_______ ________ Lutheran School is a K-6 with just under 200 students. We are in an area where there are lots of farming families who are a part of our school community. The school’s vision, mission and aims are based around it being a ‘loving Christian Community’ through encouraging students in life-long learning and ‘to maturity in Christ’. As you can see in the school logo, the risen Jesus Christ, the love and grace of God and the bible are central to the foundation and operation of the school.

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Nature of Learners:

• All students are on their own personal spiritual journey and level of understanding and beliefs because there is such a variety of value placed on religious beliefs in the home environment.

• Some students work well independently and question and inquire confidently. Other students need further guidance, encouragement and prompting in order to go further than surface level with their understandings.

• We need to acknowledge the different opinions, understandings, backgrounds and experiences of each individual student. This can be gauged starting with formative assessment to be able to have a starting point of each student's learning.

• Students need opportunities to reflect, challenge their thinking, discuss beliefs and understandings with trusted peers and ask questions to develop their understanding. 

• I aim to and have the opportunity to focus on questioning and supporting students to use respectful dialogue (CSCF, 2015) and create a trusting environment for learners to openly share their beliefs, challenges and world views so that it opens the door to discovery, engagement and a journey that students are excited to be on.

Challenges:

• Students are quite sheltered in relation to being exposed to different religions and belief systems throughout society. Within our school community we do not have a large variety of families with different religious beliefs and backgrounds.

• There are a small portion of students who are involved in Christianity, both Lutheran and other. Some who are occasionally involved in religious services throughout the year and a growing number of students who do not affiliate with any religion.

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Nature of Learning:

• At our school, we place great value on the nature of learning and the importance of inquiry learning in all learning areas.

• We have started our journey as a whole staff around Human-Centered Design which is based around Inquiry based learning and the importance of equipping student with the thinking skills required to question and think deeper. This is vitally important in Christian Studies as I aim to develop my approach to students questioning and guiding their inquiry through challenging their thinking, delving further into scripture and looking into the context of bible stories.

• In Christian Studies we have a Scope and Sequence in place that allows for there to be a process of learning that allows students to build on previous understanding to develop deeper thinking of key theological concepts and discover their own worldview as a growing journey.  

• We are beginning the process of re-evaluating our Christian Studies Scope and Sequence based on the CSCF to develop a more meaningful flow of concepts that deepens students thinking.

• The nature of learning within our Christian Studies classrooms is one that is ‘personally relevant, creating deeper thinking’ as we engage students in learning and value respectful dialogue and inclusive classrooms.

•  Developing student learning that is relevant to the ever changing world and the diversity of religious views and beliefs. We aim for students to develop religious literacy which equips students to make sense of, respond to and question different worldviews and make their own life choices (CSCF, 2015, p.8). 

• Meaningful learning in a Christian Studies classroom involves- thinking critically, interacting with others, embracing new and different understandings, reflecting, listening in a respectful manner and relating new learning with existing. 

Challenges:

• Due to the school community not having a diverse range of families from different backgrounds, students can be unaware of the diversity of people in general. How many different ways of doing things there are, different beliefs and religions. This is why developing religious literacy is so important to involve students in the process of making sense of the world and their own worldview. 

• For me personally, I didn't have much experience previously in teaching through Inquiry and therefore I found it a bit challenging working out how this looks in a Christian Studies classroom. Throughout last year and this year I have been involved in planning Project-Based Learning units and basing my teaching on inquiry which has lead me to start this journey of understanding more and more about how to effectively teach through inquiry. As a school, having a whole school PD for the year based on Human-centred design and thinking skills has been and will be extremely beneficial in our approach to learning and teaching in the classroom. 

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Nature of Learning Environment:

• As a school we are ‘dedicated to providing a safe and caring learning environment’ which involves creating a trusting environment where students feel open and encouraged to ask questions, be listened to, be supported and be valued. 

•  Having a learning environment that is built on relationships, trust and respect is vital within a Christian Studies classroom. In my classroom, this looks like relating to students in what their everyday life looks like, listening intently and being empathetic, creating excitement and trust that its great to ask questions. 

• In our Year 5/6 classroom, we have planned our Agile learning space in a way that encourages collaboration, inspires creativity, is inclusive of students who learn in different ways and environments, engages inquiry through having resources available for students to explore (Murdoch, 2016). We value questioning by having a 'Wonder Wall' and value creativity and openness by being an educator who is learning with the students.

Looks Like:
- Variety of learning involving the teacher guiding, students being actively involved in learning and guiding the learning and learning being driven by learners questions, discovering learning together.  Dumont, Istance anf Benavides (2010) phrase it as 'Guided Learning', 'Active Learning' and 'Experiential Learning' which I think captures the types of learning that should be seen in a Christian Studies learning environment.

- Learning centered around learners- based on prior knowledge and understanding

- Students discussing between themselves and helping each other understand and challenging each others thoughts

- Teacher modelling thinking skills so that students can use them independently (this can be done through different Teaching Strategies)  

- Engagement and active exploration- allowing students to look into different bible stories or passages, students pursuing to answer different questions on the Wonder Wall, linking concepts to students lives so they are relevant 

- Students learning in different ways and portraying their understanding in a way that best suits them- the use of technology is a great way to allow students to show understanding visually, using video/skits, design images and mind maps, posters, through interviewing others. 

- Students fully engaged and being challenged in their learning

- Life-long learning-the AIM is for students to continuously be learning and applying their knowledge and skills to different life situations

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Sounds Like:

- Collaboration between students- cooperative learning
- Challenging conversations
- In-depth questioning

- Focus on service learning and discussions around how they can influence and integrate their learning into the community to help, inform, educate others in some way. Focus is on students applying their knowledge in real-world situations

- Student voice is active and heard- not just teachers voice

- Teacher learning with and finding new discoveries with the students

- Teacher- encouraging student to explore, dig deeper and make new discoveries themselves

- Teacher guiding students and meeting them at their needs

- Key theological concepts being taught, not personal beliefs and values

- Learning and speaking about other religious beliefs and traditions

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Feels Like:

- Safe environment that allows for challenge
- Respectful
- Trusting
- Engaging and exciting
- Creativity encouraged
- Inclusive and supportive environment- all opinions, beliefs and voices are valued

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Reference List:

- Dumont, H., Istance, D. & Benavides, F. (2010). How can the learning sciences inform the design of 21st Century learning environments. Retrieved from: http://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/50300814.pdf

- Lutheran education Australia. Christian Studies Curriculum Framework. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.lutheran.edu.au/download/cscf-2015/?wpdmdl=1276&refresh=5d63cdef675bf1566821871

- Murdoch, K. (2015) The Power of Inquiry: Teaching and learning with curiosity, creativity and purpose in the contemporary classroom

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