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Modelling Our Teaching on the Jesus of the Gospels

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Reimagining Christian Education

Abstract

What would it have been like to walk the paths of Palestine hearing Jesus’ stories, asking him for explanations, being challenged by him? What if truth is only truth if it is embodied in my life and my relationships? Can I really take his way of being as a model for my university teaching? Newbigin (1994) suggests that our society is the most culturally captive. How are we to rediscover the way of Jesus in our tertiary institutions—places that should be centres of wisdom and incarnational living? Themes I will explore are the humble heart, hospitality, the power of descent, relationality, collegiality, transformation vs transaction and diverse ways of knowing. In exploring this topic, I am drawing on 30 years of tertiary education in both university and discipleship contexts, living in community, being part of overseas missions contexts, and in all of this seeking to live the kingdom in all of life. In the School of Social Sciences at Christian Heritage College (CHC), we intentionally sought to bring this understanding of living the kingdom into our classrooms and relationships with students. After 10 years, I conducted numbers of research interviews asking past students about their experience of and understanding about their learning at CHC. I have reported this story in ‘A Glimpse of the Kingdom in Academia’ (2013). My books also include ‘Dancing with God: Transformation through Relationship’ (2007), in which I explore living the true self, which we understood as part of our calling as lecturers in a Christian tertiary context.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    All scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. QCCPO, Quezon City, 1100, Philippines

    Irene Alexander

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  1. Irene Alexander
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Correspondence to Irene Alexander .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CHC Higher Education, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Johannes M. Luetz

  2. University of Southern Queensland, Springfield Central, Queensland, Australia

    Tony Dowden

  3. Bethlehem Tertiary Institute, Tauranga, New Zealand

    Beverley Norsworthy

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Alexander, I. (2018). Modelling Our Teaching on the Jesus of the Gospels. In: Luetz, J., Dowden, T., Norsworthy, B. (eds) Reimagining Christian Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0851-2_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0851-2_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0850-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0851-2

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