When I realized we would only be an hour away from St. Vladimir Seminary in New York on our trip east last month, I somewhat begged my husband if we could take a detour to the seminary so I could make copies of some of the unpublished works in their library. He’s always been incredibly supportive of my research and the time I take to work on Illumination Learning, so he didn’t even hesitate to tell me yes. It’s an understatement to say how incredibly thankful I am to have him as my husband.
I could not have been more happy when he dropped me off at the St. Vlad’s library and took our kids to the park to play for a couple of hours. With rolls of quarters in my pockets, I set to work copying several works by Koulomzin, Schmemann, and Tarasar.
One of the unpublished works at St. Vlad’s is Dr. Constance Tarasar’s doctoral dissertation, A Process Model for the Design of Curriculum for Orthodox Christian Religious Education. It is seriously a gem. The basis for her entire dissertation is the explanation of how the Church has used the model of worship, teaching, and praxis as the educational method for teaching.
“This integral connection between worship, teaching and practice continued in the church and was formalized in the 2nd to the 4th centuries when an elaborate system of education called the catechumenate was developed in the church.” This “provided a holistic approach to Christian religious education through total involvement of persons in the life of the Christian community – in worship, teaching and praxis.” (Constance Tarasar, A Process Model for the Design of Curriculum for Orthodox Christian Religious Education)
Worship is our active participation in living our faith and glorifying God. One of the ways we do this is by attending services as often as possible. The Divine Liturgy is a teaching service. We are engaged in the service through our senses – touch: making the sign of the cross, lighting candles, kissing icons; hear: the Gospel & Epistle readings, sermons, singing the hymns; sight: reading the icons, watching the movement in the service, the different colors of the vestments; smell: the incense and candles burning; and taste: Holy Communion. The entire structure of the service is to teach us about God.
Implementation: How often do we attend the services offered at our parish? Do we show up on time? Do we stay until the end? It is through our example that we teach our children the importance we place on worship. How are we striving to fill ourselves with Christ in order to shine forth the light of Christ?
“What then should Christian education be, if not the introduction into this life of the Church, an unfolding of its meaning, its contents and its purpose? And how can it introduce anyone into this life, if not by participation in the liturgical services on the one hand, and their explanation on the other hand? ‘O taste and see how good is the Lord’: first taste, then see – i.e. understand. The method of liturgical catechesis is truly the Orthodox method of religious education because it proceeds from the Church and because the Church is its goal.” (pg 13)
– Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Liturgy and Life: Christian Development Through Liturgical Experience
This encompasses both teaching and learning. (The teacher perpetually as learner as well.)
Learning is a lifelong process from infancy to old age that can neither be confined nor defined by a classroom setting. Therefore, teaching moments can be planned, formal lessons in a church, a school, and at home – or they can be impromptu, informal teachable moments anywhere.
Implementation: Do we attend Bible studies or retreats at our parish? Do we read books about Orthodoxy or listen to podcasts to learn more about our faith? Do we rely exclusively on a textbook style of teaching? Do we rely too heavily on a craft, without much of a lesson? What are additional teaching methods?
– Sophie Koulomzin, Our Church and Our Children
Praxis is living our faith everyday of our lives. We cannot compartmentalize God to only Sunday mornings. We incorporate our Orthodox Christian faith into every aspect of our daily life.
This includes, but is not limited to: fasting, prayer, almsgiving, visiting the sick and homebound, how we treat our co-workers and classmates, how we celebrate namedays and feast days…and more!
One of the biggest ways we teach our kids is how we live our life. Our kids know what is most important to us by the choices we make. They see how we handle loss, sickness, struggle, milestones, and daily life. They know if God is the priority in our lives…or not…by watching us pray (or not), by helping others (or not), by attending services (or not), by fasting (or not), and by what we read, watch, and listen to.
“There was an Orthodox way of life that made itself felt, in which the liturgical calendar and liturgical services permeated the social patterns of home and village life.” (pg 14)
– Sophie Koulomzin, Lectures in Orthodox Religious Education
“Christian pastors and religious educators must recover the educational dimensions of worship and praxis alongside that of schooling in order to restore a sense of wholeness to education in the church.”
– Constance Tarasar, A Process Model for the Design of Curriculum for Orthodox Christian Religious Education
I love this… We are eclectic, somewhat UBS chooley, but what you have written here is very much at the heart of our homeschool. I hope to engage even more in these themes and techniques as the years continue…
Thank you for sharing some of your discoveries! This is just wonderful and so many profound ideas with vast implications with how we educate our children at home. + Blessings
I’d love to have a copy of the work. Would you be able to provide it or should I contact ST. Vladimir’s? Thanks!
Annie, It’s a pretty hefty document. I do not have it in digital format. I contacted the library via email and they sent it to me. I paid for them to copy and send it. It was around $30.
Wonderful. Thank you !