God’s Exemplary Graduates : Character-Oriented Graduate Attributes in Theological Education

Higher Educational Institutions produce graduates who then take their place as leaders in society for years to come. The aspirations of an Institution of learning can be expressed in terms of Institutional and/or Course Graduate Attributes, which can guide and shape the learning experiences of the students on their journey towards those goals.

Given the increasingly obvious need for societal leaders being decent human beings who act ethically and with integrity, how can institutional Graduate Attributes aspire to shape these kind of human beings?

How can the student learning experience be guided by such Graduate Attributes in order to bring the aspirations into reality, producing ethical and humane graduates?

Can an Institution of Higher Education hope to graduate better human beings prepared to build a better society?

Since the transformation of character has always been on the agenda for theological education, the conference will explore the theme of character-focused Graduate Attributes within the Theological Higher Education sector.

Program

Presenters and papers

Trevor Cairney (University of Sydney)
Religious Higher Education at the Crossroads: The need to reconsider epistemology, pedagogy and formation

George Athas (Moore College)
‘Is the Christian also among the Academics?’ A Proposal for Genuine Research in a Confessional Context

Maggie Kappelhoff (University of Divinity)
Ecclesial Shifts and Educational Rifts: Riding the Tide of Theological Education

Steve Taylor & Rosemary Dewerse (Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership,
Dunedin, New Zealand / Flinders University)
Graduate formation and life-long learning in the context of ministerial vocations

Neil Foster (University of Newcastle)
Religious Freedom and the Academy

Dennis Nutt (Sydney College of Divinity)
Should Ministers Be Graduates Anyway?

Diane Hockridge (Ridley College, Australian College of Theology; Macquarie University)
Online Learning Design for graduate formation: emerging principles and pedagogies

Les Ball (Australian College of Ministries, Sydney College of Divinity)
The Role of Curriculum in Developing Character-Oriented Graduate Attributes, with an Illustration from Church History

Peter Mudge (Sydney College of Divinity)
“But only one thing is necessary” – Cultivating Key Virtues in Graduates through a Methodology based on epektasis and the Divine Pedagogy

James Dalziel (Morling College, Australian College of Theology; University of Divinity)
Graduate Attributes and Theological Education: Interactions between Organisational Change, Spiritual Formation, Online Learning and Business Models

Michael Gladwin (St Mark’s National Theological Centre,Charles Sturt University)
The inner GLO: teaching church history in a university-based, Australian theological college

David McEwan (Nazarene Theological College, Sydney College of Divinity)
Private Study, Social Learning and Embodied Practice: Insights from John Wesley’s Framework for Preparing Effective Ministers in Early Methodism

Geoff Treloar (Australian College of Theology)
Graduate Attributes in the Australian College of Theology – Rhetoric or Reality?

Bernard Doherty (St Mark’s National Theological Centre, Charles Sturt University)
“Cults” in the Classroom: Some Neglected Challenges of Religious Pluralism and Multiculturalism to Pedagogy and Curriculum in Theological Education

David Wright (Bible College of South Australia, Australian College of Theology)
“Integration” in the Ancient World – An Anachronistic concept?

Sarah Hart (Good Shepherd College, Sydney College of Divinity)
Popular Songs and Psalms

Peter Laughlin (Australian College of Ministries, Sydney College of Divinity)
Designing Effective International FieldworkExperiences: How ACOM
and the Alliance Institute for Mission have worked to ensure both Short and Long Term International Fieldwork Experiences Lead to Student Transformation

Constantine Campbell (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Il., USA)
Language Learning in Theological Education

Neil Holm (Sydney College of Divinity)
The Righteous Mind

Andrew Errington (St Mark’s National Theological Centre, Charles Sturt University)
Character and pedagogy in the book of Proverbs

Edwina Blair (Australian College of Ministries, Sydney College of Divinity)
Pilgrimage or Junket: The Formational Value of ACOM Holy Land Study Tours

Seumas Macdonald (St Cyril’s Theological College, Sydney College of Divinity)
Sheltering Vocabulary: re-sequencing the Greek reading experience for
late-stage beginners

Peter Bolt (Office of the Dean, Sydney College of Divinity)
Educating for Eternity: Ultimate Learning Outcomes in Colonial NSW

James Pietsch (Inaburra School, Bangor NSW)
Educating for the kingdom: the development of character through participation in preparatory learning activities

Debra Snoddy (Catholic Institute of Sydney, Sydney College of Divinity)
Graduate Attributes and the Gospel of John

Claire Smith (Independent Researcher)
The power of persuasion: Paul’s parakaleō appeals

Sebastian Salaske (University of Muenster, Germany)
God’s Exemplary Graduates in times of ecological crisis Creating a learning environment that enables future leaders to become authentic promotors of an ecological conversion

Peter Carblis (Uni Newcastle/ Sydney College of Divinity)
Graduate Attributes and the New Covenant

Laurie Woods (ACU [Retired]; Australian Catholic Biblical Association)
Appreciating the Creative Artistry of the Hebrew Text and the Rabbinic Tradition of Interpretation