College Essays

DISCUSS THE ADVANTAGES OF USING THE CHILD BOOK CHILD IN RELIGIOUS AND MORAL EDUCATION

During the teaching learning process of Religious and Moral Education the classroom practitioner can vary his/her teaching approaches which includes the Child Book Child approach, the Multi-faith approach and the Life Theme approach for effective teaching learning. This essay seeks to discuss the merits of using the Child Book Child in Religious Moral Education. The term Child Book Child will be defined.

Kasambira (1993) defines the Child Book Child approach as an approach which is child centered and enhances learning through problem solving methods. In conjunction is Barker (1998) who views the Child Book Child as an approach which starts with where children are and with their interest and level of understanding that is it starts with children’s’ cognitive level and then reinforces it with religious sources hence allowing children to think deeper about the issues being discussed. From the above definitions, the Child Book Child approach is an approach which actively involves the pupils during learning through problem solving.

The Child Book Child has many merits when employed correctly during the teaching learning of Religious and Moral Education. In support of this is Kasambira (1993) who states that the Child Book Child approach is child centered and enhances learning through problem solving methods. This method comprises of three stages that is the first stage is the child stage. At this stage the teacher can start by asking questions about the pupils  themselves and their environment for the pupils to find information relating it to the problem. On the second stage which is the book stage, the ideas shared in the child stage are now reinforced with inputs from religious and other sources. The last stage is the child stage where the pupils now analyze and evaluate the experiences they would have encountered in the first and second stage.

The use of the Child Book Child approach in the teaching of Religious and Moral Education has many merits. These merits includes that it develops concepts from the unknown to the known Barker (1988). This clearly shows that the Child Book Approach is an effective approach in the teaching of Religious and Moral Education. That is it takes from what the child already knows that is about themselves for instance on the first stage which is the child stage. Here the teacher will pose questions about the child’s environment and themselves and relate the facts they find to the problem so as to solve it. Hence the pupils will understand the content better since the teacher would have start from what they know. Therefore, the Child Book Child approach is an effective approach in the teaching of Religious and Moral Education.

In addition the other merit of using the Child Book Child approach is that it is accommodative, it can be used to teach any religion (Loukes 1996). Since in Religious and Moral Education consist of many religions which may demand the teacher to vary his/her approaches. Hence it will be easier for the classroom practitioner to just use one approach which is the Child Book Child. For example, the teacher can introduce his/her lesson of Jesus’ temptation which is Christianity by asking the pupils about their experiences for example, Have you been tempted before? What did you do? Now the teacher will make reference with the story of the temptation of Jesus and also link it to the story of ‘kuripiswa padare’  in African Traditional Religion so as to cater for the multi-faith approach. The teacher can now come back to the pupils as the third stage and ask questions on temptations.  The pupils will now use the knowledge from the first two stages for example Do you think Jesus did the right thing by saying no to the devil? Why? What would you have done if you were in Jesus’ position.  Here the child will use the knowledge from all the two stages to answer the questions. Hence the Child Book Child approach is of greater help to the teacher in teaching more than one religion and is effective.

Moreover, Masser and Sunderland (2008) asserts  that the Child Book Child approach treats the learners as human beings who can think independently and not like a blank slate awaiting indoctrination. That is when using the Child Book Child approach pupils will be actively involved during the teaching learning process. For example on introduction the teacher can ask pupils questions about their life experiences and by so doing the teacher will be engaging the pupils into the lesson as human beings not just like empty vessels. Thus, motivating the learners and arousing their interest in learning. The Child Book Child approach also saves time and make it easier for the teacher since he/she will not be the only one talking since the pupils will be involved in some discussions as they will be analyzing, evaluating and making their decisions from what they have learnt. Therefore, the Child Book Child is an effective method in the teaching of Religious and Moral Education.

Through the Child Book Child approach pupils learn to tolerate and accept others by sharing experiences (Onsongo 2000). This means to say that when teaching using the Child Book Child approach the pupils will learn to accept each others views and opinions as the teacher will pose questions about their experiences on the first stage and by so doing the [pupils will be used to respect and accept others experiences. Also by doing group works on stage three were pupils will be sharing theirs so as to come up with the best answer as a group. All these activities will make the pupils accept and tolerate others experiences. Thus, the pupils will develop good moral values.

Loukes (1993) propounds that through the use of the Child Book Child approach pupils are motivated to learn and to discover more. That is as the teacher uses the Child Book Child approach pupils will be motivated since the pupils will be actively engaged and sharing their ideas. Thus, on the first stage as the teacher asks general questions as a way of  probing the pupils. By so doing the pupils will be motive. Stage three will help the pupils to synthesize their ideas and come up with own evaluative opinion according to their personality.

However, the Child Book Child approach has some demerits during the teaching learning process. In support of this is Barker (1998) who says the Child Book Child approach could be time consuming for those teachers’ who cannot teach within the stipulated lesson plan. Therefore, the Child Book Child approach must be employed properly for effective results. Furthermore, the Child Book Child approach if not properly used some pupils may fail to interpret the  approach and it might be confusing for the beginners.

In conclusion, the Child Book Child approach when employed properly it has many merits on the teaching of Religious and Moral Education. This essay has discussed the merits of using the Child Book Child approach in teaching Religious and Moral Education using specific examples. The term Child Book Child has been defined.

REFERENCE

Barker, R. E. (1998) Progressive Teaching Methods, Harare, College Press.

Kasambira, K. (1993) Teaching Methods, Harare, College Press.

Loukes, H. (1996) Ground in Christian Education, London, S. C. M. Press.

Musser, D. and Sunderland (2008) War and Words: Interreligious Dialogue on Instrument of peace. Clevelend, The Pigrim Press.

Onsongo, J. K. (2000) “The Life Approach Method in Teaching Christian Religious Education In Schools”