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: Opossums “play dead†when they are threatened or endangered.
TRUTH: Opossums, like most animals, lack the self-awareness to “fake out†an enemy. They actually faint when threatened. There is a breed of goat that does the same thing.
MYTH: The most important function of Christian education is to teach the content of our faith: the Bible and the truths it contains.
TRUTH: While knowledge of the Bible is important to faith—even critical given today’s biblical illiteracy—to make that the sole purpose of Christian education will make for a skewed spiritual formation. The Gospel always comes in context and relationships. For a balanced personal faith, a person needs to receive instruction, education, and nurture in the Christian faith. Each is a critical part of the holistic formation of the growth in discipleship.
The content of our faith meets us in transformative ways when we can make meaning between its truth and our experiences of self, with God, and with our world. Information in and of itself is merely data—it means little. Passing on knowledge, even important knowledge does not necessarily bring about meaningful change in a person’s life. A holistic Christian education will give attention also to community, relationship, experience, culture, the teacher, the context in which learning happens, and developmental states of both teacher and learner. These are the things that help mediate the transformative power of learning between knowledge (information) and the learner.
You can order a copy of the book Myth: Fact and Fiction about Teaching and Learning by Israel Galindo (ISBN 0-9715765-4-8) directly from Educational Consultants.
