Wisdom Life Faith Studies (WLFS)
WLFS or Wisdom Life Faith Studies is an innovative and creative way of teaching and learning religion. It is a new way of doing religious studies. It is not so much a replacement of the old ways but rather an accommodation and development of them.
The image on the left could be described as a metaphor for this 21st century pedagogy. The still waters close to the shore represent the wisdom of the ages. All that is known and available to us can be represented by the shallow water of the image. The deeper waters represent the unknown. We venture into the deep without knowing what to expect. We do so in faith! At the intersection of the shallow and deep waters lies the waves. This is the place where life is lived on a daily basis. NB. the image on the left and many others showing this metaphor and others can be seen in the gallery menu.
Thus,
Wisdom = the shallow waters and that which is safe and known. This is the past. It is the realm of the conscious...
Faith = the deep waters of the unknown. We venture into this 'world' with anticipation and trepidation. This is the future. It is the realm of the unconscious...
Life = the intersection of the shallow and the deep. This is the present. It is the place and the time where life is truly lived, day by day, moment by moment...
So what is WLFS?
Wisdom Faith Life Studies (WFLS) is a Christian Studies initiative introduced at Knox Grammar School (KGS) in 2012.
After much consideration and consultation, the school decided to undertake a major overhaul of the compulsory Christian Studies curriculum for Years 7, 8, 9 and 10. It took the following points and reasons into account when constructing this innovative approach.
It needed to...
1. Honour, respect and continue the traditions, teachings and practices of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA).
2. Connect both theoretically and practically to the words of the KGS 'mission statement' of Wisdom, Compassion, Faith and Integrity.
3. Support, by being an integral part of and giving example to, the KGS Positive Education (PE) initiative.
4. Be multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary as well as offering learning experiences that connect with and facilitate the transformation of all learners.
5. Utilize an appropriate contemporary teaching and learning framework (pedagogy)
We use assessment as learning i.e. the assessment tasks drive all the teaching and learning. And the curriculum is underpinned by the latest research and practice in teaching and learning e.g. Challenge Based Learning (CBL) and Fertile Questions (FQ)
The curriculum attempts to incorporate four important elements into each lesson viz. story, a questioning pedagogy, stillness & silence and social justice/service learning.
Stories are what give our lives purpose and meaning as well as connecting each one of us to greater possibilities. The questioning pedagogy ensures that students engage at their own level and are able to personalise their learning. Stillness and silence includes the opportunity to engage in some time for reflection and meditation. An integral part of the Knox Wisdom Life Faith Studies is a commitment to social justice – an opportunity for our students to advocate for justice and act with compassion and integrity. Each Social Justice initiative supports a framework of learning which incorporates a social, emotional and spiritual development supported within a Positive Psychology framework
Students have embraced this new approach often commenting that WLFS is relevant to their lives, allows them to think and share ideas and provide an environment where they can safely come to know themselves more. They have also said that the tasks are more difficult than previous ones because there are no easy answers. In fact the answers are the questions. This fits nicely with the underlying statement out of which WLFS continues to develop "For too long we have been giving our students answers to question that they have not been asking!"
Some resources that might be helpful...
The image on the left could be described as a metaphor for this 21st century pedagogy. The still waters close to the shore represent the wisdom of the ages. All that is known and available to us can be represented by the shallow water of the image. The deeper waters represent the unknown. We venture into the deep without knowing what to expect. We do so in faith! At the intersection of the shallow and deep waters lies the waves. This is the place where life is lived on a daily basis. NB. the image on the left and many others showing this metaphor and others can be seen in the gallery menu.
Thus,
Wisdom = the shallow waters and that which is safe and known. This is the past. It is the realm of the conscious...
Faith = the deep waters of the unknown. We venture into this 'world' with anticipation and trepidation. This is the future. It is the realm of the unconscious...
Life = the intersection of the shallow and the deep. This is the present. It is the place and the time where life is truly lived, day by day, moment by moment...
So what is WLFS?
Wisdom Faith Life Studies (WFLS) is a Christian Studies initiative introduced at Knox Grammar School (KGS) in 2012.
After much consideration and consultation, the school decided to undertake a major overhaul of the compulsory Christian Studies curriculum for Years 7, 8, 9 and 10. It took the following points and reasons into account when constructing this innovative approach.
It needed to...
1. Honour, respect and continue the traditions, teachings and practices of the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA).
2. Connect both theoretically and practically to the words of the KGS 'mission statement' of Wisdom, Compassion, Faith and Integrity.
3. Support, by being an integral part of and giving example to, the KGS Positive Education (PE) initiative.
4. Be multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary as well as offering learning experiences that connect with and facilitate the transformation of all learners.
5. Utilize an appropriate contemporary teaching and learning framework (pedagogy)
We use assessment as learning i.e. the assessment tasks drive all the teaching and learning. And the curriculum is underpinned by the latest research and practice in teaching and learning e.g. Challenge Based Learning (CBL) and Fertile Questions (FQ)
The curriculum attempts to incorporate four important elements into each lesson viz. story, a questioning pedagogy, stillness & silence and social justice/service learning.
Stories are what give our lives purpose and meaning as well as connecting each one of us to greater possibilities. The questioning pedagogy ensures that students engage at their own level and are able to personalise their learning. Stillness and silence includes the opportunity to engage in some time for reflection and meditation. An integral part of the Knox Wisdom Life Faith Studies is a commitment to social justice – an opportunity for our students to advocate for justice and act with compassion and integrity. Each Social Justice initiative supports a framework of learning which incorporates a social, emotional and spiritual development supported within a Positive Psychology framework
Students have embraced this new approach often commenting that WLFS is relevant to their lives, allows them to think and share ideas and provide an environment where they can safely come to know themselves more. They have also said that the tasks are more difficult than previous ones because there are no easy answers. In fact the answers are the questions. This fits nicely with the underlying statement out of which WLFS continues to develop "For too long we have been giving our students answers to question that they have not been asking!"
Some resources that might be helpful...
| wfls_-_general.docx |
| wlfs_presentation.pptx |
https://www.challengebasedlearning.org/pages/welcome
http://yoramharpaz.com/pubs/en_learning/teaching-learning.pdf