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An Historical Theology of Ellen G. White\u27s Experiences and Teachings on Music During the Writing of The Desire of Ages While in Australia, 1892-1898
No full textPredictors of General Education Teachers\u27 Self-Efficacy for Educating Autistic Students: Enactive Mastery Experiences, Vicarious Experiences, Verbal/Social Persuasions, and Physiological and Affective States
No full textProblem
Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental condition that presents challenges not only for autistic individuals, but also for their families, healthcare providers and school professionals. A significant number of children with autism spend most of their school day in general education classrooms with teachers who may lack autism-specific training and are unfamiliar with evidence-based practices for supporting autistic students. This lack of training or relevant resources specific to autism may impact teacher self-efficacy for educating autistic students, which in turn may affect instructional decisions and student outcomes. Guided by Bandura’s theoretical framework, this study examined the relationships among autism-specific training or professional development, peer observations, collaborative consultation/feedback and teacher attitudes with general education teachers’ self-efficacy for educating autistic students.
Method
This quantitative study utilized non-experimental correlational model testing. Participants included 295 K-12 teachers in several Midwestern states. Data were collected using an online survey containing a demographic questionnaire, an adapted version of the Autism Knowledge Questionnaire (AKQ), the Autism Attitudes Scale for Teachers (AAST), and the Teachers’ Self-Efficacy for Autism Spectrum Disorder Inclusion (TSE-ASDI). The survey also included items assessing teachers’ experiences with expert consultation and peer observations. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression and path analysis.
Results
The findings indicated that teacher attitudes toward autistic students had the largest direct effect on teacher self-efficacy (TSE) for educating these students. Observing experienced educators and engaging in consultation/collaboration opportunities was also positively associated with TSE for educating autistic students. In addition, the study revealed the mediating effects of several variables. Autism knowledge, for example, mediated the effects of both autism-specific training and teacher attitudes on TSE. Teacher attitudes mediated the effects of consultation on both autism knowledge and TSE. Overall, the model accounted for 28% of the variance in TSE.
Conclusions
Bandura’s social cognitive theory posits that there are four principal sources of self-efficacy: enactive mastery experiences, vicarious experience, verbal persuasions and physiological and affective states. This study examined these sources within the context of educating autistic students. The results offer several practical implications for teacher training and future research related to inclusive education and autism-specific training
Transforming Pathfinder Acculturation Gaps: Confronting Intergenerational Cultural Conflict Between First- and Second- Generation Immigrants with Family Strengthening Workshops among Scottish Mission Pathfinders and their Parents
No full textProblem
The immigrant population in the UK is rapidly increasing along with correlated increases in the membership of both the British Union Conference (BUC) and the Scottish Mission (SM) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Scottish Mission Pathfinder clubs (SMPCs) have many immigrant children. However, as immigrants’ home culture comes into continuous contact with the British culture, acculturation gaps between first- and second-generation immigrants tend to form naturally as a result of the differing pace with which these two generations acculturate. Adolescents are generally thought to adapt quicker. Parent-child miscommunication and disagreement on critical matters such as values, beliefs, and practices tend to widen the acculturation gap during the struggle to accept each other’s cultural perspective, and this may lead to intergenerational cultural conflict associated with poorer psychological outcomes for youth. Immigrant families are perceived to need awareness and family resources to reduce the occurrence of such conflict. Without such a concerted effort to mitigate intergeneration cultural conflict, the church and its mission may be extensively weakened in Scotland and in the UK given current and projected immigration trends.
Method
This study developed a two-generation mezzo-educational intervention that featured five workshops to bring an awareness of acculturative tasks and their tendency to breed intergenerational cultural conflict. Furthermore, the intervention facilitated participants’ gaining a host of psychosocial skills as family resources to reduce such conflict in a supportive, validating, and mutually empowering social setting for participants. A theological reflection as a premise for asserting beliefs, values, and practices in a relational way was also delivered using an imago-Dei - missio-Dei framework. Using the Brief Family Relationship Scale (BFRS) as entry and exit surveys, as well as a further exit survey on communication and a discussion-based assessment, the intervention used a mixed methods approach to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Improving attitudes towards relationships within the family and improved communication skills were the key family resources engaged to mitigate intergenerational cultural conflict within the BFRS subscales of cohesion and expressiveness.
Results
The results showed that among SMPC immigrant families, the intervention contributed to improved relationships and communication skills, factors known to reduce intergenerational cultural conflict and support healthy integration into Scottish society. Along these results, were observed improvements in attitudes towards family relationships, positive and meaningful theological reflections and an awareness of the complexities of the acculturation gap-distress model that illustrates the intergenerational cultural conflict challenge.
Consequences
I have personally witnessed how cultural differences easily affect first- and second-generation immigrants, thus resulting in conflict and distress. While intergenerational conflict is common during adolescence, immigrant adolescents are known to be at greater risk of experiencing poorer outcomes for youth. They are largely raised according to a separation acculturation strategy in which pressure is placed on them to accept and conform to the beliefs, value system, and religious experiences of their first-generation immigrants’ country of origin and yet, are subjected to societal pressure and public perceptions of assimilating as they trade with social capital in school. Consequently, the ideal integration of these immigrants through multidimensional acculturation is often impacted, along with their religious experience with dire consequences.
To bridge the acculturation gap and reduce the anticipated intergenerational cultural conflict, a theology of acculturation that asserts mission as derived from the very nature of God for all mankind, themselves the very image of a triune God, was reflected on. From such reflection, it was noted how God established important inner identities for humans as image bearers. These identities underpin all reflections regarding human nature and their ability to create culture as relational beings and thus, can exercise agency to negotiate common beliefs, values, and practices from that premise and self understanding. Engaging a host of psychosocial skills and constantly appraising a family’s perception of the acculturation experience yielded positive results that ultimately reduced intergenerational cultural conflict.
The active participation of the sample helped normalise the challenges of intergenerational cultural conflict and acculturative tasks. Emphasis on the bonding process with others facing, more or less culturally similar situations as they were themselves, was also empowering. Assigning a name to a phenomenon and receiving and offering support legitimised and validated immigrant family experiences and also reported relatively reduced conflict at post-test when compared to pre-test scores. Profound psychological, socio-cultural, and theological consequences that shape discourse and influence how immigrants perceive their reality and turn it into the missional experience that acculturation essentially is were promoted. The privilege to be rediscovering spirituality by migrating from a fallen to a redeemed version of myself prohibits me from settling for the mere externalised border crossing enroute to Scotland from Zimbabwe as part of my allowing the acculturation experience to transform me personally
Programa para Evaluar la Implementación de la Fe De Jesús Actualizada para el Discipulado de Nuevos Miembros en la Unión Argentina
No full textProblem
In 2018, reports from the Adventist Church Management System of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Argentine Union revealed the following about the congregation: (a) 43% attended services, (b) 30% did not attend the year of their baptism and apostasy grew to 37%, and (c) 8% participated in mission work and 4% shared Bible studies. In this context, the church in Argentina aligned itself with the South American Division\u27s discipleship program, focusing on promoting growth in Communion, Fellowship, and Mission. Therefore, it was decided to reinforce this experience for new disciples by starting with pre-baptismal preparation, and to update the The Faith of Jesus Bible study guide to incorporate these elements. Through a discipleship network, volunteer instructors would be trained to use it. For this reason, the need arose to evaluate how the development of the habits of Communion, Relationship, and Mission, with the exercises and adaptations included in the 2020 update of The Faith of Jesus, impacts the discipleship of new members of the Argentine Union, and which, in its implementation, will be presented by volunteer instructors integrated into a discipleship network.
Methodology
This research falls within the field of applied theology, specifically in the area of ministry, with a focus on discipleship. Drawing on Scripture, the writings of Ellen White, and relevant contextual literature, the study analyzed the Discipleship Program for Communion, Fellowship, and Mission, and examined elements to update the The Faith of Jesus curriculum. The program, implemented in five stages, began in February 2022 and concluded in December 2023. It included a discipleship network to facilitate training for department conference leaders, district pastors, and volunteer instructors, as well as ongoing support for the implementation of the updated The Faith of Jesus curriculum with new disciples. The evaluation was conducted using the narrative biographical method through interviews to analyze the new disciples\u27 experiences in different stages of the Bible study. It was complemented by a survey to observe the participants\u27 growth in Communion, Relationship, and Mission, and concluded with a focus group to consider commonalities among the seven areas at the close of the project.
Results
The survey conducted at the beginning and end of the implementation showed that participants grew in habits of Communion, Relationship, and Mission. The discipleship network prepared pastors and discipleship instructors, and this had a positive influence on the growth of new disciples. Interviews with new members and focus group discussions consistently highlighted that their faith in Christ was strengthened as they progressed through the study, and the spiritual exercises helped them develop habits of communion, relational connection, and sharing their faith. It was also observed that the additional time required for the program was offset by the greater maturity in faith and willingness to share their faith demonstrated by the new members, compared to those who had studied with former versions of the Bible study guide.
Conclusions
The project allowed us to evaluate the implementation of the updated The Faith of Jesus curriculum for discipleship in Communion, Fellowship, and Mission among new members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Argentine Union, by volunteer instructors integrated into a discipleship network. Considering the elements used to analyze the implementation, it was observed that: (a) the new members who studied The Faith of Jesus Updated and completed the discipleship exercises grew in habits of Communion, Relationship, and Mission; (b) the departmental members, pastors, and volunteer instructors integrated into the network strengthened their life experience, which contributed to the growth of the new disciples; and (c) the new members were baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church, remain integrated into the church and relational groups, and became involved in the mission by teaching others with The Faith of Jesus Updated and bringing them to church
Teologia a Serviço da Missão: Uma Análise da Conexão Entre a Teologia e a Prática No Seminário de Teologia do UNASP Campus Engenheiro Coelho
No full textProblem
This dissertation investigates the possible dichotomy between academic theology and pastoral practice, questioning whether there is, in fact, a separation between the role of the theologian and that of the pastor, as well as between the formative ideals of the seminary and ministerial reality. If such a division is confirmed, formal theological study could be considered secondary for the exercise of pastoral ministry. However, if theory and practice are understood as integrated and inseparable dimensions, theological training becomes essential for all who aspire to ministry, requiring training institutions to provide preparation that unites knowledge, vocation, and mission. -- Assuming the premise that there is a union between theological theory and pastoral practice, it becomes necessary for theology to serve the mission of Christ and for activities to be promoted that strengthen pastoral vocation. In order to investigate this hypothesis, the present dissertation proposes to answer three questions: What competencies should be developed? In what way does theology serve the mission? And what practices can be adopted to strengthen the integration between academia and the church?
Methodology
This dissertation is structured into nine chapters and aims to investigate the relationship between theological education and the exercise of pastoral ministry. The chapters cover topics ranging from the biblical-theological foundation and conceptual frame-works on pastoral competencies to curriculum analysis, formative experiences, and perceptions of students and graduates. The methodology combines an integrative literature review, document analysis, narrative interviews, and a qualitative approach, centering on the C.H.A. model (Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes) as the structural axis of ministerial competencies. -- The chapters also analyze practical training projects applied at the Adventist Theological Seminary of UNASP, which highlighted the need for a holistic formation that integrates spirituality, theological knowledge, and pastoral practice. The conclusions point to the urgency of redemptive curricula and strategies that connect academia to the local church, promoting discipleship and missional leadership. The dissertation argues that the seminary cannot be an isolated institution but must form leaders committed to Christ’s Great Commission, capable of integrating faith, character, and service to both church and society.
Results
Students who actively participated in these projects demonstrated spiritual growth, greater sensitivity to the work of the Holy Spirit, and a passion for discipleship. These experiences showed that the balance between missionary practice and theological depth is essential for relevant pastoral formation, confirming that knowledge only fulfills its purpose when it leads to transformation and service.
Conclusion
The conclusion of the dissertation reveals that theology and mission are interdependent and inseparable realities, functioning as parts of the same body. Theology finds its essence in Christ and only acquires full meaning when placed in service of the mission, while mission is strengthened when grounded in theology. Direct involvement in missional actions strengthens spirituality, commitment to the church, and willingness to serve