domains along the way. This means that that at certain times, additional conditions would need to be provided in the environment to benefit learning. Conditions to support the Cognitive Domain will also be very important because faith requires a lot of verbal information in the form of facts; intellectual skills to learn new concepts (such as heaven and purgatory), and rules (if… then) so we can problem solve moral situations; and finally, cognitive strategies to rehearse and memorize scripture, participate in the Mass and set our own goals for growing in our faith. Sometimes our faith also requires learning motor skills from the Psychomotor Domain such as when we pray the rosary or make the sign of the cross. As you can see, faith development is complex as it might tap into all three (3) learning domains at once! However, if we don’t provide conditions in the learning environment that support the main Affective Domain, we are missing a huge opportunity! Historically when topics of faith have been taught, the focus has been largely on intellectual skills, such as the “head” knowledge of facts and information. The “heart” knowledge of the Affective Domain has been largely assumed. Faith requires explicit attention to BOTH the head and the heart and practice applying these values and beliefs in a safe environment. We’ll talk about the conditions in the environment when teaching the other domains later in the course. For now, it’s important for you to understand the conditions to provide in the environment when teaching topics within the Affective Domain.

Learner Centered Environments are Critical for Teaching in the Affective Domain

When teaching topics within the Affective Domain, such as faith and values, cognitive theorists such as Robert Gagne suggest including four conditions:

  1. Create an expectation that learners will be successful
  2. Provide learners with examples of other peers whom they respect demonstrating the desired value
  3. Provide an activity to practice the desired value
  4. Give feedback to help learners achieve successful performance or testimony

Resources from contemporary sources, now also identify learner-centered environments as a critical condition in this 21st century when teaching topics within the Affective Domain.  

Why do you think this might be the case? Since skills of attitudes, such as values and choices hinge on feelings and personal experiences, a safe, open and trusting environment is critical. The 6 characteristics of a learner centered environment (Construct –Active –Reflect –Collaborate –Creativity –Choice) provide the perfect bedrock for young people to actively explore questions of faith, hone in and develop their own personal beliefs, while practicing the application of faith decisions in a safe environment. 

Remember we cannot force young Catholics to believe- it is ultimately their choice. By including conditions in the environment that support the Affective Domain, and using a learner [person] centered approach, young people are more likely to be successful in learning the values of the Catholic faith. They will also have greater confidence, knowledge and skills needed to choose God in the daily circumstances they face.

So, what does all of this have to do with us? As catechists and youth ministers we are called to be imitators of Jesus Christ. Jesus was the ultimate model of how to “teach” using a learner (person) centered approach with different methods to get his point across. He didn’t simply lecture to others. We see evidence of these same six elements when instructing the apostles and others: construct, active, reflect, collaborate, creativity and choice.


Construct: Help them construct their own thinking. 

This is where the learner constructs knowledge by diving a bit deeper. Here the instructor is not simply imparting information. They are posing situations or questions. As a result, the learner may actually struggle a bit with what is being asked or taught. This is very clear as Jesus poses the different parables. They would sometimes not understand the meaning behind what Jesus was saying. Sometimes Jesus would break the parable open for them. Other times he would let them struggle by simply saying “let those with ears hear” (Matthew 13).  

Active: Embrace active and messy learning.

Jesus was all about active teaching and learning. He didn’t simply impart a bunch of knowledge and teaching upon others. He wanted them to be about “doing” the work of ministry. Jesus not only instructed his apostles he also sent them out, two by two to preach to a variety of communities about the Messiah. (Mark 6 and Luke 10)

Reflect: Encourage reflection of learning and goal setting.

Jesus didn’t simply give a list of facts and information about himself, or God, or faith. He would go after a person’s heart with deep questions that often-required deeper reflection and an emotional response. Examples of this are the story of the woman at the well (John 4: 1-26). He took Peter aside and asked him three times “Do you love me? (John 21:15-19). We hear Jesus ask the question “Who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15) Jesus was about asking the question that caused others to think critically about their response. 

Collaborate: Encourage working together.

Jesus clearly was not a lone ranger. He never intended to engage in his mission alone. That is why he chose the apostles. They weren’t perfect but were exactly what he needed to help bring his message to the world. He modeled for them what his message was about. The discussed, bickered, fought for position, and even had a hard time understanding what he was saying. Despite all of this they continued to follow him and learn. He eventually would send them out to preach and drive out demons. He didn’t send them alone. He sent them out two by two to work together to bring his message (Mark 6: 6b-12). 

Creativity: Tap into their creative side.

Jesus himself was creative in trying to get his message across. When pressed by the crowds on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he needed more space for the entire crowd to hear him. So, what does he do? He gets into a boat and rows out a little way so he can see the entire crowd and so they can hear him. The Pharisees are ready to stone the woman caught in adultery. What does Jesus do? He bends down and starts writing in the sand. Some think that he was writing the sins of each person who was ready to cast the stone at the woman. Jesus used stories (parables) and situations of the time to help make his point. He took the tradition of the Passover meal and used it to tell them to “do this in memory of me” giving us the source and summit of our faith today. 

Choice: Allow more choice and control.

Jesus was not about power and control. He didn’t force his teaching upon others. He simply gave people the option to accept what he was saying or what he commanded or not. This is seen in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus encounters the rich official. The official asks “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus rattles off a list of things which the rich man has observed. Jesus then tells him to go and sell off everything and give the money to the poor. The rich man has a choice here. He can do what Jesus suggests or he can choose to not follow the command. We don’t know what the rich man ultimately chose. We only know that he went away sad. Regardless, the choice was his to make.
Applications
Finishing Up
Wow- thanks for hanging in there! We’ve covered a lot in this one lesson, but this is an important foundation for the remainder of the course. After this lesson, we’ll turn our attention to the steps of the lesson planning process to ensure that your design plan is aligned for a learner centered approach from beginning to end. Before we step away, let’s review some of the main ideas of this lesson.
Six characteristics of a learner [person] centered environment are especially relevant to incorporate into faith based experiences to reach this new generation of young people. 
1. Construct: instead of transmitting information, allow young people to construct knowledge. Examples: debates, questions, first person narrative, find God, experience prayer  
2. Active: use active learning strategies that provide young people opportunities to cognitively apply the “head knowledge” of what is being learned. Examples: service, games, simulations, imagination exercises, silence
3. Reflect: provide opportunities for young people to think about what they are learning and plan their own goals. Examples: what would get in the way? Giving them something tangible, one minute paper, reflection paper, journaling, portfolios
4. Collaborate: take advantage of opportunities within each session for young people to work together and collaborate, even if it is uncomfortable. Examples: skits, think-pair-share
5. Creativity: when possible, incorporate methods for young people to use their creativity. Examples: role play, improvisation, sensory art, music, drama
6. Choice: provide opportunities for young people to choose and have control over their learning which will increase motivation and desire for attending your events. 

Using a learner (person) centered approach changes the role of teacher, from sage on the stage to guide on the side through facilitation. Facilitative teaching means that young people do more learning tasks; ministers do less telling so students do more discovering; lesson planning is intentional; ministers are explicit about modeling their faith and the decisions they make; young people learn from and with each other; ministers and young people create climates for learning together; and ministers continually evaluate to promote learning for themselves and their young people. 

We highlighted five reasons that a learner-centered approach is more likely to engage young people in this 21st century:
1. Youth are changing
⦁ Generation Z is different from other generations in population size, diversity and comfort with technology
⦁ Technology is changing the way our brains are wired
⦁ We do not have to use technology to incorporate a learner centered approach, but it does offer some advantages for our young people with choice/control
⦁ There are many challenges in ministering to and with this generation and it requires a different approach than used in the past
⦁ If we don’t use a learner [person] centered approach, we’re missing a golden opportunity to reach this generation and evangelize

2. Young people are learning differently in schools today
⦁ There are three (3) prominent philosophies that have influenced education: Behaviorism, Cognitivism and Constructivism
⦁ Behaviorism involves external conditions to influence learning through rewards and punishment; Cognitivism explores the activity in the brain during learning and how we can alter the environment to work with the brain’s natural rhythms; Constructivism is concerned with the process of active construction of knowledge and the social interactions that make it more effective
⦁ The advent of technology has changed the focus of learning from PRODUCT to PROCESS; building critical thinking skills through actively constructing knowledge within social settings to prepare for an unknown future.
⦁ Projects, activities and technologies that incorporate the 4Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Creativity) aid knowledge construction and are prominent in school systems today. 
⦁ A learner centered environment naturally incorporates the 4Cs.

3. It’s a condition for teaching attitudes within the Affective Domain, which includes faith and values
⦁ Each topic or subject we teach, can fit into a category called a Learning Domain
⦁ There are three (3) learning domains
⦁ There are suggested ways to go about teaching each learning domain; it is helpful for learning to provide certain conditions within the environment when teaching different types of skills 
⦁ Faith development is an “attitude” and belongs in the Affective Learning Domain
⦁ Setting expectations for success, providing practice and giving feedback are essential conditions for teaching a topic within the affective domain 
⦁ A learner centered approach is currently the suggested way to approach teaching a topic within the affective domain

4. This active learning approach has been shown to increase critical thinking & learning 
⦁ Learners do not like to think and work to apply what they are learning
⦁ Despite learner resistance, the research now shows that active learning is superior to traditional lecture approaches and enhances critical thinking and learning
⦁ Active learning is cognitively applying the “head knowledge” of what is being learned
⦁ Active learning is not just a task to keep hands busy and learners occupied
⦁ Active learning is intentional; directly related to the topic; and engages all learners in the learning process 
⦁ Active learning is a critical component of a learner (person) centered approach
⦁ In the case of faith based experiences, active learning relates to a “heart response” and is more likely to improve critical thinking than delivering material through lecture 

5. Jesus did it!

Ultimately if we don’t use learner centered approaches, or take advantage of these new teaching methods, we are missing a golden opportunity to reach our young people and evangelize our youth.

A. Seek & Find Extension Activity *optional

Go back to the web or your bookshelf and look with a keen eye at the resources there for faith based lessons.

Do you see examples of learner centered lessons?
Where do you note the 6 characteristics?
If something is lacking in a particular lesson, how would you revise it?

Jot down some thoughts.

B. Journal Extension Activity *optional

Pull out one of your own lesson plans and put yourself back in the experience. 
Where do you note characteristics of a facilitative minister? What could you revise to incorporate more learner centered characteristics? 

Jot down some ideas.

Click here for 2. Thinking Backwards
Getting Started
Pre-Assessment

Unit Goal: begin to think backwards when planning a lesson.

Unit Objectives:

  • Compare the typical lesson planning process with backwards planning.
  • Recognize that the difference between the typical lesson planning process and the backwards planning process is the starting point and the focus.
  • Identify the main focus and starting point of the backwards lesson planning process.
  • Translate success in a faith based experience to a heart based action response taken by young people after the experience.
  • Believe that working backwards when planning a lesson is beneficial for you and your young people.

Click here to download the Organizer for Your Notes.

A general framework to use when planning a lesson or experience. Start with the end in mind and work backwards to plan the experience for you young people.

The Big Idea

Locate your favorite resource and open to a chapter for a topic you will teach in the next month. Review the structure and the order of how things are laid out. How do you think they came up with this plan? Jot down some notes on your notes organizer that you downloaded. Then join us in the next video segment.

Applications

The backwards design process is different from the typical lesson planning approach in its starting place and focus. Unlike the typical lesson planning process which usually starts by planning the information you will present to your audience, the backwards design process, starts with the end — a learner (person) centered goal that describes what the young people will be able to do after the session based on the topic. This will be the place to aim for with your instruction, and the rest of the planning process will work towards that goal. Instead of the typical planning process where the focus is on order of delivery by the teacher, the focus for the backwards planning process is on the success of the learner (your young people). This process can be used with any age group and for any type of experience. A summary in the form of an infographic is available for you to download here and refer to in the future.

In the next unit, we will begin the first phase of the backwards design process, and identify that critical “goal”! See you there.

Finishing Up
Click here for 3. Aiming for Change
Getting Started

Unit Goal: Supplement the resource you are using with the information your young people need to achieve the goal

Unit Objectives:

• Recognize that a learner centered “goal” or aim for the lesson is not always apparent from a workbook or online chapter.

• Recognize that a learner centered goal is a faith based action response AFTER the session and must be unique to your topic and audience.

• Imagine how you might choose a statement that summarizes a faith based action response AFTER the session, that is unique to your topic and audience.

• When abstract topics arise, use Krathwohl’s Taxonomy as a resource to choose an appropriate high level action verb to use for your goal statement.

• Imagine the steps a young person might need to take to complete a high level value based goal.

Click here to download the Organizer for Your Notes.

A choice or action based on beliefs and values

Attitudes include beliefs and values that influence how we live and the broad decisions we make.
A general statement of results; what you are aiming for with the session. A goal identifies what you want your young people to do AFTER the session. In the case of a faith topic, it is how they will APPLY the topic in their lives, RESPOND to God or live their lives differently because of what they have learned from the session.

A representation of the different levels that one goes through as they develop values. This taxonomy can be used to help you identify action verbs that are appropriate for your topic and audience when you are choosing a learner centered goal for your session.

The Big Idea
Applications

Until the process of backwards lesson planning becomes second nature to you, we encourage you to use a template when you plan your sessions.

Create or Revise. Create your own template, revise someone else’s template, or use ours. We’ve included links below. Feel free to use it or revise it to meet your needs.

Finishing Up

We recognize this is a lot of new information, and in the online setting, we aren’t able to divide you in groups and provide support as you work through your own lesson plan. Nonetheless, we encourage you to take a few moments now and give this step a try for a lesson you will be teaching at least one month down the road. After you’ve given it a go, share what you’ve accomplished in the discussion forum and provide feedback for someone else. 

A: Apply. While this phase is still fresh in your mind, we encourage you to take the extra minutes to choose a learner centered goal for a topic you will be teaching in the future. 

B: Extend. If you wish, extend your understanding by sharing goals with someone else in the discussion. Provide some context and post your goal in the class thread here for a peer to consider. Review another peer’s post and add a helpful comment.  

Click here to continue 21st Century Lesson Planning for Faith Formation
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