Die onderrig van geloofsleer in die Christelik–Afrikaanse sekondêre skool

[摘要] The revival of Christian religion has once again placed the focus onman's faith and thus also on the teaching of Christian Faith at school,so that Christian Faith can appeal to the pupil anew.The teaching of Christian Faith is the most important discipline ofreligious subjects since it is the determining and directing factorwhich governs one's whole life, i.e. to whom the child will devotehis life, at school and extra-murally.The pistical modality (faith) is man's supreme function and all otherhuman functions are subject to the guidance of faith. Human functionsare developed under the guidance of the pistical function. Thus the instructionin Christian Faith can be seen as the heart of Christianeducation; the foundation on which the child can build.The task of the educator is to help determine norms and supplydirectives in the development of the functions of the child.Christian Faith is directed towards the religious as well as theother functions of man. Education is thus subject to the guidanceof faith.In Christian Faith the dogmatic should be taught, but not a specificnon-Scriptural dogma. However, the teacher cannot shed his personalreligious conviction which must, perforce, influence his instructionof Christian Faith.Every lesson in Religious Instruction should reinforce the faith ofthe child. Although Christian Faith as a subject is restricted tostanderd ten, every lesson from standerd six onwards should confirmthe pupils faith. Lessons in other subjects, like History andScience, should contribute to the confirmation of faith. As aconsequence the child will experience and realise his faith.The teacher of Christian Faith must guide the pupil to an acceptanceof a specific religious conviction, otherwise the child will form aneutral idea of God. The clauses on dogma in the education ordinanceexpect a neutral Christian Faith instruction. To circumvent neutralinstruction, it is recommended that Christian Faith is presented ona differentiated basis, so that the members of each religious groupwill receive instruction according to their specific religious conviction.Christian Faith instruction makes high demands on the teacher, viz.that the teacher is not a minister, that Christian Faith should beBiblically centred, that the psychological development of the childshould be borne in mind and that the teacher must guard againstfactors which could affect the nature of Christian Faith instruction.Christian Faith instruction requires a specific method in which thefollowing may be used successfully: class discussion, dialogueteaching, the buzzing groups, the question-and-answer method, themethod of setting problems, and the self-study method.The teacher of Christian Faith should be aware of factors which couldhave an adverse effect on pupils. Intelligence, feelings and moralityshould not receive undue stress, Churchism may not be encouragedthrough the absolutising of personal opinion, nothing in the Biblethat seems unacceptable maybe omitted and Scriptural Truths may notbe presented euphemistically. The Bible is, furthermore, no Scientific text-book.The principal and the subject inspector must see to it that thefoundations for Christian Faith are properly laid and developed.

[发布机构] North-West University