2011 | Globalizing Theological Education: Developing Pedagogical Practices to Enhance Teaching and Learning in the Multicultural Learning Environment of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

In what ways is teaching and learning in classrooms at Trinity affected by the presence of international students? What challenges does their presence present to their professors, to their American students and to the internationals themselves? What benefits accrue, as a result, to all parties involved? How can all parties maximize the benefits of learning in multinational classrooms? What resources would help faculty, not only at Trinity but in theological schools around the world, to more effectively teach and manage such learning environments? Are there practices that would stimulate a more culturally sensitive way of teaching and learning theology, thus helping to advance the interests of the Gospel and of the Kingdom of God in today’s globalized world?

These are some of the questions that motivate the present project. Through a series of workshops involving faculty, students, and administrators, both at Trinity and in other like-minded theological institutions, a multi-ethnic research team composed of a professor and three doctoral students from Trinity seek to explore the development of pedagogical implementations that can enable a biblical, evangelical, and contextual approach for teaching and learning in multicultural and international learning environments.

Background

Theological education in the United States has no future if it does not take the cultural diversity of the world seriously. In our programs, we have many international students. Therefore, our institutional responsibility demands that we be interested in this issue for the sake of integrity to our mission. This quotation from Dr. Tite Tiénou, Dean of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, summarizes both external and internal factors that challenge faculty, students and staff at TEDS to a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in its culturally diverse classrooms.

The Broader Context

The general scenario in the United States demands this kind of understanding of diversity. In fact, reflection on issues of international education due to the presence of students from abroad in North American classrooms is not a new concern. However, contemporary matters like globalization, internationalization of education, and a deeper awareness of cultural diversity have been pushing educators to study the impact, challenges and opportunities created by this presence.

Another important factor is that the United States receives about twenty percent of the world’s migrants. Therefore graduates from our schools, even if they never leave the United States, will inevitably face the challenge of ministering to and making sense of the spiritual experiences of a population from increasingly ethnically diverse settings.

Moreover, there is a deeper issue involving God’s Kingdom around the world: most of the world’s Christians live in countries in the Majority World, not in Europe and North America. This shift demands a more globalized and culturally diverse expression of an Evangelical theology that continues to be Christ-centered and biblically sound. Due to the quality of theological education offered in the United States and to historical and missionary links with countries in the Majority World, seminaries across this country receive large numbers of international students.

The context of TEDS

The faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) are aware, whether explicitly or implicitly, of the increasing pressures of this reality. On the main campus of TEDS in Deerfield, Illinois, 20% of the student body is international with 153 students coming from 37 different countries.

There is already acknowledgment on the part of some faculty and administration that this challenge presents a need for new understandings and new ways of teaching and dealing with students. In June 2004, 180 missiologists, theologians, and interested parties met on Trinity’s Deerfield campus for the 2004 Trinity Consultation on Missiology with the theme of “Doing Theology in a Globalizing World”. One outcome of this conference was the book Globalizing Theology: Belief and Practice in an Era of World Christianity, much of which was written by current Trinity professors.

In addition, Trinity recently entered into a partnership with Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (NEGST). The plan proposes an exchange program involving ten doctoral students and five faculty members from each school, with the possibility of collaborative research projects during the academic years 2009 to 2014.

Challenges and Opportunities

Faculty at TEDS believe that the process of globalizing the content of the course work has begun. However, the pedagogical challenges presented by an ethnically diverse student body deserve specific attention. Initiatives have been undertaken by faculty in their attempt to address these issues, but common questions have been posed and are still unanswered: How does this internationalization filter down to the practical everyday issues of managing our classrooms, issues such as facilitating group discussions, understanding culturally informed learning styles, and grading of assignments? How can a teacher foster a classroom environment that will really enable the students (domestic and international) to think theologically in a globalizing way? How do we deal with different perspectives on the role of teachers and learners and the relationship between them, on the ownership of knowledge (leading for instance to matters of plagiarism), or on issues of critical thinking?

Answers found in the literature are limited. Research on questions related to international students and multinational classrooms usually address issues such as admission processes, English language skills, adaptation to America and personal counseling of internationals. Valuable tools for teachers to more effectively teach international students exist, but they are usually meant for one-on-one situations, for an interaction between a teacher and an international student, not for an international classroom or learning environment.

In addition, the opportunities introduced by the presence of international students in the learning environment are often not perceived or appreciated. Closer attention should be given, not just to dealing with the problems or challenges international students bring to faculty in American schools, but also to recognizing international students as a valuable resource that will enhance learning in contexts where they participate.

This project seeks to address the pedagogical issues of teaching and learning in international classrooms by providing a series of forums (workshops) for the discussion of these pressing questions, listening to faculty and students, both domestic and international, and allowing them to voice their experiences, anxieties, hopes, and ideas, trying also to take advantage of the current institutional momentum to implement long term changes towards a more culturally and ethnically sensitive way of teaching and learning theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Structure and Need

The project proposes a series of workshops, covering a time period extending from Fall 2009 to Fall 2011, culminating in the invitational workshop of Summer 2011 (see outline of workshop series below).

The premise of this project is that a complex conversation about the globalization of ministerial and theological education is unfolding in the present day. Few contributors, however, are expending energy to understand how pedagogy needs to evolve/expand if institutions and educators are going to navigate this globalization process well. Through this project, TEDS, through the sponsorship of the Henry Center, is well poised to provide leadership on this exciting pedagogical frontier.

Project Leader and Staff

The Research Team will be led by Dr. Miriam Charter with the assistance of three PhD students in the Educational Studies program at TEDS. All four members of the team have previous experience in dealing with cross-cultural issues in theological education.

Miriam Charter (MDiv, PhD) is Director of the PhD (Educational Studies) program at Trinity and Associate Professor of Educational Ministries. She brings to the project 25 years of teaching experience in cross-cultural contexts across Canada, Europe and Russia. She currently teaches the Qualitative Research Methods course in the PhD program and will provide to the project knowledgeable oversight to all aspects of research design, methodology, and development of protocol for the project.

Cheryl Guth (MA) is an American who has lived internationally for 13 years of her adult life. She was an international student, doing post graduate work in Adult Learning at the University of Calgary. She also taught church ministries for five years at a Canadian graduate school where more than half of her students were internationals or recent immigrants. Currently she is a full time student in the PhD/EDS program as well as a lecturer in the Christian Ministries department of Trinity College and a doctoral fellow for the EDS program. She plans to do her dissertation research in the area of the challenges faced by professors teaching international students.

Cesar Lopes (ThM) has been working since 2000 as professor in several seminaries and colleges in Brazil, his home country, where he taught and counseled international students in multinational academic contexts. Between 2007 and 2008 he worked as associate academic dean for faculty development at ISBL College, a theological school in Londrina, Brazil. His experience also includes teaching short-term classes in Mozambique, Southeast Africa.

Felix Theonugraha (MDiv) is a second year doctoral student. He was born in Indonesia, and lived in Taiwan before coming to the United States. He currently serves as the Associate Dean of Students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where his primary responsibility is to oversee the overall international student’s experiences at Trinity, beginning prior to their arrival on campus through graduation. He also oversees new student orientation for both international students and domestic students. Fluent in Mandarin and having experienced studying overseas, Felix enjoys helping international students feel increasingly comfortable during their time at Trinity.