Posted on October 29, 2007 by Israel Galindo

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Do not judge

Posted on October 26, 2007 by Israel Galindo

At a recent conference I experienced that situation where an audience member asks a question, you do the best you can to respond on your feet in-the-moment, only to later, after the event is over, come up with a really good response. It’s that moment when you say to yourself, “Darn! I wish I’d said that then.” Continue reading →

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Posted on October 25, 2007 by Israel Galindo

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Thoughts on leadership

Posted on October 24, 2007 by Israel Galindo

At a recent conference at which I served on a panel on leadership, the panelists were asked to provide opening comments about our thinking on the topic (my friend Margaret Marcuson also served on that panel. You can read her comments here). Here are the thoughts I shared at the start of our panel discussion and Q&A:

Leadership is a function of one’s position in a relationship system, and it is mediated by two things: context and self. Continue reading →

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Cut Flowers, Sheilaism, and Other Unsurprising Offspring

Posted on October 22, 2007 by jbennett

Many of us have followed the work being done at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the religious beliefs of American teens.  “Moralistic therapeutic deism” now rolls off our tongues with growing ease, though it does nothing to ease our minds about the future of the church.  I heard the Rev. Rhonda VanDyke Colby do a highly effective job of interpreting the research to a group of pastoral counselors, social workers and medical personnel recently.  As I listened I heard voices from the past.  This is something that often happens to those of us who have more past than others.  I knew that I had heard similar critiques of current beliefs.  Where and when? Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Education, discipleship, theology, world view | 1 Comment

Group Problem-solving Process

Posted on October 19, 2007 by Israel Galindo

One of the most important qualities in any organization is the ability to solve its own problems. Organizations that cannot solve their own problems are in trouble. It won’t take long before they become overwhelmed as one unsolved problem begins to affect another. At that point the issues become systemic, and the only solution is to fix everything at the same time together. That’s a task that is more complex and overwhelming than most organizations can pull off. Continue reading →

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Protracted adolescence

Posted on October 16, 2007 by Israel Galindo

At a recent conference the dialogue got sidetracked on the question about when the “new middle age” begins (I’ll confess that it was my fault, I begged the question). The participants had fun guessing and throwing out ages from 45 to 65. I ended that rabbit-chasing and got us back on tract by saying that our problem isn’t so much that the midlife chronological point has move up, but rather the issue is that we’re dealing with a widespread case of societal protracted adolescence. Continue reading →

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Einstein, Quantum Mechanics, and Right Answers

Posted on October 15, 2007 by Israel Galindo

The following is from the book Myths: Fact and Fiction about Teaching and Learning by Israel Galindo. How well do you know fact from fiction?

MYTH: Albert Einstein was one of the pioneers of quantum mechanics, and one of the chief proponents of the theory. Continue reading →

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Educating Nomads

Posted on October 8, 2007 by jbennett

One of those “Aha!” moments came to me twenty-some years ago while staring at the blank computer screen where Sunday’s sermon should have been making its appearance.  Unfortunately, my thoughts were elsewhere; I had been dealing with the parent of one of our confirmands-to-be, who was convinced that I was not doing enough to impress on his son the significance of the rite he would soon undergo.  Sometimes his critique seemed to be that I didn’t make these 6th and 7th graders suffer enough (they thought they suffered plenty) and sometimes it was clear that the father was actually expecting the confirmation process to fill all the spiritual gaps left in the child’s life by church and home. Continue reading →

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Concepts: depth, not coverage

Posted on October 5, 2007 by Israel Galindo

A perpetual challenge for teachers is overcoming the temptation of trying to teach too much material and content. Many lesson plans and courses I examine attempt way too much content coverage to be effective. The fact is that learning is not an efficient process, and we can only absorb so much information at one time without needing to “make connections” or use it in order for it to be meaningful. When it comes to meaningful learning, the issue is depth, not coverage. And, when it comes to effective teaching, “less is more.” Continue reading →

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