Clarifying “Faith-Learning Integration”: Essentially Contested Concepts and the Concept-Conception Distinction

Abstract

THE LANGUAGE OF "faith-learning integration" remains popular among evangelical educators in both K-12 and higher education. Some observers suggest for theological and educational reasons that Christan educators replace integration language with other language. Even its advocates do not agree on what would count as integration. This article suggests that both the concept-conception distinction and W. B. Gallie's category of an essentially contested concept shed light on the phrase. If faith-learning integration is an essentially contested concept, or is a concept subject to conception-building, then Christian educators may never agree on what counts as a paradigm case. Faith-Learning Integration: A Plethora of Meanings At. a. recent. conference. of. Christian. teacher-educators,. participants. had. the. opportunity .to .hear-in .one .double .session-presentations .of .two .dramatically .different .understandings .of .faith-learning .integration .(Cox .& .Sweezy, .2008; .Matthias. &. Wideman,. 2008). . The. first. pair. of. presenters. described. in. detail. an. approach. by. which .teachers .were .to .help .K-12 .students .integrate .faith .with .learning .by .having. them. search. Scripture. for. all. references. that. included. a. particular. word,. in. this. case, .words .related .to .juvenile .delinquency .(Cox .& .Sweezy, .2008). .The .second. pair .of .presenters .described .correlations .they .found .between .the .personal .integrity .of .several .professors .at .an .evangelical .college .and .the .degree .to .which .those. same. professors'. students. believed. their. professors. demonstrated. faith-learning. integration .in .their .teaching .and .scholarship .(Matthias .& .Wideman, .2008). .None. present .missed .the .pointed .contrast .between .the .two .presentations. .Neither .did. anyone. show. surprise. that. Christian. scholars. would. use. the. phrase. "faith-learning. integration" .to .do .such .different .work. .This .lack .of .surprise .may .root .itself .in. the .simple .historical .reality .that .for .decades .faith-learning .integration .language. has .served .radically .differing .Christian .understandings .of .education. .That .long. history. of. varied. usage. notwithstanding,. some. present. protested. that. the. two. proposals .did .not .describe .equally .good .instantiations .of .faith-learning .integration. . Besides .bearing .the .freight .of .these .differing .understandings, .the .phrase .itself. suffers .from .ambiguity .because .its .three .component .words-faith, .learning, .and. integration-all .carry .several .potential .meanings .(Badley, .1994). Christian. educators. have. tried. in. various. ways. to. implement. or. encourage. faith-learning .integration. .In .the .sphere .of .campus .life, .many .institutions .require. students. to. attend. chapel. or. to. participate. in. Christian. service. activities. . Some. colleges .close .the .college .library .on .Sundays. .Many .Christian .schools .and .colleges. require .that .their .students .sign .lifestyle .agreements .regardi...

Faith Integration in Curriculum Development: A Need for an Integrated Curriculum in Post-Civil War Liberia

“…Biblically, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen'' (Hebrews 11:1, NKJV). Faith integration in learning was fundamental to the entire education system of the Israelites (Badley, 2009). During the exodus, Moses instructed the Israelite: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, The LORD is one!…”

“…After the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth, faith integration as a concept continued to be practiced by the apostles and subsequent Christian educators (Badley, 1994). However, it was after the Second World War years, when some traditional Christian educators intentionally advocated for the practice of IFL in the United States of America (Badley, 1994;2009). By then, some Christian schools in the United States of America were influenced by secularism and there was need for Christian educators to bring back Jesus Christ into the classroom (Badley, 1994;2009;Clark, Johnson, & Sloat, 1991;Jacobsen et al, 2004;Marsden, 1994;Ponyatovska, 2015;Ribera, 2012;Thomas, 2011;.…”

Academic rigor in Christian schools: The academic effect of Bible courses and integration of faith and learning in secondary education

“…This study, which included a content analysis of published course descriptions, benefited most from the work of Ken Badley. Badley’s (2009) articulation of seven paradigms of faith integration provided the conceptual framework for this study.…”

“…Badley’s (2009) articulation of seven paradigms of faith integration provided the conceptual framework for this study. Basing his paradigms in his doctoral research, he named seven different ways in which integration occurs among Christian educators: fusion , incorporation , correlation , dialogical , perspectival , appliqué , and incarnational (Badley, 2009: 10–11). This study used Badley’s paradigms as the theoretical framework for undertaking its directed content analysis of the curricular documents collected from CESA schools.…”

The Discourse of Faith and Learning

“…Still others claim it is built on a false dichotomy (Heie & Wolfe, 1987), but this is a dichotomy that others see as exactly that which the integrative enterprise is called to bridge (Litfin, 2004) . Badley (2009) suggests this discourse is nonconvergent in part because faith-learning integration is an "essentially contested concept"-a technical term for a concept that is central to a debate but about whose meaning the participants cannot agree . He also argues that faith-learning integration is better understood as a conception than as a concept, where "conception" entails a much broader framework and assumed social context .…”