A Grounded Theory of Spiritual Formation in Christian Higher Education: Exploring the Spiritual Formation Experiences of Faculty as Undergraduate Students and Their Influence on Pedagogical Practices
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2023-12
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Abstract
Christian colleges and universities offer a unique teaching and learning experience grounded in spiritual formation. However, current scholarship addressing spiritual formation has been mostly isolated to rational epistemologies or narrow applications of practice. A holistic model of pedagogical practice that can be applied across disciplines and in non-traditional classroom settings is still largely not understood. This grounded theory study investigated Christian faculty to identify how spiritual formation experiences in their undergraduate education influenced their pedagogical approaches to spiritual formation in students. The central understanding of character education as a formative teaching practice was used to develop the research questions and instrument. Interviews were conducted with nine Christian faculty who received an undergraduate Christian education and currently teach in a Christian college or university to identify conditions for spiritual formation in teaching and learning. The findings of this study were presented in five themes: faculty modeling the Christian life, faculty being available to students, faculty revealing worldview connections, faculty providing a sense of belonging, and working with students in co-curricular spaces. Based on the analysis of the data, the Conditions for Spiritual Formation model (CSF) was constructed as a holistic pedagogical approach to spiritual formation. The CSF model adds to the current understanding of spiritual formation in Christian higher education and brings forth a pedagogical approach to spiritual formation that can be implemented across the disciplines and in non-traditional classroom settings and improve the alignment of institutional mission and practice. Implications for Christian faculty, university leaders, and recommendations for future scholarship were included in this study.
Description
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education
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Keywords
Religious education, Pedagogy, Educational leadership