In
this book, Wulff attempts to discuss the relationship between religion and
psychology. In essence, the author examines the uneasy relationship between
psychology and religion and how it changes and develops over time. The book
then considers the scientific psychological research of religious practice,
thought, and feelings have been influenced by the confinement to the study of
Western Christianity. In this paper, the focus is on chapter two –religion and
psychology.
In chapter two, the question that seems to be addressed is, “Is the
psychology of religion the psychology of Western Christianity?” According to
the author, religious attitudes and beliefs can be related to introversion and
neuroticism. Introversion entails low sociability and impulsivity whereas
neuroticism entails anxiety, depression, tension, and low self-esteem. Neurotic
introverts can be more easily conditioned than other people and thus be more
prone to injunctions of all manners, including religious injunctions.
The
study has it that the different religious traditions are so different from one
another that there can be no common ground of understanding arrived at by
psychologists. The Buddhists seem to place more emphasis on the
psychological-interpersonal-spiritual context in their understanding of
psychological difficulties. They also believe that sorrow and misfortune result
from faulty of perception. Christianity has it that difficulty is as a result
of personal responsibility. They also regard sin as a misuse of human freedom,
with sufferings being the result of sin. According to Hinduism, plagues in
one’s life result from an evil eye, life stress, spirit possession, or
repercussions of previous lifestyles. Islam holds that sin is caused by pride
and self-sufficiency. In this religion, regular prayer is beneficial
psychologically.
Summary 2
Burnaford, Gail E.,
Arnold Aprill, and Cynthia Weiss, eds. Renaissance in the classroom: Arts
integration and meaningful learning. Routledge, 2013.
In
their book, Gail Burnaford, Arnold Aprill, and Cynthia Weiss address the issue
of lack of fruitful partnership projects involving curriculum integration, as
well as the development and documentation of coherent models for designing and
implementing the integrated curriculum. These authors strive to address that
lack by presenting a detailed primer on the arts education partnerships as well
as curriculum integration visa arts. In
chapter one, the authors discuss arts integration as they define it and give a
reason for doing the integration. From
this chapter, we can learn that children need arts in their daily lives and
they can benefit from arts learning that is deeply immersed in all curricula
areas. Learners need to have daily access to the teachers who think creatively
about how learning in their classrooms can extend the textbook and dip well
into the real world.
The
authors, using various case studies from schools agree that child should
participate actively as they use their hands and minds to make connections
between what they learn and what they live. They also say that arts integration
is compatible with other engaged learning techniques like problem-based
learning as well as teaching with the knowledge of the multiple intelligences.
Incorporating arts into the curriculum can help schooling to be more rigorous,
real, and creative for students. They say that arts integration is the way of
conceptualizing teaching and learning rather than a formula or a strict
structure that needs specific resources.
It encourages individuals and groups of students to stretch out their
hand to the community resources and make useful links to the school curriculum.
Arts integration also encourages leaders of the young learners to observe the
connections between the knowledge in a given area to another, between a unit in
one subject and a unit in another. This
association will show the students that such way of thinking is possible and is
done in the real world.
Summary 3
Alterio, Maxine, and
Janice McDrury. Learning through storytelling in higher education: Using
reflection and experience to improve learning. Routledge, 2003.
Alteiro,
Maxine, and Janice’s book is the first one to cover storytelling as an
effective learning tool at higher education, and since then storytelling as a
learning tool has become increasingly popular. The authors have woven together
the traditions of story-telling and reflective learning. They give their own
experiences to help the readers find a plethora of ideas for students and other
professionals seeking to give stories an honored place in not only their
learning but also their practice within the educational and clinical context.
The chapter seven of this book describes the way to introduce learners to
several reflection theories to help them understand the essence reflective
learning. Reflective learning is defined by the authors as the process of
internally contemplating and exploring a problem of concern, activated by an
experience that creates and clarifies the meaning regarding self, and that
leads to a changed conceptual perspective.
The
authors say that reflective learning offers a way of accessing what
practitioners know and instinctually but cannot easily share it, something
referred to as tacit knowledge.
Reflective practice helps to reveal any discrepancies between the espoused
theories –what the practitioners perceive is happening and why the theories in
use –what is happening in practice. The attempts to grasp tacit knowledge and
find ways of breaching the gap between the espoused theories and the theories
in use led to the development of reflective practice. The authors say that, apart from helping to
bleach the gap stated above, it can initiate and support new leaning. By examining the definitions from various
scholars, the authors find common ground in all the views. They say that the process of reflection
entails self and its consequence is a changed conceptual viewpoint. Explanation (categorizing, conceptualizing,
and constructing theories from experience) and expression (of letting the
meaning from experience to become apparent) are two ways of reflecting on and
processing experience.
Works Cited
Alterio, Maxine, and
Janice McDrury. Learning through storytelling in higher education: Using
reflection and experience to improve learning. Routledge, 2003.
Burnaford, Gail E.,
Arnold Aprill, and Cynthia Weiss, eds. Renaissance in the classroom: Arts
integration and meaningful learning. Routledge, 2013.
Wulff, David M.
"Psychology of religion." Encyclopedia of psychology and religion.
Springer US, 2010. 732-735.
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