Cross-cultural Christian Theology and Ethics

I wrote the following paper for my Theological and Ethical Issues course at Huntington University spring 2013.

Cross-cultural Christian Theology and Ethics

Cross-cultural Christian Theology and Ethics

According to western culture, domestic violence is generally seen as unethical and even considered a crime.  A man hitting his wife is unacceptable to society and usually results in punishment if reported.  Arguments occur between individuals of most marriages in western culture, but once physical violence becomes a matter, the situation becomes an issue of morality.  As a westerner, I have always seen this issue as black and white.  Domestic violence is unethical. Not only have I always believed this, but I also assumed it was a universal belief. That is until I was informed of another culture’s perspective.

During “Go Week” at Huntington University, which is a week specifically focused on missions, Heather Webb was part of a panel in my Intercultural Communications class.  She is a graduate of Huntington University and a former missionary to Tanzania East Africa from 2007-2012.  While in Tanzania, she and her husband worked with the Church of God of Tanzania and were sent by Global Missions, the outreach arm of the Church of God in Anderson, Indiana.  As a couple, they served as the directors of the Theological Education by Extension program, which is a theological training ministry, and they were also the directors of a Tailoring School designed to be vocational training to empower Tanzanian women. Currently, Webb is the Public Relations Coordinator at H.E.A.R.T. Institute, a missionary training program in Lake Wales, Florida.  During her time with my class, Webb shared some insight into the Tanzanian culture, with which I was unfamiliar at the time.

Webb introduced me to the Tanzanian cultural norm of domestic violence between a husband and wife.  She explained it casually, as if it was something normal in which every Tanzanian couple takes part.  I asked if even Christian husbands hit their wives, and she nodded yes.  Though her ministry in Tanzania was not to “fix” this issue necessarily, she did attempt to understand their view of this behavior.  From her observations, she was able to confidently state her understanding of the cultural norm. She said: “When I say domestic violence referring to Tanzania, I’m not talking about husbands beating their wives until they are black and blue and bloody… What happens in Tanzania is more like what happened in the U.S. 30, 40, 50 years ago—teachers hitting students with a paddle or a switch, children getting spanked for disobedience. That kind of thing.”[1]  The husbands essentially punish their wives.

According to Webb, domestic violence occurs within Tanzanian homes on an average of once a month.  Bruises are never physically noticeable, and the occurrences of the beatings are hardly ever discussed. Webb noticed that not all Tanzanian men beat their wives, and especially not all Christian Tanzanian men.  However, men within her church in Tanzania did hit their wives on occasion.  Commonly, hands or wooden spoons were used.  Some common reasons for the hitting include, “the tea is late, dinner isn’t ready, [or] the wife isn’t obeying or respecting her husband.”[2]  This Tanzanian cultural norm is seen as normal to most Tanzanian people, but to westerners, physical violence of this nature is generally intolerable, subject to litigation and punishment by law.

The issue with physical violence in Tanzania raises a few very important theological and ethical questions.  What is the extent of universal ethics, and what role does the all-knowing God play in these different Christian perspectives on ethics based on culture?  Domestic violence is not the only cultural norm that creates controversy in theology.  There are multiple cultural practices in countries around the world that, to the host culture, are not even questionable, but to outsiders looking in, the practices are considered unethical.  If we, as God’s children, who make up the body of Christ, have different views on human rights, are we even worshipping the same God?  These questions will never be answered fully until we are made perfect in Christ in His fulfilled Kingdom, but I would like to suggest some thoughts on the subject in light of our culturally diverse world, as well as some other examples in addition to physical violence in Tanzania.  Humans may be bound by culture, but our heavenly Father is not.  Theology is a process, and as Christians, we must seek to understand God’s perspective of His children by seeking to understand the reasons behind certain cultural practices that do not seem to line up with our own theology.[3]

Another cultural practice that is seen as unethical in the eyes of westerners is the rite of female circumcision in many African Islamic countries.  To begin understanding this rite, one must know that there are many types of female circumcision (FC).  Two of the most dramatic forms are sunna circumcision and pharaonic circumcision.  Sunna circumcision is the procedure of removing the female clitoris entirely. Pharaonic is an even more dramatic procedure, in which all parts of the external genitalia are removed.  The issue is humanistic as well as scientific in that the rite is medical and physical.  Westerners, especially women, have the tendency to hear of practices such as FC and immediately feel sorry for the women who go through these procedures.  Not only do western women feel sympathy towards them, but they also develop the mindset that these Islamic Africans need their western salvation and that without them they are helpless.[4]

Eric K. Silverman enlightens westerners by introducing the fact that the Islamic African women actually find a sense of dignity in practicing this rite.  In their culture, they are seen as established women if they go through this practice.  From a western standpoint, Silverman states, “… many African and Muslim women are appalled at our standards of beauty, honor, and dignity.” [5] These women are not naïve as some may assume.  “Rites we see as horribly demeaning are a form of symbolic capital to alleged victims, gaining them access to custom, community, virtue, and morality. FC even allows some women to contest, not accede to, patriarchy, and to define, not erode, their self-worth.” [6] It is crucial that if Christians attempt to understand theology on a world-wide scale, they must seek to understand the reasoning behind these issues seen as unethical.

There is also another viewpoint from alleged victims of FC. Some girls do not view the rite as a means of finding self-worth, and they want to be rescued from the practice.  Karen Musalo, a United States attorney, shares her experience with rescuing an African teenage girl from the tribal rite of female genital mutilation (FGM).  The girl’s name was Fauziya Kasinga, and with Musalo’s help, her plea for political asylum in the United States was granted in 1996, which set a precedent for future women refugees fleeing the same practice.  There is now an internationally proclaimed human right that prohibits distinctions based on gender, but many countries ignore this and continue to deny equal rights to women.  Musalo restates the underlying question: “What is to be done when generally accepted international human rights standards conflict with long-standing cultural practices?” Musalo suggests that the answer lies within the conflict between universality and cultural relativism. [7]

Universality proponents believe that human rights are universal. All countries should have the same rights for humans, and they should prevail over long-standing cultural or religious traditions.  The universal rights have been guaranteed through international treaties.  Cultural relativism, however, says that cultural and religious traditions should be set at a higher value than universal rights, so the practices should be allowed to continue in those certain countries.

Universal human rights became a discussion point due to the failure of countries to stop the tragedies of the Holocaust after World War II.  In response, the United Nations was formed in 1945.  Through the United Nations, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women was formed, which “condemns FGM [Female Genital Mutilation] as an act of violence against women and states that countries ‘should condemn violence against women and should not invoke any custom, tradition, or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination.’” [8] Countries such as Afghanistan, China, India, the West Bank, and Gaza continue to keep such practices.  For example, in Afghanistan, women are prohibited from getting an education, and in India, a bride may be burned to death if the dowry she brings to her husband’s family is too small. [9]  People who lean towards cultural relativism believe that “culture is an essential attribute of self-determination and of a people’s sovereignty.” [10]

Musalo claims to lean towards universality.  She believes that there is significance in the fact that if cultural traditions are created by the most powerful, then the less powerful of that culture are disenfranchised.  In essence, the international human rights standards were created not by a few powerful nations but by representatives from diverse nations.  Cultural traditions and practices within countries, however, were created by the powerful within that culture. Musalo states, “Proponents of universality argue that international human rights norms have moral authority because they constitute the world community’s consensus regarding ethical behavior between governments and their citizens.” [11]  Musalo leaves us with some food for thought concerning ethics, but what about the theological side of the issue?

In Charles H. Kraft’s Christianity in Culture, he reminds us that we are Christ’s ambassadors and heralds, and we participate in God’s communication.  As we read in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” [12] God speaks through us as believers, and we are called to witness for others’ sake. [13]

According to Kraft, theologizing should be a process.  A theology that is set in stone is dead.  Our example of theologizing should come from the apostle Paul.  Kraft terms this “dynamic-equivalence theologizing”.  “Dynamic-equivalence theologizing is the reproducing in contemporary cultural contexts of the theologizing process that Paul and other scriptural authors exemplify.” [14]

Kraft is clear about the fact that western theology is not applicable to all cultures.  He explains:

If we are tempted to absolutize the perceptions of our cultural-bound understandings of the revelation of God, we are culturally taking a position equivalent to that of individuals who regard none but their own understanding of truth to be absolutely correct, and we accuse such individuals of egocentrism… any monocultural perspective on truth is no more complete than the single perspective of any given individual.[15]

Furthermore, Kraft brings into account Christian linguist Kenneth Pike’s original findings on emic and etic perspectives.  Emic perspective is the viewpoint from those within a specific culture.  Etic perspective is the viewpoint from those on the outside looking in to many cultures, not just one. An emic perspective to Christian theology basically says that it is okay for every culture to have its own Christian theology even if it does not apply to any other culture.  An etic perspective to Christian theology attempts to make theology transculturally applicable.  Kraft suggests that Christians should have an etic approach to theologizing. He is also careful to remind us that we will never be able to reach total divine truth in this life. [16]

In the process of explaining dynamic-equivalence theologizing, Kraft mentions Robert McAfee Brown’s ten propositions that affirm the “value of experimental-contextual theologies.” Here are Brown’s ten points, provided by Kraft, which are helpful in understanding how to go about theologizing with an etic mindset:

(1)  ‘All theologies are contextually conditioned’; (2) ‘there is nothing wrong with theology being contextually conditioned’; (3) ‘it may take others to show us how conditioned, parochial or ideologically captive our own theology is’; (4) we should be excited rather than upset when we hear such alternative theological perspectives, for they expand our understandings; (5) even if we could once ignore such voices, we can no longer; (6) contemporary alternative theologies are reminiscent of certain theological innovations in western cultures; (7) the point of contact between our traditions and these new theologies is Scripture; (8) we should ‘take the same kind of critical look at our own traditions’ that we take at those of others; (9) ‘only in creative tension with the widest possible perspective can we develop theologies appropriate to our own particular situations’; and (10) since within the church the ultimate loyalty is not simply to nation, class, or culture, the church is uniquely suited to provide the context within which the task of creative theologizing can take place. [17]

In order to come to a better-balanced understanding of truth, we must learn to understand the insight of every cultural group.  For example, African culture may help people of western culture recognize that illness is a theological matter, not just a medical matter.  Africans are able to make the connection between the fact that we live in a cursed world and we are now subject to illness.  To them, sickness is not just a medical thing that happens to the body.  They see sickness as a spiritual issue.  This African insight gives us westerners a wider cultural perspective of theology. Westerners tend to narrowly view sickness strictly as a medical problem that can be solved with the proper medicine and care.  We put ourselves in danger of heresies if we cut off insights of Christians from other cultures. [18]

In his attempt to provide a plan for how to go about “transforming culture with God”, Kraft uses the case study of infanticide in northern Nigeria.  In this Nigerian culture, young girls are forced to prove their fertility if they want to get married.  In doing so, they give birth to one or more children before marriage just to show the men in the tribe that she is fertile.  Since a human life is defined as being part of a social group or family in this culture, the young infants are not considered persons.  These test-run babies are neglected and left to die after birth.  The Nigerian culture would view this practice similar to the way westerners view the use of contraceptives. Viewing this practice as morally wrong and theologically out of line, how should the western culture go about promoting a transformation within the Nigerian culture?  Kraft suggests that the first thing is to seek to fully understand the practice from the Nigerian tribal perspective. [19]

We are not required to approve of the custom, but we must seek to understand their worldview, for their traditions were just as deeply implanted into their minds as were ours.  Using yet another example, Christians who plan to witness to a polygamous society, should not go into it with the purpose of telling the people they are wrong for doing their practice.  The focus must be to bring the good news of Christ, and in turn, God will slowly reveal His truth to the polygamous society. “Without the interference of the static caused by outside pressure to change such a peripheral custom, then, the message of God will be heard as good news concerning salvation rather than bad news concerning polygamy.” [20] Christians should strive to stay away from giving the polygamous society a reason to write off Christianity.

Kraft has offered his thoughts on Christianity in culture, and Andy Crouch brings us even further into understanding the eternal purpose of various cultures as Christians in Culture Making.  Crouch explains that when Jesus comes to build a New Jerusalem, in which Christians will spend eternity, we will no longer be culturally bound.  Neither will there be pain or suffering.  There will be human-made cultural goods from every culture, but they must be transformed in some way so that they can be made perfect. Crouch offers the example of a sword.  A sword created by human hands on earth was meant for death, but in the New Jerusalem, perhaps the swords will be turned into plowshares.  The same is for humans.  We will also be transformed. Eternal life will be the fulfillment of what God originally created us to do—cultivate and create. [21] Revelation 4:11 says, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created
and have their being.” [22] Not only is God not culturally bound, neither is His Word, and perhaps, “it’s the impossibility of the gospel that makes it so culturally potent and perennially relevant.” [23]

Crouch says that pure joy that comes when “Jesus takes the most basic stuff in the world, breaks it, blesses it and offers it back to us, made whole and made new.”[24] We get little tastes of this joy here on earth.

Sometimes the taste is fleeting and only makes us more hungry;

sometimes it is overwhelming and spoils us for anything less lovely. Only when culture gives us that kind of joy will it fully be transformed—and when it is transformed that way, in fulfillment of the whole sweep of the story from beginning to end, it will indeed be Christ who deserves the glory, honor and praise. [25]

One of Steven Covey’s seven habits of highly effective people is “seek first to understand, then to be understood.” [26] Applying this axiom would have us seeking to understand Christian culture and theological differences with eternal eyes, for we are all to be transformed.

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[1] 2 Webb, Heather. Interview with Caitlin Trainer. E-mail and personal interview.  Huntington, March 3, 2013.

[3] Charles H. Kraft, Christianity in Culture: A Study in Dynamic Biblical Theologizing in

Cross-Cultural Perspective (New York: Orbis Books, 1980), 290-360.

[4] 5 6   Eric K. Silverman. “Anthropology and Circumcision”, Annual Review of

Anthropology, 2004, vol. 33, 428-431, http://web.ebscohost.com.elibrary.huntington.edu/ehost

 [7] 8 9  Karen Musalo, “When Rights and Cultures Collide”, Markula Center for Applied

Ethics, http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v8n3/rightsandcultures.html

[10] 11 Karen Musalo, “When Rights and Cultures Collide”, Markula Center for Applied

Ethics, http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v8n3/rightsandcultures.html

[12] The Holy Bible, NIV

[13] Charles H. Kraft, Christianity in Culture: A Study in Dynamic Biblical Theologizing in

Cross-Cultural Perspective (New York: Orbis Books, 1980), 277-278.

[14] 15 16  Charles H. Kraft, Christianity in Culture: A Study in Dynamic Biblical

Theologizing in Cross-Cultural Perspective (New York: Orbis Books, 1980), 291-294.

 [17] Charles H. Kraft, Christianity in Culture: A Study in Dynamic Biblical

Theologizing in Cross-Cultural Perspective (New York: Orbis Books, 1980), 295.

[18] 19 Charles H. Kraft, Christianity in Culture: A Study in Dynamic Biblical

Theologizing in Cross-Cultural Perspective (New York: Orbis Books, 1980), 303-361.

[20] Charles H. Kraft, Christianity in Culture: A Study in Dynamic Biblical

Theologizing in Cross-Cultural Perspective (New York: Orbis Books, 1980), 362-364.

[21] Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling (Downers Grove:

Intervarsity Press, 2008), 168-174.

[22] The Holy Bible, NIV

[23] 24  25 Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling (Downers

Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2008), 176- 183.

 [26] Steven Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character

Ethic, (Melbourne: Business Library, 1989)

History and Theology of Missions

I wrote this paper as my final exam for my History of Theology and Missions course at Huntington University fall 2012.

History and Theology of Missions

History and Theology of Missions

Five key concepts/principles that I am beginning to internalize are:

A. Missions is a privilege.

B. Global vision is not the same as global action.

C. Tentmaking

D.  The “Big Box” concept

E.  Bonding to host culture

 

A. Mission is a privilege.

 1) Once we have an encounter with Christ, mission is the result.  Christ uses Christians to share His truth.  He doesn’t have to use us, but he chooses to use us.  It is a privilege to be his instruments, as we are the fragrance of Christ.

2) David Bosch explains, “To meet Christ, means to become caught up in a mission to the world” (81).  Once we encounter Him, it is inevitable that we will also encounter the mission field.  Romans 1:5 says, “Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.”  Even the apostle Paul says that telling others what Jesus has done for them is a privilege.

Also, mission is an act of worship as well as a privilege.  By spreading the Good News, we are bringing glory to God’s name.  As Christians do this act of worship, they are emitting the fragrance of Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.”  The privilege lies in the opportunity to live out Christ’s mission and to be Christ’s fragrance to everyone around us.

3) How sweet a privilege it is to be considered Christ’s fragrance on the mission field! We must understand that God could speak to His children without using us, but He gives us the opportunity to help.  We must respect this gift the Lord has given us to disciple.  Mission is something that can only be done here on earth; once we are in heaven, missions will not be possible because it will not be necessary.  We must take advantage of the time we have here on earth to carry out His mission!

B. Global vision is not the same as global action.

1) To have global vision means to have a mission perspective that goes beyond one’s personal nationality, race, or culture. Many Christians may be able to have a global vision for missions, but many do not see that global action is also necessary.  We may have a vision for how something should look or a vision for a model of missions, but the vision will not matter unless action also takes place.

2) John Stott explains five principles that “we learn about God from his promise to Abraham and its fulfillment” (8).  The fifth principle Stott identifies is “He is the God of mission” (9).  Stott says, “ We need to become global Christians with a global vision, for we have a global God” (9).  God’s children consist of everyone in the world.

The church in Antioch was the first place believers in Jesus were called Christians.  The Antioch church provides a model that shows evidence of a global vision and global action (Class notes).  Acts 11 and 12 implies that the Antioch church was a multicultural community.  Before they sent out their own leader to tell other nations about Jesus, they prayed about their role in the world.  They also contributed toward the material needs of Christians in other places (Class notes).

3) Though global vision is important, global action must be seen just as important. The model that the church in Antioch provides should be the example that churches today strive to follow.  As the Lord gives us a vision for ministering to the world, we must also pray about how to take action and obey His answer.

C. Tentmakers

1) The concept of tentmaking is important to grasp. A tentmaker is a missionary who has a secular job such as nursing and uses that job as their mission field.  Tentmakers usually do not get paid by raised funds from a mission agency; they are paid by their companies’ employer.  Often, tentmakers are in prime positions for witnessing to unbelievers.

2) The term “tentmaker” comes from the apostle Paul who was a tentmaker throughout his ministry (Class notes).  “Tentmakers were not weavers, but artisans who made animal skin products, including tents” (Siemens, 760).  Siemens provides three reasons why Paul was a tentmaker. First, to gain credibility: “Paul’s self-support demonstrates his genuineness” (760).  Secondly, Paul wanted to identify with unbelievers on the low social and economic scale. Third, Paul was modeling an example of what evangelism should look like (760).

One key part of this concept to understand is that not tentmaking is a great strategy that Paul demonstrates, but it’s not always the best or only way to do missions (Class discussion). “God leads some Christians to alternate between tentmaking and donor support at different times” (761).  As we discussed in this History and Theology of Missions course, missionaries who rely on donor support are not wrong, but we definitely can’t go wrong with following Paul’s tentmaking example.

3) Tentmaking is a way for missionaries to spread the Gospel within the context of most unbelievers. Tentmakers have the opportunity to work with unbelievers throughout their workday as they work with other employees or customers. It seems that tentmaking might be the quickest way to be involved in global action.

D. The “Big Box” concept

1) The Big Box is the idea that the host culture’s needs are in a big box, and a very small portion of those needs are met through local funds.  In contrast, a large chunk of the needs are met through American funding.  We must ask God how to use our stewardship and to what extent should we help the host culture community to support themselves.

2) Throughout this course, we have discussed the potential problem of dependency on foreign money, personnel, or models. Bryant Myers presents four different kinds of poverty: deficit, broken relationships, misused power, and fear .  The Big Box concept relates most to deficit poverty (Class discussion).  Deficit poverty is when there is a lack of something and the missionary’s response is to provide (Myers, 607). Naturally, missionaries want to just provide for the people in need, but this may not always be the best way to go about satisfying their needs. They also need to learn how to support themselves to create sustainability (Class discussion).

When interviewing Tim Brokopp, a non-residing missionary to Gabon, Africa, he provided some helpful feedback on the Big Box concept.  He did not see foreign dependency as a problem, but as something that is necessary. Tim says, “What is the ultimate goal? If the goal is to create sustainability, then something should be done to move towards that, but if the goal is to spread the Gospel, then dependency is not as much of an issue” (T.Brokopp, personal communication, November 16, 2012).

3) The Big Box idea must be understood in order for missionaries to know when it is necessary for the host culture to depend on them and when it is necessary to help create sustainability. This dependency issue will occur countless times on any mission field.

E. Bonding to host culture

1) Bonding to the host culture is when the missionaries develop comfortability with the culture, the people, and the environment.  Bonding should happen immediately upon arrival to the country rather than after getting settled in.

2) Elizabeth and Thomas Brewster provide excellent reasons as to why it is so important that bonding happen immediately.  The missionary should not make settling in a priority because that will set the tone for a foreign way of living.  Rather, they must immerse themselves into the new culture so that they don’t continue to live according to the American ways, which is foreign to the host culture (Brewster, 466).  The Brewsters also suggest that the bond missionaries form with the local people should resemble our bond with Christ (469).

During our class discussion on this topic, we talked about how immediate bonding establishes credibility quicker.  Missionaries who live with a host culture family tend to do a better job of adjusting than missionaries who reside among other missionaries (Class Discussion).  Once the missionaries are seen as people who are willing to learn the culture, the locals will be more likely to listen to them.

3) Relationships with the local people must be established on the first day of arrival.  There is no reason to wait. Missionaries should learn to adapt to the host culture as quickly as possible, or else they may not be as effective in reaching the people of the host culture. If bonding does not occur immediately, it will be hard for the missionaries to have the motivation once settled in.

Works Cited

Bosch, D. J. (1980). Witness to the world. In R. D. Winter & S. C. Hawthorne (Eds.),

Perspectives on the world Christian movement (p. 78-82). Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.

Brewster, E. S. & T. B. (1982). The difference bonding makes. In R. D. Winter & S. C.

Hawthorne (Eds.), Perspectives on the world Christian movement (p. 465-469). Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library

Holy Bible. (2005). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Myers, B. L. (1997). What is poverty anyway? In R. D. Winter & S. C. Hawthorne

(Eds.), Perspectives on the world Christian movement (p. 607-609). Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.

Siemens, R. E. (n.d.). Tentmakers: Integrating work and witness. In R. D. Winter & S. C.

Hawthorne (Eds.), Perspectives on the world Christian movement (p. 760-761). Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.

Stott, R.W. (1979). The living God is a missionary God. In R. D. Winter & S. C.

Hawthorne (Eds.), Perspectives on the world Christian movement (p. 3-9). Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.

Biographical Profile: J. Hudson Taylor

I wrote the following paper for my History of Theology and Missions course at Huntington University fall 2012.

Biographical Profile: J. Husdon Taylor

Biographical Profile: J. Hudson Taylor

Geographical and Societal Context

            James Hudson Taylor was born in Yorkshire, England in 1832 (Tucker, 186).  He grew up in a strict Christian family, and he never experienced poverty first hand as a child.  His parents always provided well for him emotionally, spiritually, and physically.  His closeness with his family was shown in the instance when his mother and his sister relentlessly prayed for him when he went astray from the Christian faith for a while, which is explained further below.

Upon his calling to the country of China at the age of seventeen, Taylor began practicing selflessness in every aspect of his life.  His goal was to reach the whole of China, not just one region of the country.  So to set out to reach this goal, he had to prepare himself.  He practiced selflessness in his daily life by simplifying his diet, simplifying his living conditions, and deciding to not remind his boss to pay him what he was due.  This practice along with other factors, such as dealing with infections in medical training caused him to contract “malignant fever,” which nearly killed him and postponed his medical studies (Tucker 187).

In September 1853, Taylor finally began his voyage to China (Tucker, 187).  This first trip to China from England, by sea, took half a year.  This kind of travel took “immense patience and courage for European and Middle Eastern missionaries” (Chao).  He went to Shanghai, China through The Chinese Evangelization Society, which was very small and disorganized, and he lived at the London Missionary Society compound.  Feelings of homesickness quickly invaded his thoughts soon after he arrived, and he grew lonely.  He also grew frustrated as he continued to put forth effort to learn the Chinese language, but was many times discouraged as he feared he may never learn (Tucker, 187).

After living in the international compound for a while, Taylor decided to live in his own shanty, which is a very tiny living quarter with no heat in the winter.  He ended up moving back into the international compound.  He decided that he did not like the way that American missionaries lived because he thought they were lazy and rude.  He decided that in order to get away from them, he would start taking trips to and from the interior of China.  As he traveled to the interior, he noticed that he physically stuck out compared to the Chinese, and people were more fascinated with the way he looked and dressed than with the message he had to give them.  In order to take away the distraction he was causing, he took note of how the Chinese dressed, and set off to make himself look like a Chinese man so that he could blend in.  He wore authentic Chinese robes and even got false hair implants to make his hair longer like the Chinese.  The American missionaries and even his family were embarrassed of him, but he remained proud of his new appearance (Tucker, 189)

Taylor left the CES after experiencing much difficulty with their financial disorganization.  After leaving, Taylor wandered the interior of China for a while until he came across Ningpo and settled there.  Ningpo is where he met his first wife, Maria Dyer.  She was his other half on the mission field.  She evened him out, and he liked having her work alongside him.  Once married, they lived in Ningpo for three more years and then returned to England as a couple so that Taylor could further his medical training, recuperate from ill health, and work on translating the Bible for Ningpo.  The Taylors’ most significant accomplishment during this time back in England was organizational work and the birth of the China Inland Mission (Tucker, 192).  It is important to not that “William A.P. Martin, a Presbyterian missionary, was responsible for the clause in the Treaty of Tientsin (1858) that allowed missionaries to enter the interior of China to propagate the Christian religion. This treaty opened the way for Hudson Taylor’s China Inland Mission” (Chao).

The China Inland Mission was a mission society that reflected Taylor’s values and his personality. “The China Inland Mission began in 1865 with only a name and ten pounds in the bank” (Doyle). He learned from previous experience with the CES that he must start off with an organized leadership. “Taylor agreed with the genuine ‘self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating’ methods of his close friend Nevius, and sought to incorporate them into CIM mission strategy and tactics from the very beginning…” (Doyle).  The finances of the mission came solely from dependency on God.  Missionaries working for CIM were not allowed to be financially dependent on anyone.  He brought a large group of missionaries with him from England back to Shanghai. This group went through a lot of tension and strife in the beginning due to culture shock and the challenge to dress like the Chinese (Tucker, 193).

As the mission continued, the Taylors’ suffered the loss of their eight-year-old daughter, Gracie, due to water on the brain.  The mission as a whole also suffered its first violent attack at the mission house at Yangchow.  The attack caused a small quarrel between England and China, and the CIM was publically misrepresented by the press. This caused the mission to lose a significant amount of financial support.  Due to all of the public misrepresentations, Taylor went into a dark spiritual depression.  He suffered great spiritual warfare and even considered taking his own life.  A friend who knew of Taylor’s struggles sent him a letter with words that changed Taylor’s life and rescued him from the deep depression.  Unfortunately, upon his recovery, his wife died while giving childbirth (Tucker, 195).

Soon after his first wife’s death, Taylor was remarried to Jennie Faulding, who had been an old friend.  As time passed, the mission continued to be in motion, and Taylor and his missionaries continued to rely on God for money and all other provisions.  Taylor’s goal to reach the whole of China grew even stronger in his heart the more he spent time working and traveling in China.  He had a bizarre plan that in order to reach every soul in China, he would just have to find one thousand evangelists who would each witness to 250 Chinese people a day.  After about three years, the whole of China would be reached (Tucker, 197).

Even though Taylor’s plan was pretty far out, the CIM was successful in 1882 by entering “every province [of China], and in 1895, thirty years after its founding, it had more than six hundred and forty missionaries serving throughout China” (Tucker, 200). Tragically, in June 1900, thirty-five missionaries and fifty-three missionary children in China were killed due to the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. The Boxer Rebellion was a time when all Christians in China were commanded to be dead.  Taylor had not been in China when this occurred, and he could barely handle the trauma when he found out.  He resigned from his director’s position in 1902, and he did not return to China until a month before he died in 1904.  In  1964, the CIM changed its name to the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. (Tucker, 200).

Missionary Calling

            Hudson Taylor grew up in a home where he learned the importance of politeness and tidiness at a young age.  His parents instilled in him a strong work ethic, and he always saw his responsibilities to his household as mandatory.  He learned punctuality under strict orders to never be late to a family meal or gathering. Along with being taught these strong qualities, Taylor was required by his parents to maintain consistent spiritual disciplines.  His father initiated the policy that every child of his must spend a half hour a day alone with God.  His father also led family worship daily.  As a family, they would discuss both the New and Old Testaments.  His parents were careful to teach them about the Bible in its entirety, leaving nothing out.  They placed high value on learning and worshipping as a family unit.  These forced interactions with Christianity formed Taylor’s first and only impression of God until he was seventeen years old (Taylor, 1965, p. 3-4)

At the age of seventeen, Hudson drifted away from the Christian faith and began desiring and searching for wordly materials and experiences.  He had found a job where he was made fun of for his Christian background, and he found it easier to just live a life away from the faith.  His family recognized his change as just a rebellious phase he was going through, but his parents found it difficult to be patient with him.  His mother and his sister were his two main prayer warriors.  These two women fervently for their beloved family member and never relented.  As it turns out, the moment they both felt the strongest need to pray for Taylor was the exact moment that he had his love encounter with God and began feeling convicted.  The Holy Spirit had been at work (Taylor, 5-6).

During his seventeenth year of life, Taylor found himself alone in his father’s library and wanted to find a book to read to keep him busy.  He ended up looking through pamphlets, and he picked up a Gospel tract.  As he read, the words “It is finished” became stuck on his mind.  He began meditating on these words, and soon came to the realization that his debt is paid for completely and that there is nothing he needs to do to “finish” paying for his sins.  Upon this meditation, in a journal entry provided by his parents in J Hudson Taylor: God’s Man in China, Taylor wrote, “And with this dawned the joyful conviction, as light was flashed into my soul by the Holy Spirit, that there was nothing in the world to be done but to fall down on one’s knees and, accepting this Saviour and His salvation, praising Him for evermore” (7).  This was the moment of Taylor’s conversion, the moment his heart and mind became open to God’s calling on his life.  He finally understood the value of all the years of his family spiritual disciplines (Taylor, 6-7).

At the end of his seventeenth year, shortly after his conversion, Taylor spent a significant amount of time alone with God one afternoon.  On this occasion, he felt a strong, undeniable conviction to go to China (Broomhall, 1929, p.7).  Ever since he was young, he had always heard his father talk about having a heavy burden for China and wishing more missionaries would be sent there.  Taylor would occasionally feel a tug on his heart to go, but in this moment in his dad’s library, with the help of the Holy Spirit, his calling was solidified (Taylor, 5).  In another one of Taylor’s journal entries, provided by Marshall Broomhall in Hudson Taylor: The Man Who Believed God, Taylor wrote, “‘Something seemed to say: ‘Your prayer is answered, your conditions are accepted’. And from that time the conviction has never left me that I was called to China’” (7).  On account of Taylor’s clear calling to China, he quickly began preparing himself in every way possible for his future in the Chinese culture.  He began studying medicine and decided the medical field would be the way he would serve Christ (Broomhall, 7).

Contributions to Missionary Thought and Practice

            Hudson Taylor has contributed to missionary thought and practice by sharing his ideas in writing, proposing the concept of moving to the interior, and most significantly, the China Inland Mission itself.  Hudson Taylor is still remembered today as one of the world’s greatest Christian missionaries, and his ideas are still being put into practice.                     Taylor wrote down his thoughts regularly in journals, which today give us insight into what he was thinking when he went through hardships and they give us details about the process of the CIM, which has allowed later missionaries to imitate his strategies.  Taylor also wrote a book called China’s Spiritual Need and Claims, where he showed his passion for reaching the Chinese and gave insight into how God led him and taught him (Taylor, 1895, p. 323-328).

He wrote in his journals about his grievances, his struggles, and his accomplishments.  These written documents contribute to missionary thought and practice today because they give missionaries a sense of reality.  Sometimes Christians can get so wrapped up in the excitement and passion of doing missions that when they realize that it’s not always easy, it’s a slap in the face because they were not expecting hardships.  Taylor talks about feelings of discouragement, frustration, and sadness.  He talks about being broken and he talks about rejoicing.  Being one of the first missionaries to China, Taylor set an example for future missionaries to follow.  He warns them and he informs them of his experiences so that they can release their previous expectations and be open to the life God has called them to.

Hudson Taylor was a big advocate for bringing missions to the interior of the country. Before Taylor’s missionary career, most missionaries stayed along the outskirts of the country, only witnessing to small groups of people, but Taylor was determined to go for the masses, and he encouraged others to do so as well.  He was frustrated with the American way of doing missions, and he set out on his own to accomplish his goals.  This is another demonstration of Taylor setting an example for future missionaries.  Today, mission organizations also send their missionaries straight to the interior.  The idea is to make disciples from within so that they can, in turn, make disciples as they go out.  This idea is a major contribution to missions today.

The China Inland Mission is Taylor’s greatest and most well known contribution to missions.  The mission still exists today and is still founded on many of the same policies (Chao).  The only thing that has changed is its name—Overseas Missionary Fellowship.  One policy that still remains today is the” promise that it would never solicit funds from donors but simply trust God to supply its needs” (Chao).  This idea contributes to missions today because it shows that it truly is possible to rely on God alone for all provisions.  Many missionaries today practice this same trust in God, whether with Overseas Missionary Fellowship, with another organization, or on their own.

The fact that the mission was still in motion even after the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 shows the strength of its solid foundation, which was strong because of Taylor’s leadership.  Hundreds of Chinese Christians were killed during the Boxer Rebellion, and yet, “the number of missionaries quadrupled in the coming decades” (“Biography of J. Hudson Taylor”).  The mission made a huge comeback even after so much destruction.  Without Taylor founding the mission and being its leader, the foundation may not have been strong enough to withstand such trauma.

OMF is now one of the largest missionary organizations in East Asia, serving in twelve different countries including China, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, and Vietnam. They are serving the church and serving the Asian communities, showing them the love of Christ.  OMF hires Christians with professional skills.  They still highly acknowledge Hudson Taylor has the founder of the organization in 1865.  They acknowledge his love for risk-taking, and they still try to model the example he set in the beginning.  More churches have been built and more disciples have been made because of the missionary efforts and actions of Taylor (“OMF’s Work in Asia”).

Principles We Can Derive from His Life and Ministry

James Hudson Taylor’s life and ministry is full of principles that we still see and use today.  He has taught us so much about how to live in a foreign country, how to rely on God, and how we can accomplish the goals God has given us.

One principle that we can derive from Taylor is the principle of being diligent in learning the host culture language before going overseas.  Taylor began studying the Chinese language as a teenager when he first felt called to China.  He began waking up at the crack of dawn just to study more Chinese.  As a boy, he could not afford an instructor, nor could he afford any sort of teaching books.  All he had was a Chinese Bible.  His strategy was to go back and forth with the English and Chinese Bibles and to eventually figure out the meanings of Chinese symbols one word at a time.  This was only the beginning of his Chinese learning.  As he got older and received education, he was able to learn even more.  The important part of this principle is Taylor’s eagerness to learn the language and his diligence in doing so (Taylor, 1965, 13).

Another principle we can derive from Taylor’s life is the idea of dressing and living like the people you seek to evangelize (Chao).  The importance of looking acceptable to a crowd of unbelievers is key.  Missionaries must take note of the new culture in which they are living.  They must seek to match their styles so that they don’t stick out.  By following this principle, missionaries who go overseas will probably be respected quicker by the host culture people, just as Taylor was by the Chinese.

Taylor was a firm believer in that “If the whole resources of the Church of God were well utilized, how much more might be accomplished!” (Taylor, 1895, 320).  This is a principle of the church.  God gives us resources to do His will.  We can choose to use them or we can choose not to use them. Taylor seemed to always have eyes wide-open, ready for God to give him something he could use to bring glory to Him.  I think this is a policy that is valued by our society today, but not practiced by all Christians because we are all imperfect.   This also ties in with Taylor’s belief in the mighty power of God.  We can see in his writings that he believed God would save him from anything, and he believed God could change the heart of the spiritually dead Chinese people.

Taylor believed that in order to “obtain successful laborers,” he must “have earnest prayer to God” and “deepen the spiritual life of the church” (Taylor, 1895, 321).

This principle is crucial in missions.  This principle was practiced in Taylor’s life as he was always saying sincere prayers and pleading with God to save the people of China.

Reference List

“Biography of J. Hudson Taylor”. Ccel. Christian Classics Ethereal Library, n.d. Web. 24

Oct. 2012.

Broomhall, M. (1929). Hudson Taylor: The man who believed God. Great Britain:

R. & R. Clark.

Chao, S. (1996). Remarkable or little known facts about Hudson Taylor and

missions to China. Christian History, 15(4), 2.

Doyle, G. W. (2006, June 28). Christianity in China. [Review of the book The Shaping of

Modern China: Hudson Taylor’s Life and Legacy]. Global China Center.

Retrieved from http://www.globalchina center .org/analysis/christianity-in-

china/the-shaping-of-modern-china-hudson-taylors-life-and-legacy.php

“OMF’s work in Asia”. Omf. OMF International. n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2012.

Taylor, H. (1965). J Hudson Taylor: God’s man in China. Chicago: Moody Press.

Taylor, J. H. (1895). China’s spiritual need and claims. In R.D. Winter  and S.C.

Hawthorne (Eds.), Perspectives on the world Christian movement (4th ed.) (319-328). Pasadena, California: William Carey Library.

Tucker, R.A. (2004). From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A biological history of Christian

missions (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan.

Working Philosophy of Evangelism

I wrote the following paper for my Evangelism class at Huntington University fall 2012.

Evangelism Working Philosophy

Working Philosophy of Evangelism

Five key concepts/principles that I am beginning to internalize as a result of my interaction with this course are:

A. We must have unbelievers in our life and have regular interactions with them.

B. The Holy Spirit convicts / changes hearts, not us.

C. We must gain the trust of the unbeliever.

D. Repentance must be presented as a non-negotiable.

E. We must model discipleship so that the unbeliever may be encouraged to do the same.

 

A. We must have unbelievers in our lives and have regular interactions with them.

1) Evangelism would not exist if there was not anyone to witness to.  Unbelievers must be part of our lives so that we can fulfill our duty as Christians to spread the Good News and make disciples who make disciples.

2) The Great Commission, Matthew 28:19, says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” This command did not only apply to Jesus’ disciples, but to all God’s children.  We must understand that the Great Commission applies to us today.  Once gathering this understanding, we should be motived to evangelize.  One motive is “to love our neighbor and desire to see our fellow-men saved” (Packer, 75). The fact that we want to see our friends saved should motivate us to evangelize. In Born to Reproduce, Dawson Trotman challenges people ask themselves the question, “Who is your boy? Who is your girl?” He goes as far to say that Christians who do not have people born into God’s family though them are spiritually sick (Trotman).  These Christians may not be “spiritually sick” just because spiritual fruit hasn’t been produced through them, but it is true that they may need a wake-up call to evangelize (Class Discussion, 8/30/12).

3) The significance of this concept is that without unbelievers in our lives, we would be going on with our lives as Christians selfishly.  We have a duty to live out, and that is to spread the Good News to all nations, to all people.  If we’re not consistently interacting with non-Christians, hearts may go unsaved.

B. The Holy Spirit convicts/ changes hearts, not us.

1) We are Christ’s advocates, but we leave it to Him to change lives.  We are called to be obedient to the Great Commission, but the Holy Spirit is ultimately the one with the power. We are God’s instruments, but we must remember that He doesn’t necessarily need us; he chooses to use us.

2) In Turning to Jesus: The Sociology of Conversion in the Gospels, McKnight explains that an advocate is a “representative of a group” (84).  In this case, the representative group is the Christian group.  We as Christians are the advocates that are used for “dynamic communication to take place” in order for “conversion to follow” (84).   The book of Acts in the Bible provides two specific examples of advocates’ obedience to God. One is the conversion of the Ethiopian, and the second is the conversion of Cornelius. These conversions would not have happened if advocates, Peter and Philip, were not obedient to God (Scriptural discussion, 9/27/12).

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer discusses the fact that God is sovereign in grace.  Even though God is using us to do His will, He is the one who is omnipotent—all-powerful.  “But it is not right when we take it on us to do more than God has given us to do” (Packer, 29).  We cannot beat ourselves up over not accomplishing something God did not even ask us to do.  He did not ask us to change lives; he called us to share His love and His truth.

3) We cannot be discouraged when cannot see the fruit of our labor.  When we start to think people’s salvation is dependent on us, failure/ success becomes ours.  The victory of a heart won over to Christ is not our victory; it’s God’s. Evangelism is the act of spreading the Word. We cannot measure our successfulness by how many converts come out of our labor.

C.  We must gain the trust of the unbeliever.

1) A person gains trust by being vulnerable, having a loving attitude, and incorporating ethos, pathos, and logos during interactions.  In order for the unbeliever to be vulnerable with the advocate, the advocate will have to be vulnerable first.  The advocate must have a nonjudgmental attitude and do their best to show unconditional love to the unbeliever.  Ethos is the advocate’s credibility.  Logos is the advocate’s appeal to logic. Pathos is the advocate’s appeal to emotion.  All play a role in the evangelism experience.

2) This concept is found in Jim O’Donnell’s book Walking with Arthur. O’Donnell writes about a man named Arthur who shared himself with Jim “with what seemed like an almost uncomfortable level of vulnerability” (O’Donnell, 43).  Since Arthur was so vulnerable in the beginning, O’Donnell slowly grew comfortable sharing his personal depth as well.  Arthur’s ability to relate to O’Donnell’s emotions is an example of pathos being used by the advocate.  Blue Like Jazz provides an excellent example of ethos.  Donald Miller writes about witnessing to an annoying guy in his class, in which case Miller had to change his attitude towards the guy in order for him to see that Miller was trustworthy. Miller notes that people will not listen to you unless they sense that you like them (221). The Celtic Way of Evangelism provides George Campbell’s four goals of communication: “To enlighten the understanding, to move the passions, to influence the will, and to please the imagination” (Hunter, 71).  These four goals are the goals of logos within conversation.

Simpson also shows us why trust is so valuable within evangelism.  He states in Permission Evangelism, “[Unbelievers] aren’t likely to tell you [their needs] unless they feel safe and have a high degree of certainty that you will not reject them” (Simpson, 40).

3) The unbeliever must know that we have their best interest in mind.  We are not trying to “sell” our religion, and we don’t have an ulterior motive.  If we don’t gain the unbeliever’s trust right away, they will likely not want to hear anything else we have to say.  As Christians, we need to be trusted so that unbelievers may see Christ as truth.

D. Repentance must be presented as a non-negotiable.

1) When evangelizing, the advocate must share with the unbeliever that they must repent of their sins.  Accepting the “gift” of eternal life through Jesus Christ (faith) is a big part of the conversion experience, but repentance is just as crucial.

2) Acts 2:38 says, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” We have to ask for forgiveness for our sins before we can receive the gift.  Packer helps to clarify that we can’t accept the gift without repenting and we can’t repent with accepting the gift. “The demand is for faith as well as repentance. It is not enough to resolve to turn from sin, and give up evil habits, and try to put Christ’s teaching into practice by being religious and doing all possible good to others” (Packer, 71). Packer also says, “ The demand is for repentance as well as faith…Knowledge of the gospel, and orthodox belief of it, is no substitute for repentance” (72).  There are many times when people choose to follow Jesus, yet they have not repented, nor do they realize they need to (Evangelistic experience).

3) While it is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, it is our responsibility to provide an opportunity to repent.  There are too many “converts” who think they are following the will of God, and they don’t even understand the full meaning of grace through repentance and forgiveness.

E. We must model discipleship so that the new convert may be encouraged to do the same.

1) Discipleship is an important concept to grasp because it is two-fold. First, the new convert must understand their duty as a Christian is to disciple others. Secondly, the new convert must understand that they are responsible for getting themselves discipled as well.  He or she must understand the challenges that come along with discipleship.

2) Donald Miller provides multiple examples of discipleship in Blue Like Jazz. One conversion led to another, and every conversion in the book was due to discipleship of some sort.  For example, Nadine meets Penny and disciples her through her conversion experience.  Then Penny meets Laura and disciples her through her conversion experience (Miller). The key here is that since Penny had Nadine to model what discipleship looks like, Penny knew how to go about discipling Laura. McKnight proposes the idea that Christian conversions consist of context, crisis, quest, encounter, commitment, and consequences.  The consequence part of the conversion refers to the convert’s lifestyle change. We must make sure the potential convert understands the consequences of becoming a Christian, which include discipleship (Class Discussion, 10/2/12).

3) This concept is significant because often times, discipleship is not presented to the unbeliever or new convert at all, and therefore, they do not realize discipleship is necessary.

Reference List

The Holy Bible.

Hunter, G.G. (2000). The Celtic way of evangelism. Nashville, TN: Abingdon.

McKnight, S. (2002). Turning to Jesus: The sociology of conversion in the gospels.

Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

Miller, D. (2003). Blue like jazz. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

O’Donnell, J. (2005). Walking with Arthur. Northfield.

Packer, J.I. (1961). Evangelism and the sovereignty of God. Downers Grove, IL:

Intervarsity Press.

Simpson, M. (2003). Permission evangelism. Colorado Springs: NexGen.

Trotman, D.E. (1986). Born to reproduce. Colorado Springs: NavPress.

Cognitive Learning Modalities: Appealing to Modality Strengths within Teaching Style

 I wrote the following paper for my Educational Psychology course at Huntington University fall 2012. 

Cognitive Learning Modalities: Appealing to Modality Strengths within Teaching Style

Cognitive Learning Modalities: Appealing to Modality Strengths within Teaching Style

Learning styles encompass students’ natural response to new or relatively difficult situations. There are three categories of learning styles: psychological, physiological, and cognitive.  Specifically, the cognitive learning modalities are the various ways in which students perceive and organize information.  The cognitive modalities include auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile learners. Focusing on the cognitive modalities, elementary school teachers have a tendency to teach according to their own personal learning style.  Once teachers understand the modality through which their students learn best, school subjects may be taught more effectively. Appealing to students’ unique cognitive learning modalities within the teaching style enhances student success in any classroom, specifically, the elementary classroom (T. Peace, class discussion, September 19, 2012).

The definition of modality is provided by Walter B. Barbe and Raymond H. Swassing in their book, Teaching Through Modality Strengths: Concepts and Practices, “A modality is any of the sensory channels through which an individual receives and retains information” (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p.1).  “Learning styles and learning modalities are often spoken of interchangeably” (Powell, 2005, p. 62). The four most common learning modalities are auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile.  Auditory learners learn best though hearing.  Visual learners learn best through seeing.  Kinesthetic learners learn best through movement, using their bodies as the primary way to learn.  Tactile learners are a variation of kinesthetic learners who learn best through touch  (T. Peace, class discussion, September 19, 2012).  Teachers may figure out how to establish their students’ learning modalities, which will help the teacher to instruct effectively, but the teacher also has the responsibility to stimulate the students’ weaker modalities.  The more modalities that are activated, the more learning the students will achieve. In essence, elementary schools are preparing students for middle school, in which the “characteristics of young adolescence” are discovered and learning modalities are highly stimulated (Powell, 2005, p. 62).  There will never be a black and white solution to appealing to students’ learning styles, so “educators should instead focus on the most effective and coherent ways to present particular bodies of content” (Rohrer & Pashler, 2012, p.634)

Furthermore, elementary teachers must use modality-based instruction, but they must also understand when to intervene.  First, there is the initial teaching strategy, which is based on the teachers’ knowledge that some lessons will be more readily grasped by the students if they are presented using a certain modality.  Next, there is the point of intervention, which is when a lesson is first presented one way, but then the teacher discovers that the material must also be presented in a different way in order to give the group who didn’t grasp it the first time another chance to process the information (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p. 55).

The first learning style, auditory, is when the learner perceives and organizes information through their ears.  Some characteristics of auditory learners include: easily distracted by sounds, verbalizes problems, remembers names but forgets faces, and uses phonics to spell words.  Auditory learners prefer to learn through verbal instructions from others or self.  Their reading preferences are plays and books with much dialogue.  Auditory learners are often unaware of illustrations on the pages and move their lips as they read.  When in a conversation, auditory learners enjoy listening to others but cannot wait for their turn to talk.  They often speak repetitively and for long periods of time.  They like to hear their own voice (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p. 44-45).

The auditory learner must learn to transfer information from one modality to the auditory modality, just as any learner must learn to transfer information to their natural modality.  This is where the teacher’s role is vital.  If the teacher is not providing the auditory learning student with opportunities to transfer the information, the student may spend a significant amount of time wondering why he or she cannot simply grasp the concepts that are being taught continuously.  The student may even develop a sense of learned helplessness, which is when the student comes to believe they cannot control or improve their learning (Woolfolk, 2004, p.125).

For example, a teacher who is naturally a visual learner may initially use a visual teaching strategy to teach spelling to a class of third graders.  The teacher knows that one student in particular, Kit, is an auditory learner. The visual strategy that the teacher used was to write the spelling word “loud” on the board.  The teacher pointed to the letters and explained the maximum, minimum, and intermediate letters.  She also circled the letters as she made references to them.  Meanwhile, Kit sees the word on the board and sounds it out to herself, without paying much attention to the circles that the teacher is drawing all over the board.  Barbe and Swassing provide a short case study of how this particular teacher should handle the situation.  Since the teacher knows Kit is an auditory learner, she asks Kit to verbally tell her what letters are in the word.  Kit answers with the correct spelling and includes the correct definition (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p. 58-59).

Ms. Cullen knows that Kit is an auditory learner, and does not insist that she use the configuration cues. Ms. Cullen also realizes that the hesitation Kit showed before she spoke was not a sign that she did not know the answer, but indicated that Kit was transferring the letters from the visual display on the board to a series of sounds that she said to herself (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p.59).

Ms. Cullen was able to keep her preferred teaching strategy and make a minor adjustment to the presentation of the material for Kit (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p. 61).  She provided an opportunity for Kit to practice transferring modalities.

The second learning style, visual, is when the learner uses their eyes to perceive and organize information.  Some characteristics of a visual learner include: vivid imagination, remembers faces but forgets names, thinks in pictures, generally unaware of sounds, and organizes thoughts by writing them.  Visual learners learn best by seeing and watching demonstrations.  When reading, a visual learner prefers lengthy descriptions and sometimes stops reading to stare into space and imagine a scene. When in communication with others, visual learners do not talk at length, and they become impatient when extensive listening is required (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p. 44-45).

Once again, Barbe and Swassing provide an example of a visual learner in the classroom.  The scenario they give is in the same third grade classroom, with the same teacher, but with a different student and a different spelling word.  This time, Ms. Cullen does not write the word on the board, instead, she tells the class that the word is “brown.” Hanley is a student in the class, and as soon as she hears the word, she tries to visualize it and write it down.  She looks at her paper and realizes that the first time she wrote the word, the spelling was incorrect, so she writes the word again correctly.  When Hanley is asked to spell the word aloud, she does so without hesitating by looking at her paper as she pronounces the letters “b, r, o, w, n”  (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p. 60).  Ms. Cullen provides a way for Hanley to practice transferring a different modality (auditory) to her natural learning modality (visual).

The third learning style, kinesthetic, is when the learner learns best through touch and movement.  Tactile learning is the fourth learning style, which primarily has to do with touch, but the characteristics of both kinesthetic and tactile are very similar.  These characteristics include: remembers best what was done rather than what was seen or talked about, not attentive to visual or auditory presentation, finds reason to move, and often a poor speller.  Kinesthetic/tactile learners learn best by doing and having direct involvement.  When reading, kinesthetic learners prefer stories where action occurs early and they also fidget as they handle a book.  They do not read often.  When in communication, they gesture often when speaking, and they quickly lose interest in detailed verbal discourse (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p. 44-55). Kinesthetic learners are all about movement. Math is a subject where much kinesthetic learning can occur.  There are many kinesthetic strategies of teaching within the subject of math.  For example, Karen Woods provides dancing strategies for students to get up and move around the room in order to learn math concepts.  “The challenge is to think laterally and find the place where movement fits in” (Wood, 2008, p.22).

Barbe and Swassing also provide an example of a kinesthetic learner in Ms. Cullen’s third grade classroom.  The next spelling word is “contest”.  The kinesthetic learner, Cy, does not pay attention to the lesson until he is called on to go up to the board and trace the word four times as Ms. Cullen talks about the word.  Once Ms. Cullen is done talking, Cy is able to explain exactly what the word means after tracing it multiple times.  The key here was that Ms. Cullen made a slight adjustment to her teaching strategy to appeal to Cy’s kinesthetic learning modality (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p. 60).

The three scenarios in Ms. Cullen’s class explained above were about making small adjustments in a teaching strategy in order to appeal to the students’ learning modality.  She did not force her own learning style on her students, nor did she ignore her preferred way of learning.  Her adjustments were not difficult; she simply used her own knowledge of learning modalities to make adjustments to her teaching strategy (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p.61).  Not all scenarios are this easy to resolve.  If there is a larger group of students that is not grasping certain material when it is presented, there is a second option. In order to appeal to the students’ learning modalities, the teacher may have to find a point of intervention, which is when the teaching strategy is completely altered.  Intervening should occur only if there is a large number of students who are failing to grasp a lesson.  The teacher may have to completely change the teaching strategy in order to accommodate the learning styles of the group of students who just don’t get it.  There are two ways to go about taking action for the point of intervention (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p. 62).

The first way to change the mode of instruction is through grouping students.  By grouping students, the teacher can take the group of students that does not understand the material and work with them separately at a time when the rest of the students are doing individual work.  For example, if there was a large group of kinesthetic learners in Ms. Cullen’s class, she could have taken that whole group of students up to the board to practice tracing the words while the other students would be engaged in seatwork.  Ms. Cullen would change her teaching strategy to appeal to the specific group of students (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p. 62-63).

The second way to change the mode of instruction is through “directing students to activities on which they can work alone” (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p. 63).  Most elementary school teachers prefer this way of intervening.

When students are given the opportunity to work at their own rate on materials that are geared to their modality strengths, it is likely that the students will reap the primary benefit intended—acquisition of a specific academic skill.  In addition, the students will develop independence, self-confidence, and a more positive self-image (Barbe & Swassing, 1988, p. 63).

This second way of changing the teaching strategies may be better in the long run because it helps develop life skills, such as independence.

In conclusion, when elementary school teachers appeal to the learning styles of their students, learning is enhanced. As aforementioned, trying to match a visual teaching strategy with a class full of auditory learners will be difficult.  Using the same strategies over and over again will not necessarily help the students’ master the concept. Rather, teachers must match their instruction with the learners’ styles. “If we were to assess the quality of our teaching based on our students’ learning, we would aim to diversify our instructional approach to be more inclusive of all learners’ preferences” (Leopold, 2012, p. 101).  When designing activities and establishing classroom objectives, the cognitive learning modalities of students should be considered.  Sometimes, it may even be helpful in upper elementary to simply ask the students’ opinion of how they would prefer to learn a certain lesson before beginning the lesson (Leopold, 2012, p. 202).  This can give the teacher an idea of how to plan in the future.  When teaching, educators should always look to both the students’ weaker and stronger learning modalities in order to strengthen their natural styles and to encourage them to learn using the other styles as well.

References

Barbe, W.B., & Swassing, R. H. (1988). Teaching through modality strengths: Concepts

and practices. Columbus, OH: Zaner-Bloser, Inc.

Leopold, L. (2012). Prewriting tasks for auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners. TESL

Canada Journal, 29(2), 96-102. http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ981503.pdf

Powell, S.D. (2004). Introduction to middle school. United States: Prentice Hall.

Rohrer, D., & Pashler, H. (2012). Learning styles: Where’s the evidence? Medical

Education, 46(7), 634-635. http://uweb.cas.usf.edu/~drohrer/pdfs/Rohrer&Pashler2012MedEd.pdf

Wood, K. (2008). Mathematics through movement: An investigation of the links between

kinesthetic and conceptual learning. Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 13(1), 18-22. http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ793993.pdf

Woolfolk, A. (2004). Educational psychology (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education,

Inc.

Cooperate to Compete

I wrote the following paper for my Literature course at Huntington University spring 2012.

Cooperate to Compete

Cooperate to Compete

            A man lives in an isolated jungle with no animals and no other human beings.  He has lived his whole life here with only plants to eat.  He competes with nature as he tries to survive, finding shelter in the rain and building fires for warmth. The moment another human being enters the environment, does he cooperate or compete with them?  His instinct is to compete.  He competes with this new human for food, water, and other resources needed to survive.  Soon they will learn that if they cooperate, they can split the work of finding resources and compete against nature together.  Society did not have to teach them how to compete.  As human beings, it is our instinctive nature to compete against not only each other but also ourselves and nature.  In doing so, we learn to cooperate; therefore, cooperation becomes second nature.  In his novel Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger provides an excellent example of humans’ natural inclination to compete in his novel Franny and Zooey.  Both competition and cooperation are natural, although competition always comes before cooperation.

Human beings are motivated by competition.  For example, when a mother tells her son to pick up his toys, he does not listen right away.  In an effort to motivate her son, the mother may say, “Let’s see who can pick up the most toys!”  Making the chore a game creates competition between the son and the mother, and motivating the child to complete the task.  The son is not naturally inclined to cooperate with the mother at first, but once an opportunity to compete is offered, he instinctively plays along. He cooperates to compete.  Furthermore, they pick up all the toys in the room, the son fills with joy and pride to see that, indeed, he beat his mother in picking up more toys than she did.  We are filled with an insane amount of happiness whenever we accomplish something great, which is why competing comes so natural.

Another example of our competitive nature is seen everyday by the way humans interact with each other.  Women compete with other women with the clothes they wear.  They constantly have the desire to one-up each other and be acknowledged.  Even in sweat pants, a girl is making the statement that she can still be cool in sweats even though all the other girls wear nice sun dresses.  Men and women compete daily in the way they dress, how funny they are, how many places they’ve been, test scores, sports, and materialistic possessions.  Everything in life is an argument, including every piece of artwork, advertisements, and even cars.  A billboard argues that its product is worth the investment.  A run-down car conveys that the driver probably could not afford a luxurious car (Lunsford, Ruszkiewicz, and Walters).  Therefore, if everything is an argument, then naturally, we are continuously competing.

As we compete throughout life, we learn to cooperate.  Any sport supports this claim.  While playing soccer, for example, our initial desire is to beat the other team.  Once this desire is present, we must take a step back and figure our how we will cooperate with our own team to reach the goal of winning, as well as cooperate with the opposing team by playing by the rules.  Even in a sport that doesn’t necessarily have teams, such as singles tennis, the player must cooperate with the opposing player to keep score and play by the rules.  The order of humans’ thought process is as follows: compete, cooperate, compete while cooperating.  Once again, we cooperate in order to compete, and once we learn how to cooperate well as we get older, cooperation comes as naturally as competition.

René Girard, a French professor at Stanford University, created what is called the mimetic theory.  The mimetic theory “emphasizes the role of imitation in our lives, as an effect and a behavior and a motivation” (Haven).  Girard’s theory argues that people’s desires determine our desires.  When a child sees someone with an ice cream cone, he or she will desire the ice cream because of what they see.  We don’t want just for the sake of wanting, rather, we see what others have and want to be like them. We learn our desires from other people, and we are naturally driven to compete for our learned desires (Haven).

Moreover, J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey is about a young, college-aged girl, Franny Glass, who struggles with her spirituality and the world’s fakeness.  The story is two-fold.  In the beginning, Franny has an emotional breakdown while having lunch with her boyfriend, Lane, whom she had not seen for a while.  She notices Lane’s superficiality and is suddenly overwhelmed with the idea that she is the only one in the world who notices everyone’s lack of depth.  The second part of the story takes place at the Glass home and is composed of dialogue between Franny and her older brother Zooey.  Zooey tries to help Franny understand what she is feeling, but he only makes her feel worse.  In the end, Zooey eventually helps Franny to conclude that everyone, no matter what they say or do, is deserving of love.

As mentioned, in the beginning of the story, Franny and Lane are seated at a restaurant, and Franny picks up on Lane’s egotistic, shallow mindset.

When the drinks had first been served to them, ten or fifteen minutes earlier, Lane had sampled his, then sat back and briefly looked around the room with an almost palpable sense of well-being at finding himself (he must have been sure no one could dispute) in the right place with an unimpeachably right-looking girl—a girl who was not only extraordinarily pretty but, so much the better, not too categorically cashmere sweater and flannel skirt. Franny had seen this momentary little exposure, and had taken it in for what is was, neither more nor less. But by some old, standing arrangement with her psyche, she elected to feel guilty for having seen it, caught it, and sentenced herself to listen to Lane’s ensuing conversation with a special semblance of absorption” (Salinger 11).

Franny’s initial response to Lane’s prideful observation is not positive.  In fact, if she had continued to act upon her initial reaction, she probably would have immediately insulted Lane for being so self-centered.  The reason the reader can know her thoughts are negative is because she immediately feels guilty for noticing.  If Lane had been doing something she was happy about, she would feel guilty.  Naturally, Franny wants to argue to Lane that being conceited is wrong, but once she realizes her thoughts, she quickly decides to cooperate and listen to him rant about himself.

The first time the reader sees Zooey interacting with another human, he is arguing with his mother, Bessie, about his taste in drama. Immediately, Zooey gives the impression that he is an actively competitive human being.  When he is in a conversation with Franny, he reflects on his views that every person is egotistical, similar to Franny’s new realizations.  At one point in the conversation, Zooey looks outside and thoughtfully gazes at a girl happily walking her dog.  “‘God damn it,’ he said, ‘there are nice things in this world—and I mean nice things.  We’re all such morons to get sidetracked.  Always, always, always referring to every goddamn thing that happens right back to our lousy little egos.’” (151).  By saying that everyone glorifies themselves, he is making an argument.  Therefore, by calling everyone else in the world competitive, he is also being competitive.  It seems as though Franny and Zooey do not consider themselves as competing within the competitive world, but rather, against the world as a whole, yet competition, rather than cooperation is still the first nature.

As Zooey attempts to help Franny, he tells her everything she is doing wrong.  He tells her that she is wrong about her belief of Jesus, and he spends immense amount of time correcting her beliefs.  Within his arguments, Zooey implies that instead of blaming other people for their egos, Franny should remind herself to forgive them for their failures.  Meanwhile, Franny is feeling worse about herself and becomes “busy with several folds of Keenex” (152).  She tells Zooey that he’s not helping her confusion.  Zooey is competing with Franny to allow her to understand her thoughts and emotions, while Franny is competing with Zooey in order for him to see her side of the situation.  They talk in circles until they realize the importance of cooperation.

At the end of the story, Zooey goes into Buddy’s room and calls Franny, pretending to be Buddy at first.  Soon after, Franny realizes that it’s Zooey on the phone, and he continues talking.  He explains that when they were in a radio show as kids, he was taught by one of their older brothers to shine his shoes for the “Fat Lady.”  Zooey conveys that everyone is deserving of love.  We should love everyone for the “Fat Lady.”  The Fat Lady is a symbol of Jesus, the person who is watching at all times.  Franny is finally able to understand what Zooey was trying to express, and they are able to cooperate.  Following their argument, cooperation finally came naturally between them.

One objection to the argument that humans are, by nature, competitive is the question, “What about the behavior of people following a natural disaster?”  When a hurricane strikes land, the residents of the area are immediately inclined to cooperate with each other in order to survive. “People cooperate not only for selfish reasons but also because they are genuinely concerned about the well-being of others, try to uphold social norms, and value behaving ethically for its own sake” (“A Cooperative Species”).  The answer to this question is that while humans may be cooperative with each other in such an event, they are competing with the natural disaster.  The natural disaster becomes the common enemy, so humans are quick to cooperate with each other, but the natural inclination to compete came even before the cooperation.

Another objection may be, “If we learn our desires from other people, then how is it natural for us to compete for unnatural wants?”  Yes, aside from hunger, thirst, and sleep, there are certain desires that we learn. They are not natural because society creates them, but that does not mean that competition is not natural.  There is a competitive drive within all of us.

Our competitive nature is important to understand in order to be cooperative.  We must learn to be cooperative in order to co-exist with one another.  It’s important to be aware of the fact that our instincts to compete are not always the best for us as a whole.  Competition can be both good and bad, but we must first know it is natural and then move on from there to decipher between constructive and deconstructive competition.  An example of constructive competition would be the market economy.  Every business is at competition with the other, and in turn, the businesses become better and better as each attempts to be the best.  An example of deconstructive competition can be seen in some wars between countries in which nothing is settled, and each side only becomes weaker.

In conclusion, humans learn their desires, as shown in Girard’s mimetic theory.  We want what others have.  As people learn, grow, and mature, they realize that their natural tendency to compete is not always the best for their well-being, and cooperation is learned and actively used.  We are naturally both competitive and cooperative beings, but cooperation is only second nature.

Works Cited

“A Cooperative Species: Human Reciprocity and its Evolution” Themontrealreview. The

Montreal Review, Nov. 2011. Web. 3 May 2012.

Haven, Cynthia. “History is a Test. Mankind is Failing it: René Girard Scrutinizes the

Human Condition from Creation to Apocalypse.” Stanford Magazine. Stanford

Mag., July 2009. Web. 3 May 2012.

Lunsford, Andrea A., John Ruskiewicz, and Keith Walters. Everything’s an Arugument.

4th ed. Bedford: St. Martin’s, 2006. Print.

Salinger, J.D. Franny and Zooey. New York: Litte, Brown and Company, 1961. Print.

Dyslexia

I wrote the following paper for my Education of the Exceptional Child course at Huntington University Spring 2012.

Dyslexia

Dyslexia

Learning disabilities are disorders in which basic psychological processes, such as reading, written expression, math, oral expression, and listening comprehension, are impacted.  These disabilities affect people of all ages and make up over half of all learning disabilities.  Dyslexia, in particular, is a learning disorder that is “caused by an impairment in the brain’s ability to translate images received from the eyes or ears into understandable language” (Perlstein, 2008).  The definition of dyslexia can vary according to each individual case.  For example, Josh Green of Blissfield, Michigan, a tenth grader at Blissfield High School, has been diagnosed with dyslexia, and his situation may be different from many other students with dyslexia.  It is a false notion to believe that dyslexic students will never be able to read or write because, in fact, most dyslexic students do learn to read or write to some degree.  Dyslexia is a learning disability that is not equivalent to low intelligence or inability to understand complex ideas; rather, it is simply a difficulty in perceiving words, whether written or spoken.

In the mid-nineteenth century, dyslexia was not yet a term used to describe a learning disability, although many physicians and teachers caught on to the fact that there was a certain reading problem arising in many students.  In 1877, Adolf Kussmaul, a German physician, coined the term word-blindness for this obscure condition.  Kussmaul “narrowed the clinical entity of word-blindness to that of an isolated condition affecting the ability to recognize and read text, but with both intelligence and expressive language intact” (Shaywitz, 2003, p. 15).  After Kussmaul, another German physician, Rudolf Berlin, came along and elaborated on Kussmaul’s work.  Berlin used the term dyslexia to refer to adults who acquire word-blindness.  He thought of dyslexia as a part of a larger family of learning disorders called “aphasia,” in which there is difficulty in either understanding or producing spoken language, or both (Shaywitz, 2003, p.15).

Typically, there were two types of word-blindness.  One type was found in adults and was an acquired disability that followed damage to the brain after an injury.  The other type is congenital word-blindness, meaning the disability starts at birth.  In the acquired word-blindness, a brain lesion disrupts a well-functioning neural system.  The congenital form, therefore, is a condition in which the neural system never fully works properly.  “There is a glitch in the wiring when it is first laid down during embryonic development, and this miswiring is confined to a specific neural system” (Shaywitz, 2003, p. 17).

Today, the term “word-blindness” is not used anymore, and dyslexia is now the term used to describe these language disabilities. One in five students have a language-based learning disability, and dyslexia is the most common of these disabilities.  Dyslexia is a disability that is recognized and is covered under provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.  It is also important to note that dyslexia is non-discriminating against people within certain ethnic or socioeconomic backgrounds (Henry, 2009).  Dyslexic students may complain of dizziness or headaches while reading or of seeing non-existent movement while reading.  They may also find difficulty in putting thoughts into words and they may leave sentences incomplete, mispronounce long words, or transpose phrases (Davis, 1992).

Tenth grader Josh Green was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was in third grade.  His mother, Paula Green, always knew he had a learning problem as early as pre-k, but she could not pinpoint his condition.  One early sign that Paula remembers is when Josh was first learning to speak, he said the word “garbage” as “bargage.”  Now that she looks back, she is able to connect his speaking difficulties with dyslexia.  Josh’s kindergarten teacher was the one who informed Paula that Josh was not comprehending the sounds of letters (personal communication, April 24, 2012).

An individual being diagnosed with dyslexia affects not only the student’s life in the classroom, but also his/her home life and social life.  When Josh was diagnosed as dyslexic, his parents realized that they needed to make sure they focused on his strengths, not just his disabilities (he has also been diagnosed with ADD and another visual tracking disorder).  Josh’s older sister, Grace, flew through grade school, and it was hard for Josh to constantly be compared to his brilliant sister (personal communication, April 24, 2012).

Socially, many dyslexic students have poor self-esteem (Goldenring & Zieve, 2012).  Though they can be just as intelligent or even more intelligent than their peers, other students may still label dyslexic students as having a problem.  Children are sensitive in general, so when classmates make fun of those with dyslexia, they take it to heart and assume they are not as good as the other students.  Many dyslexic students try to cover up weaknesses with ingenious compensatory strategies and are easily frustrated and emotion about school reading or testing. Josh, however, has been blessed with an exceptional support system from both family and friends.  Most students at Blissfield High School offer to help him rather than ridicule him.

In the classroom, dyslexia can cause many different kinds of struggles.  Dyslexic students may have no problem counting, but may fail to grasp word problems. Some may be able to speak and listen just fine, but become lost when writing and reading.  They can either be the class clown, the troublemaker, or too quiet (Davis, 1992).  Josh Green struggles the most with reading sentences fluently. He always gets stuck differentiating between B’s and D’s, and he has to stop himself many times has he’s reading.  Sometimes Josh’s spoken words even come out backwards.  For example, he remembers walking to class through wet grass with a friend one day and exclaiming, “My soaked are socks!”  What he really meant was, “My socks are soaked!”  Josh’s disability started as getting particular sounds mixed up, which is still a reoccurring problem, but now that he’s older, he also mixes up entire phrases.  Josh had a tutor from kindergarten to eighth grade, helping him with his reading and writing.  Now that he is in high school, he is in a special program called the 508 Plan in which is given special accommodations (personal communication, April 14, 2012).

Sally Shaywitz in Overcoming Dyslexia provides two main principles to guide parents and professionals who deal with dyslexic students.  The first principle is: Develop a life span perspective. “What works best for a sixty-year-old is not going to be the most helpful approach for a sixteen-year-old” (2003, p. 172).  The second principle is: Remediate the phonologic weakness and access the higher-level thinking and reasoning strengths (through accommodations).  “For many children, accommodations represent the difference between academic success and failure, between a growing sense of self-confidence and an enduring sense of defeat” (2003, p. 172).

A new educator might approach a dyslexic student by first understanding that dyslexia can be different for every individual.  The new educator might also take Shaywitz’s guiding principles into account.  He/she must be aware of the student’s strengths and remember to praise the child for improvement.  It is crucial that the student feels worthy of the teacher’s time in order for them to positively progress.  In general, dyslexic students learn best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids (Davis, 1992).  Educators must understand and utilize these visual teaching techniques.  If approaching Josh Green, for example, a teacher might ask him about one of his interests.  He would probably respond by telling he or she how much he enjoys taking vehicles apart and then putting them back together again.  The educator might then use this interest of his and ask Josh to write down the process of taking apart a snow mobile to give him extra writing practice.

Dyslexic students make up more than half of the students diagnosed with a learning disability.  Their disability does not have to do with a visual or hearing impairment, low IQ, or inability to grasp concepts.  Dyslexia is a language disability that causes students to misread and miswrite letters and words.

Reference List

Davis, R. D. (1992). 37 Common characteristics of dyslexia. Retrieved from

http://www.dyslexia.com/library/symptoms.htm

Goldenring, J. Zieve, D. (2012). Developmental reading disorder. Retrieved from

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002379/

Henry, D. (2009). Dyslexia statistics. Retrieved from

http://www.dyslexiahealth.com/dyslexia-statistics/

Shaywitz, S. (2003). Overcoming dyslexia: A new and complete science-based

program for reading problems at any level. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.