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Clarifying "Faith-Learning Integration": Essentially Contested Concepts and the Concept-Conception Distinction
Abstract
THE LANGUAGE OF “faith-learning integration” remains popular among evangelical educators in both K-12 and higher education. Some observers suggest for theological and educational reasons that Christan educators replace integration language with other language. Even its advocates do not agree on what would count as integration. This article suggests that both the concept-conception distinction and W. B. Gallie's category of an essentially contested concept shed light on the phrase. If faith-learning integration is an essentially contested concept, or is a concept subject to conception-building, then Christian educators may never agree on what counts as a paradigm case.
... Although FLI has been emphasized since 1971 when the Christian College Consortium was consolidated (Glanzer, 2008), there is no consensus on its precise definition (Badley, 2009;Cosgrove, 2015;Glanzer, 2008;Moroney, 2014). Badley (2009) suggest that attempting to reach a consensus on the core definition of FLI could be futile, as the complexity and diversity of the FLI construct, the multiplicity of integrators, and the differences in worldview within Christianity make it almost impossible to reach that goal. ...
... Although FLI has been emphasized since 1971 when the Christian College Consortium was consolidated (Glanzer, 2008), there is no consensus on its precise definition (Badley, 2009;Cosgrove, 2015;Glanzer, 2008;Moroney, 2014). Badley (2009) suggest that attempting to reach a consensus on the core definition of FLI could be futile, as the complexity and diversity of the FLI construct, the multiplicity of integrators, and the differences in worldview within Christianity make it almost impossible to reach that goal. Bailey (2012) also notes that the concept of FLI in the literature is not clear or well-defined. ...
... Though FLI can be an elusive concept (Badley, 2009), Christian institutions of higher education can determine the extent to which FLI permeates their online programs by reviewing these programs using a predetermined list of FLI elements. Dialogue among program administrators, course writers, and faculty can make explicit the responsibilities of each and their assumptions regarding the implementation of FLI. ...
... Biblically, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen'' (Hebrews 11:1, NKJV). Faith integration in learning was fundamental to the entire education system of the Israelites (Badley, 2009). During the exodus, Moses instructed the Israelite: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, The LORD is one! ...
... After the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth, faith integration as a concept continued to be practiced by the apostles and subsequent Christian educators (Badley, 1994). However, it was after the Second World War years, when some traditional Christian educators intentionally advocated for the practice of IFL in the United States of America (Badley, 1994;2009). By then, some Christian schools in the United States of America were influenced by secularism and there was need for Christian educators to bring back Jesus Christ into the classroom (Badley, 1994;2009;Clark, Johnson, & Sloat, 1991;Jacobsen et al., 2004;Marsden, 1994;Ponyatovska, 2015;Ribera, 2012;Thomas, 2011;. ...
... However, it was after the Second World War years, when some traditional Christian educators intentionally advocated for the practice of IFL in the United States of America (Badley, 1994;2009). By then, some Christian schools in the United States of America were influenced by secularism and there was need for Christian educators to bring back Jesus Christ into the classroom (Badley, 1994;2009;Clark, Johnson, & Sloat, 1991;Jacobsen et al., 2004;Marsden, 1994;Ponyatovska, 2015;Ribera, 2012;Thomas, 2011;. Thus, it was during the times of prevailing lapses found in Christian education when the term, integration of faith and learning came about. ...
Integration of faith and learning practitioners must be able to develop an integrated curriculum which includes the focused, intentional and targeted integration approach as recommended in this paper. The integration should include various aspects like the programs of studies, the lesson plans and the evaluation of learning activities. Furthermore, the integrated curriculum should be designed to include faith aspects in learning through intra-disciplinary, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches. The paper further expounds on the meaning and significance of an integrated curriculum for Christian educators. The case is post-civil war Liberia and the major question of the paper is, how can an integrated curriculum bridge the gap of the missing link of faith integration in curriculum development in Liberia? Consequently, a proposed model is provided for Christian education stakeholders in Liberia. The model can be applicable across Christian educators worldwide.
... The faith-learning integration literature is devoted, in large part, to attempts to refine and reach consensus on exactly what the integration of faith and learning is (Glanzer, 2008;Badley, 1994;Badley, 2009;Hasker, 1992;Korniejczuk & Kijai, 1994;Eck, 1996). However, Badley (2009) has proposed that complete consensus has not yet been reached because of the complexity and diversity of the faith-learning integration construct itself, as well as the diversity of integrators. ...
... The faith-learning integration literature is devoted, in large part, to attempts to refine and reach consensus on exactly what the integration of faith and learning is (Glanzer, 2008;Badley, 1994;Badley, 2009;Hasker, 1992;Korniejczuk & Kijai, 1994;Eck, 1996). However, Badley (2009) has proposed that complete consensus has not yet been reached because of the complexity and diversity of the faith-learning integration construct itself, as well as the diversity of integrators. Moreover, he concludes that although useful work might be done to clarify the language of faith-learning integration, the diversity of worldviews within Christianity likely precludes arriving at agreement on a conception or even core definition of faith-learning integration, and may be a poor use of our time and resources as Christian educators. ...
... Moreover, he concludes that although useful work might be done to clarify the language of faith-learning integration, the diversity of worldviews within Christianity likely precludes arriving at agreement on a conception or even core definition of faith-learning integration, and may be a poor use of our time and resources as Christian educators. Indeed, most Christians and Christian educators likely do not perceive differences in the definition of faith-learning integration as anything more than a family of related but distinguishable meanings that are described by the same term (Badley, 2009;see Smith, 2002 for additional discussion of complex constructs). ...
Although the integration of faith and learning presupposes a learner, little theoretical work has addressed the role of students in faith-learning integration. Moreover, many students perceive faith-learning integration to be the work of teachers and institutions, suggesting that for learners, integration is a passive experience. This theoretical paper proposes an active, critical-thinking skills model for the conduct of faith-learning integration that may guide teachers in developing courses that support students in developing the skills needed for independent faith-learning integration.
... A survey of literature on FLI in higher education reveals that faculty members are the catalyst in its implementation, "pursuing the truth of their discipline within the context of the Christian faith" ( (Badley, 2009;Dockery, 2000;Holmes, 1987Holmes, , 2001Litfin, 2004;Marsden, 1998). However, this role is sometimes thwarted with limitations, especially with regard to the effects of faculty-student interactions in residential and open and distance learning contexts. ...
Being the organizing paradigm and the unique hallmark for the life and mission of Christian higher educational institutions, faith-learning integration (FLI) has dominated educational research for several decades, whilst, a limited body of empirical studies that focus on faculty and students’ perspectives on its implementation currently exists. What is more, most researches on FLI are skewed toward students in traditional residential studies programs (RSP). This situation exists against the backdrop of the phenomenal growth of Christian higher educational institutions offering their academic programs via open and distance learning programs (ODLP). Based on these issues, the present study was poised to investigate the extent to which faculty-student mentorship affects FLI in RSP compared to the effects of ODLP in selected Christian universities in Kenya. This comparison was analyzed based on Randall Lehmann Sorenson’s attachment theory with the view to addressing the problem of whether or not the extent of faculty-student mentorship effects on FLI in the two programs were similar. This study employed a cross-sectional survey research design. Three Christian universities in Kenya were purposely selected to participate in the study, namely: Africa Nazarene University, (ANU), Daystar University (DU), and Kenya Methodist University (KeMU). The target population was students enrolled in the Bachelor of Education Secondary Option (BEd SO) program and faculty members teaching in the program. A total of 613 residential and 113 ODL students were randomly sampled, whereas, 12 full-time faculty members were purposely selected to participate in the study. Mailed and self-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. Validation of the instruments was carried out before they were tested using the split-half technique for reliability. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics aided by contingency tables, percentages, and a Chi-square test of independence with the view to responding to two research questions. One null hypothesis was tested using a Chi-square test of independence at 0.05 level of significance with 2 degrees of freedom. The result of this analysis revealed that faculty mentorship effects on students’ learning integration in RSP are significantly different from students’ learning integration in ODLP. Major recommendations included the need for faculty in the selected Christian universities to develop close and dynamic mentoring relationships with students both in RSP and ODLP equally. There was also a need for faculty to creatively adopt effective FLI strategies to have a positive and transformative impact on students’ learning integration in the ODLP.
... When people browse a website or enter the admissions office of a Christian institution, they are to be conversant with the integration of faith and learning (IFL) practices (Nwosu, 1999;Rasi, 1999). The IFL literature contains evidence that discussions on IFL remains theoretical and there are suggestions for further studies pertaining to IFL practices (Akers & Moon, 1980;Badley, 1994Badley, , 2009Burton &Nwosu, 2003;Holmes, 1983;Knowlton, 2002;Korniejczuk, 1994;Nwosu, 1999;Rasi, 1999Rasi, , 2000aRasi, , 2000bTaylor, 2005;Tucker, 2001). However, an innovation configuration (IC) that would guide curriculum stakeholders in the implementation of IFL has been lacking in the IFL literature. ...
This article presents the results of an appreciative inquiry of the integration of faith and learning practices in Adventist higher educational institutions in Southeast Asia. A descriptive qualitative case study design was used, closely guided by processes for developing Innovation Configurations. Observations, documents, a literature review, and appreciative inquiry interviews were used to collect the data. The participants included six experts from four continents, 35 online participants in a pilot test, and 21 IFL practitioners from three Adventist Higher Educational Institutions in Southeast Asia. The result was ten innovation configuration components that defined the integration of faith and learning practices of Christian educators operationally from an Adventist perspective. The innovation configuration map of the integration of faith and learning practices may be useful for professional development, program evaluations, observations, team coaching, reflection, and self-analysis.
... In the context of Christian higher education, an institution should identify indicators regarding the integration of faith and learning and regarding the spiritual formation of students. In the case of integration, Christian educators have yet to develop a shared understanding of what the integration of faith and learning means (Badley, 2009;Cosgrove, 2015). To add to the complexity, how integration happens in the classroom will vary among the disciplines and among individual educators (Gould, 2014;Hasker, 1992;Thomas, 2012). ...
Strategic indicators provide timely information about the trends that reflect the current condition and trajectory of an institution in terms of its ability to pursue its mission. Although extensive research has produced a number of strategic indicators for colleges and universities, there is a dearth of research regarding strategic indicators relative to the mission of Christian higher education. In the present Delphi study, a panel of 26 academic leaders from five Assemblies of God colleges reached consensus on 28 strategic indicators relevant for use at their institutions after three rounds of questionnaires. Because the integration of faith and learning, as well as students’ spiritual formation, are distinctive to the mission of Christian higher education, there was a special emphasis on the development of these strategic indicators. The panel selected three indicators for the integration of faith and learning. According to feedback from the panel, many more indicators of integration could have been selected if panelists first agreed on a definition of the integration of faith and learning, as well as how it is to be applied across the disciplines. Two strategic indicators were selected by the panel for the spiritual formation of students, but according to panelists many more could be selected in future research if panelists shared a set of agreed-upon goals and measures of spiritual formation. These findings suggest that future research on the development of strategic indicators for institutions of Christian higher education should begin by clearly defining the concepts that are central to their mission, such as spiritual formation and integration of faith and learning, then identifying inputs, processes, and outcomes measures that are appropriate for those concepts.
... In this regard, students subjectively define IFL, and use that definition when responding to the survey. This approach to the conceptualization of IFL eschews the definitional disagreements among IFL scholars (Badley, 2009). To clearly differentiate between attachment and vocation perspectives, we modified the survey used by Matthias & Wrobbel (2013). ...
Higher education continues to face an uncertain future, not only through demographic shifts, rising costs, and a competitive marketplace, but also through dissonant visions for the telos of education. In this context, Christian institutions have the opportunity to carve out a distinctive niche, provide answers about the purpose of a liberal education, while also impacting the lives of its students and staff through their Christ-centered missions. In an effort to meet those ends, the integration of faith and learning remains central in the life of religious colleges and universities. As a result, the purpose of this study was to develop and validate an instrument to measure faculty involvement in faith-learning integration. Through a sample of faculty at seven member institutions of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), the survey instrument met both validity and reliability standards, and also revealed three distinct areas of faculty involvement in the integrative task. Moving forward, administrative and faculty leaders could use the instrument to help gauge the involvement of their current and future faculty, and then engage in tailored professional development toward sustaining and supporting faculty growth.
p>Humans need to receive education in their lives. Through education, humans can develop specifically in intellectual matters. Christian education has the important purpose of introducing God in Bible-based learning. But this only happens if the teacher has implemented biblical integration in learning. One way to do this is through the implementation of John W. Taylor's faith and learning integration strategy. This study focuses specificially on the learning of mathematics in the area of numbers. Christian teachers can truly carry out their call to preach Christ in number mathematics using John W. Taylor's faith and learning integration strategy. This scientific paper is a literature study with supporting data in the form of books, journal articles, and the results of observations and interviews that the author encountered at a Christian school in Ambarawa. This literature review shows that the implementation of John W. Taylor's faith and learning integration strategy in number mathematics can increase students' biblical insights. Students seem to be more enthusiastic learning about knowing God through the learning of number mathematics. It is recommended that teachers implement John W. Taylor strategy with a correct understanding of the steps for its application and make good preparations before teaching .
BAHASA INDONESIA ABSTRACT: Manusia perlu menerima pendidikan di dalam kehidupannya. Melalui pendidikan, manusia dapat berkembang terkhusus dalam hal intelektual. Pendidikan Kristen memiliki tujuan yang penting untuk memperkenalkan Allah di dalam pembelajaran yang berlandaskan alkitab . Namun fakta yang terjadi adalah guru belum mengimpelementasikan integrasi alkitabiah di dalam pembelajaran. Salah satu alternatif yaitu melalui implementasi strategi i ntegrasi iman dan pembelajaran John W. Taylor. Topik bahasan ini mengarah pada pembelajaran matematika materi bilangan. Tujuan studi literatur ini yaitu agar guru Kristen dapat benar-benar menjalankan panggilannya untuk memberitakan Kristus khusunya di dalam pembelajaran matematika materi bilangan melalui strategi i ntegrasi iman dan pembelajaran John W. Taylor. Penulisan studi literatur ini murni kajian literatur dengan data pendukung berupa buku, jurnal, serta hasil observasi dan wawancara yang sesuai dengan persoalan penulis di sekolah Kristen di Ambarawa. Sumber pendukung Kajian literatur ini memperoleh hasil bahwa implementasi strategi i ntegrasi iman dan pembelajaran John W. Taylor dalam pembelajaran matematika materi bilangan dapat menambah wawasan alkitabiah siswa. Siswa terlihat lebih antusias mengikuti pembelajaran mengenai pengenalan akan Allah di melalui pembelajaran matematika materi bilangan ini. Disarankan agar guru mengimplementasikan strategi John W. Taylor ini dengan pemahaman yang benar akan langkah-langkah penerapannya serta melakukan persiapan yang baik sebelum mengajar. </p
Although the importance of integration of faith and learning (IFL) is well documented in the literature, little is known of how it is implemented at a Historically Black University. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how IFL is deliberately implemented at a faith-based Historically Black University. Twenty-nine faculty members participated in the study. Thematic analysis was used to identify the following themes: connectivity, modeling, intentionality and spontaneity. These themes not only describe how IFL occurs at this institution, but also the levels at which IFL is deliberately implemented.
This study analyzes the correlation between required years of Bible courses and academic rigor at select private Christian schools. These findings, derived from the author’s doctoral research, show a threshold of under 4 years of required Bible courses for optimal academic perception among these schools. This threshold correlates with a medium to strong effect size and demonstrates a tension between academic strength and integration of faith and learning. This finding calls attention to Christian schools’ need to examine their priorities as both Christian and academic institutions. Theological and practical implications include extensions of the doctrine of sovereignty and curricular design.
This chapter argues the use of the phrase faith learning integration (FLI) as the main lexicon of Christian schools’ approaches to being distinctively Christian is counterproductive to the goal of effectively integrating faith and learning. The phrase itself contributes to an emphasis being placed on the cognitive and theoretical work of these schools and substantively reinforces the separation of faith and academic learning. A language for revelatory classrooms and communities is proposed as an alternative vocabulary within which the challenge of being distinctive can be discussed.
James Estep's integration of Vygotsky's work on the Zone of Proximal Development into Christian education and pedagogy falls short of a distinctly evangelical form of integration. Using Ken Badley's schemata of Integration of Faith and Learning, this article distinguishes Estep's “paradigmatic” integration from a more thoroughgoing “perspectival” integration. Perspectival integration best displays the connections between Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development and evangelical thinking by using the divine accommodation of John Calvin, as described in the work of Arnold Huijgen.
The following article lays out the rationale and vision for a new section of Christian Higher Education focused on academic faith integration. The section editor provides a brief history of this central aspect of Christian higher education, including some of the opportunities, challenges, and critiques expressed within the scholarly conversation and among Christian university faculty. A definition of academic faith integration is offered, followed by a set of research prompts designed to introduce readers of this journal to the kinds of contributions that are being sought, as well as key criteria that will be used in the review process.
Given the volatile nature of American higher education, the need for institutions to promote a distinct purpose has become critical. For Protestant colleges and universities, the historical answer to questions of identity has traditionally been the “integration of faith and learning.” Scholars have focused on this concept since its articulation over 40 years ago, and the result has been the proliferation of various sets of integration models, paradigms, and approaches. Although many debates over the nature of Protestant higher education rightly cast a broad perspective, often lost is how the integration of faith and learning is understood by the individual faculty member. Using convergent thinking as a conceptual framework, and meta-synthesis as the specific convergent instrument, this article analyzes four decades' worth of theory to offer a taxonomy of seven faith-learning integration approaches. Implications exist for institutional leaders in defining the expectation regarding the paradigm(s) of integration for faculty. Also, given that this essay identifies a theological base intrinsic to some integration models, implications exist for institutional leaders whose faculty, and students, are located along a continuum of faith traditions.
The integration of the Christian faith with human learning was addressed by the earliest Christian apologists and it continues to be important question for the church up to the present day. Such lengthy conversations are complicated by variations in nomenclature, attitudes and theological assumptions. This paper attempts to clarify portions of this historical discussions by focusing on how a given thinker weighs and balances four interrelated doctrinal issues: the unity of truth, the two sources of knowledge, the noetic effects of sin, and goodness of creation. It is suggested that thinkers commonly adopt one of five “integrative” postures: butcher, baker, candlestick maker, philosopher or prophet. Lessons are drawn from this history and applied to some of the issues that face the academy today.
DISCUSSION ABOUT THE integration of faith and learning has become a common theme among Christian colleges and universities. Although it has fostered a robust academic dialogue, I contend the language of “integration of faith and learning” needs to be discarded. My conclusion, however, stems not from recent critiques of the integration model. Instead, I am more concerned with the habits of thinking that the language fosters than with the overall integration model (which I will largely defend). I will suggest and defend an alternative language that captures the important theological mission of Christian scholars and retains and expands a basic integration paradigm, while also directly addressing some recent critiques.
This important new book develops a new concept of autonomy. The notion of autonomy has emerged as central to contemporary moral and political philosophy, particularly in the area of applied ethics. professor Dworkin examines the nature and value of autonomy and uses the concept to analyse various practical moral issues such as proxy consent in the medical context, paternalism, and entrapment by law enforcement officials.
The book examines the various ways Christian scholars incorporate faith into their academic endeavors. Literature in this area has frequently assumed a Reformed and evangelical style that links Christianity and academic study under the rubric of "the integration of faith and learning." In contrast, Scholarship and Christian Faith argues that there are many different ways that faith and scholarship can interact with each other. Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal, Wesleyan, Anabaptist, and Pentecostal alternatives are discussed. "Living the questions" of learning and faith is suggested as an approach that allows Christians (and, by analogy, persons of other faiths) to be constructively involved in the academy. The work of Ernest L. Boyer is used as an example. Scholarship and Christian Faith also discusses the role that scholarship can play in personal faith and in the life of the church. Finally, this book explores the idea of scholarship itself, drawing distinctions between analytic, strategic and empathic forms of scholarship. Four essays by other scholars embody and elucidate the themes of the book, including hope, hospitality, the relationship of science and religion, and the imbrication of learning and faith. A prologue (by Rodney Sawatsky) and an epilogue (by Kim Phipps) relate the discussion more explicitly to church-related higher education.
The challenge of thinking Christianly in a secular world is a favorite topic of discussion among Christian scholars, especially among those of evangelical persuasion. But what does it mean to integrate faith and learning? The concept is fraught with semantic and conceptual ambiguity. Through a historical lens, Ken Badley delineates the varieties of meaning implied by the integration-of-faith-and-learning construct as a useful fast step in advancing coherent scholarly dialogue. Badley includes a compendium of recommended readings.
The argument of this paper, which is conducted at two distinct levels of abstraction, has four parts. First, I consider how the disputed character of the concept of freedom bears on the definition of liberalism. This will be done by examining the contrasting accounts of the concept of freedom advanced by Felix Oppenheim and Sir Isaiah Berlin: my conclusion is that the contestability of the concept of freedom does not constitute an insuperable obstacle to formulating a working definition of liberalism. Secondly, I consider the general thesis that some, if not all, of the central concepts of social and political thought have an essentially contestable character, and look in particular at the application of this thesis to the concept of the ‘political’. Thirdly, I consider some aspects of the theories of distributive justice advanced by John Rawls and Robert Nozick, concluding that the supposedly contractarian mode of argument adopted by each of these writers is insufficient to yield the distributive principles specified, which must rather rest upon definite normative commitments and quasi-empirical assumptions about man and society. Fourthly, I explore the prospects of a procedural approach to questions of distributive justice, and I claim for such an approach a special congruence with basic liberal principles regarding equality and freedom. The substantive result of these arguments is that, within the conceptual framework of the liberal tradition, a just distribution is any that emerges from background economic and political institutions protecting equal freedom. The methodological or metatheoretical result is that, in virtue of the contestability and indeterminacy of the constitutive concepts and regulative principles of political discourse, my arguments fail to be demonstrative, having a persuasive and dialectical rather than a deductive form. If my arguments can be sustained, these are features of the paper it shares with every other essay in social philosophy.
In a recent exchange in this Journal, K.I. Macdonald took issue with Steven Lukes's claim that power is an essentially contested concept. Macdonald claims that in arguing that power is essentially contested Lukes locates disputes about power in the concept itself rather than in the divergent uses of that concept. Macdonald's claim is that there are at least two types of dispute about concepts: disputes which arise from within the concept and disputes which arise in the differing values ‘from which the concept depends’. In the case of power, Macdonald argues, the dispute lies between contending perspectives and values and not within the concept of power itself. Whilst not denying that there are essentially contested concepts, Macdonald is clear that the concept of power is not essentially contested but reflects a contest between differing value positions. Macdonald argues that whenever a concept is ‘truly essentially contested the proper ground for the contest is the essence of the concept. Our disagreements inhere in that concept’.
Redefining ‘security’ has recently become something of a cottage industry. 2 Most such efforts, however, are more concerned with redefining the policy agendas of nation-states than with the concept of security itself. Often, this takes the form of proposals for giving high priority to such issues as human rights, economics, the environment, drug traffic, epidemics, crime, or social injustice, in addition to the traditional concern with security from external military threats. Such proposals are usually buttressed with a mixture of normative arguments about which values of which people or groups of people should be protected, and empirical arguments as to the nature and magnitude of threats to those values. Relatively little attention is devoted to conceptual issues as such. This article seeks to disentangle the concept of security from these normative and empirical concerns, however legitimate they may be.
Although problematic pressures and movements face academics who desire to integrate Christian faith and higher learning, professionals at church-related colleges can pursue distinctive educational approaches to faith and learning in faculty development, curriculum design, teaching content, and other academic tasks.