EDU 6990 Reflection Ten Standard 1

Med. Program Standard 2:

Standard 1: Model ethical and moral behavior

Courses Aligned with Standard:

EDU 6085

Original Assumptions: 
I knew this standard was important to my educational goals. Teaching with proper ethics and 
moral demonstrates to others the proper form of teaching. This is a good course for people who 
are becoming teachers and have never been in the classroom before. I know I do want to teach 
proper moral behaviors. Brown (2012) states, “Vulnerability is at the core, the heart, the center, of meaningful human experiences” (p. 12).

Learning Experience:

In the Moral and Theological issues in education I learned about different areas of how to be a 
proper educator.Religion in the Classroom by James et al. (2015) addresses one of the most 
taboo topics in education by discussing religion in a multitude of ways as it pertains to education.
 The author begins the book with discussing how she got inspired to write it. Her, being a 
Lutheran, like myself, views the world in a certain way because of her religion. She met another 
Christian of a different denomination and from that exposure to the individual, the author 
decided to look into religion through the lens of the teacher, legal as well as ethical frameworks
 in government, and curriculum on major religions taught in schools. Each student comes into 
class with different religious beliefs that gives them a certain view of the world. The main author
 noticed it would be imperative for the teacher to take that information in order to listen to them. 
“Listening to our students is critical. It is one means of getting outside of our own heads long 
enough to consider the perspectives of those impacted by the choices we make in schools” 
(James et al., 2015, p. 21). As I found in my school, students are open to learning about new 
ideas. That includes learning about religions they are not accustomed to.  

The author also finds that as teachers who are religious there are ethical and legal dimensions 
that they need to be aware of. Education in itself has to follow two tests, “Lemon Tests” which 
is about the Establishment Clause and “Sherbert Tests” which is to check on the Free Exercise 
Clause. Each of these tests provides schools and teachers necessary legal and ethical boundaries 
when discussing religion in the classroom where it is appropriate. The Free Exercise Clause is an 
area I will continue to keep in mind as I teach. In the classroom I work to create rapport with my 
students. That means if they have any questions, then they can come talk to me. Some of the 
questions that have come up do pertain to my religion and its beliefs. Keeping the Sherbet Tests in 
mind, I know what I can and can not say when talking about my beliefs to the student.  

When it comes to teaching students it is imperative to give them a proper education that teaches 
them to be a better person. As James et al. (2015) points out that schools are crucial for engaging 
students in democratic living and to create a model citizen. Which can mean the teachers are to 
create students that are active, respectful, and thoughtful individuals when they leave with a high 
school diploma. Religion in the Classroom demonstrates that one way in creating a model citizen 
is to expose them as students to other religions. James et al (2015) says, “familiarity with the world
’s religions is critical for a well-rounded understanding of history and contemporary society as well
 as for participation in the public life of democracy” (p. 61). That means portraying other religions 
with attention toward its political, social, and psychological impacts on society. The social studies 
teachers at my school do a tremendous job of discussing world religions. They get people from the 
community to discuss their religion, Ted Talks are used to discussed major topics in religions, and 
there are student research-based projects on the fundamental beliefs of a certain world religion. With 
me teaching mathematics there really isn’t any openings to discuss religion. As Pace (2015) 
noted in her book (as cited in Meier, 1995) about critical thinking and problem-solving skills, “it
 prepares students to be agents in their own lives, communities, and the wider world, so they can ‘act 
on the fundamental intellectual and social issues of their times’” (p. 5).

Another book I learned about educational philosophy: Way of Love by the author, Norman Wirzba 
which discusses the value of Christianity and revitalize the reader who might be reading with a shaky 
foundation on their Christian faith. This is an artifact about the summary of the book. The author starts 
the book with what Christianity means to him. As Wizba (2016) states, “Christianity matters because it 
reveals the deep mysteries of God and the meaning of all life” (p. 1).  He continues on to encourage people 
who don’t know how they feel about the Christian faith and all the hatred “Christians” have with a simple 
Bible verse. “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters are liars; for those who do not 
love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen” (1 John 4:20). 
After the first chapter, the reader is on an adventure learning about all of God’s love over the entire 
universe.

After the section titled,  Christianity as Love as a foundation to what love means in Christianity, the author
 splits the book into four distinct components of God’s love: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Hope. Each 
specific section provides the reader with a meaning for the section, quoting biblical passages to support his 
claim, and stories of real world people of how the section of God’s love reflects onto their life. For example, 
Wirzba points out with the section Creation, “creation is a teaching about the character of the world and this
 life” (p. 50). He continues to explain what is God and why this being would create the creatures of the earth.

 The next chapter talks about the creation of a garden called, “The Lord’s Acre” where a group of community
 members wanted to provide poison-free food for the poor. The stories then talks about a certain person in 
poverty stealing food of the garden, but later seek redemption by giving her time to the garden. In the 
following section, Fall, discusses about the fall of man with sin. As the author points out, “sin at its core, is 
the failure of love” (Wirzba, 2016, p. 96). He goes into a deeper understanding about sin, its grip on man, its 
origins, and its impact over the world. The stories whether it was biblical or recently had changed my 
perception about sin. Especially on the chapter, The Origin of Sin, and the talk about intimacy to idolatry.

The book then goes into the section known as, Redemption. Wirzba (2016) notes, “this fourth part of the book 
develops the many dimensions and ways of healing that love pursues” (p. 145). He goes into the many stories in 
the new testament of Jesus and the work he does to heal those who have succumbed to sin and were not well. 
This is a section that affected me the most. There has been an internal conflict on my Christian faith within 
myself since me being a teenager. My faith has been rocky ever since my parents divorced, family members died
unexpectedly, and a division over homosexuals as clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA).

As the book continues, Wirba talks about the body and blood of Christ known as the, Eucharist. As Wirzba 
(2016) states, “At the Eucharist a kind of marriage happens; we become one flesh with him and commit to live in 
fidelity to his way of being in the world” (p. 182). I appreciate the ending chapters he gave about Heaven on 
Earth. Wirzba informs the reader that the earth needs to be a place like heaven and we shouldn’t just go through 
our daily lives till we die. The idea of heaven and hell as a reward or punishment creates exclusion among us and
 that shouldn’t be. The book has been quite informative and helped me gain a better understanding on the greater 
purpose we all share. From all the readings I synthesized a paper on my moral and theological views.

INSERT PAPER HERE

Reflection:

If I am to be completely honest I understand the usefulness of this particular standard. I do not 
see the usefulness of the course as it is. This is a great course for people who are about to 
become teachers, but many of the subjects talked about in class does not apply to me. From the 
Charged Classroom reflection I was suggested to speak about these hard topics in my math 
classroom. For anyone who is a teacher would know that it is inappropriate to discuss with a 
class subjects that the teacher really isn’t qualified to teach and it would be extremely difficult 
to get them back on track if I do teach it. “Relationship culture is just as important as the 
academic rigor that schools strive to achieve” (Silver, Berckemeyer, & Baenen, 2015, p. 70). It 
is good to build culture in the classroom, but I do that in other ways. Dean et al. (2012) notes, 
“problem solving involves overcoming constraints or limiting conditions that are in the way of 
achieving goals” (p. 140). I want my students to grow academically, but I will do that in other 
ways I found from other classes. That is what I focus on with my students in order for them to 
succeed. 
As a Christian, my favorite book (Religion in the Classroom, The Charged Classroom, and Way of 
Love) was Way of Love because not of its teaching practices, but as a person who is a flawed Christian. 

Works Cited

 Brown, B. (2012). Daring greatly. New York, N.Y.: Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Dean, C. B., Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based 
Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (2nd ed.). Denver, CO: McRel.

James, J. H., Schweber, S., Kunzman, R., Barton, K. C., & Logan, K. (2015). Religion in the Classroom: 
Dilemmas for Democratic Education. New York: Routledge.

Pace, J. L. (2015). The charged Classroom: Predicaments and Possibilities for Democratic Teaching. New 
York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Silver, D., Berckemeyer, J. C., & Baenen, J. (2015). Deliberate Optimism: Reclaiming the Joy in Education. 
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Wirzba, N. (2016). Way of love: Recovering the heart of Christianity. New York, NY: HarperOne, an imprint 
of HarperCollins.