21 st century learning & faith formation

21ST CENTURY LEARNING & FAITH FORMATION

VIS ION & PRACTICE OF 21 S T CENTURY FAITH FORMATION

THE CHALLENGE OF ADAPTIVE CHANGE

“The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we

were at when we created them.”

Albert Einstein

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS Technical problems (even though they

may be complex) can be solved with knowledge and procedures already in hand.

Leadership would be an easy and safe undertaking if organizations and communities only faced problems for which they already knew the solutions. Everyday, people have problems for which they do, in fact, have the necessary know-how and procedures—technical problems.

ADAPTIVE CHALLENGES Adaptive challenges require experiments, new

discoveries, and adjustments from numerous places in the organization.

Without learning new ways—changing attitudes, values, and deep-seated behaviors—people cannot make the adaptive leap necessary to thrive in the new environment. Adaptive challenges call for changes of heart and mind—the transformation of long-standing habits and deeply held assumptions and values.

Leadership is “the activity of mobilizing people to tackle the toughest problems and do the adaptive work

necessary to achieve progress.” (Ronald Heifetz and Martin Linsky)

THE NEW SOCIAL NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM

SOCIAL NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM

The Triple Revolution1. Social Network

Revolution2. Internet Revolution3. Mobile Revolution

SOCIAL NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM

The Social Network, Internet, and Mobile Revolutions are coming together to shift people’s social lives away from densely knit family, neighborhood, and group relationships toward more far-flung, less tight, more diverse personal networks.

SOCIAL NETWORKOPERATING SYSTEM

The Social Networks Revolution provided opportunities—and stresses—for people to reach beyond the world of tightly knit groups afforded people more diversity in

relationships and social worlds—as well as bridges to reach these new worlds and maneuverability to move among them

introduced stress of not having a single home base and of reconciling the conflicting demands of multiple social worlds


The Internet Revolution has given people communications power and information-gathering capacities that dwarf those of the past. It has allowed people to become their own publishers and broadcasters and created new methods for social networking. This has changed the point of contact from the household (and work group) to the individual. Each person creates her own internet experiences, tailored to her needs.


The Mobile Revolution has allowed ICTs (internet communication technologies) to become body appendages allowing people to access friends and information at will, wherever they go. In return, ICTs are always accessible. There is the possibility of a continuous presence and pervasive awareness of others in the network. People’s physical separation by time and space are less important.

SOCIAL NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEMNetworked Individualism

The three revolutions have made possible the new social operating

system – Networked Individualism. The hallmark of networked individualism is

that people function more as connected individuals and less as embedded group

members.

SOCIAL NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEMNetworked Individualism

This stands in contrast to the longstanding social arrangements formed around large hierarchical bureaucracies and small, densely knit groups such as households, communities, and workgroups.

It is an operating system because it describes the ways in which people connect, communicate, and exchange information.


The new social network operating system is: Personal: the individual is the

autonomous center just as she is reaching out from her computer

Multiuser: people are interacting with numerous diverse others

Multitasking: people are doing several things; and Multithreaded: people are doing them more or less simultaneously

LIFE AS NETWORKED INDIVIDUALS

How have you used your social network to make decisions or solve problems – especially through your use of the internet, mobile phones, and social media?

How has your capacity to access information and your network been changed by your use of digital technology?

How has your network of family, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers been affected by your tech use?

How has your ability to concentrate and complete tasks been affected in the always-on world?

Is Facebook making you lonely or feel more connected?

SOCIAL NETWORKS Social Networks are not new.

For 1000s of years people have formed into groups, built strong and weak relationships with others, formed alliances, and spread rumor and gossip.

Humans are social creatures with a need to connect to others; whether we need information, advice, or emotional support, we turn to one another.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

There is a major change in the structure of the web. It’s moving away from being built around the content, and is being rebuilt around the people.

People are spending less time interacting with content and more time communicating with other people.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

Our social network is made up of all the people we’re connected to, all the people they are connected to, all the people they are connected to, and so on.

You

Your Friends

Your Friends’ Friends

Your Friends’ Friend’s Friends

Your Friends

500

YouOur social networks tend to have clear boundaries, from people we care a lot about (in the center) to people we loosely know (on the periphery). 500 – Weak Ties (you

know but don’t feel close to)

150 – Stable Social Relationships (know each of these people and which of them know each other)

50 – Communicate Group (aware of what’s going on in their lives)

12-15 – Sympathy Group

5 – Inner Circle (advice, emotional support, times of trouble)

At least once a week

At least once a month

At least once every few months

At least once a year

Not guaranteed in any give year

Most of our communication is with people closest to us – at the center of our social network

SOCIAL NETWORKS

1. We have evolved to form groups. People naturally form groups. People will make considerable

sacrifices for the benefit of their group.

In certain situations, groups think better than individuals. It was wise of our ancestors to stick together.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

2. Most people have independent groups of friends that don’t overlap. Each one of us uniquely connects multiple

groups of people together. Large populations of people are made up of

these many small connected groups of friends who are often interlinked by unique individuals.

The only way information can spread through a large population is through many regular people. Everyone is an influencer.

Social networks of connected independent groups of friends is the way ideas spread.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

3. We have 4-6 groups formed around life stage, hobbies, and shared experiences. Each group usually contains fewer than 10

people; the average is 4 group members. It’s tempting to think we’re connected to a

very diverse set of people but we’re connected to people like us.

The people in each group know each other well, but they don’t know the people in the other groups.

You

5

15

50

150

Our groups form around life stages, hobbies, and shared experiences.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

1. Social networks are not new, and the social web is here to stay.

2. Sharing is a means to an end. People share information because it makes life easier, builds relationships, and shapes how we appear to others. 80% of our communication is with the 5-10 people we are closest to.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

3. Our social networks are made up of small, independent groups, connected through us. Each one of us uniquely connects multiple groups of people together. Connected groups of friends are required for ideas to spread.

4. The people closest to use have disproportionate influence over us. Most of us have 10 strong ties who hold influence over what we think and do.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

5. How we behave is learned from observing others. We are more influenced by the behavior of people in our group, and people we perceive to be like us.

6. Many of our decisions are made by our nonconscious, emotional brain. Our brain doesn’t remember details because it needs to prioritize what it stores in memory. It remembers relationships, and makes up details to fill in the gaps in memory.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

7. We’re wired to avoid trying new things, especially when they don’t match our beliefs. Changing people’s attitudes is incredibly hard, but changing their behavior is easier. Starting with small requests for behavioral change often leads to attitudinal change.

8. People will increasingly turn to their friends for information.

21ST CENTURY LEARNING

SUGATA MITRE THE CHILD-DRIVEN EDUCATION

21ST CENTURY FAITH FORMATION: VISION

VISION: ANCIENT & FUTURE

Churches want faith formation that helps people. . . grow in their relationship with God throughout their

lives live as disciples of Jesus Christ at home, in the

workplace, in the community and the world develop an understanding of the Bible and their faith

tradition deepen their spiritual life and practices engage in service and mission relate the Christian faith to life today participate in the life and ministries of the faith

community

VISION: ANCIENT & FUTURE(CHARTER FOR LIFELONG CHRISTIAN FORMATION)Lifelong Christian Faith Formation in The Episcopal Church is lifelong growth in the knowledge, service and love of God as followers of Christ and is informed by Scripture, Tradition and Reason.

Through the Christian Church. . . God Invites all people To enter into a prayerful life of

worship, continuous learning, intentional outreach, advocacy and service

God inspires all people to experience liturgy and worship, to study Scripture, to develop new learning experiences, to prepare for a sustainable future

God transforms all people by doing the work Jesus Christ calls us to do—reconciliation, love, forgiveness, healing, justice and peace

VISION: ANCIENT & FUTURE(GENERAL DIRECTORY FOR CATECHESIS

Faith formation is an integrated process of: 1. formation through participation in the life of the

faith community2. education in Scripture and the Christian

tradition3. apprenticeship in the Christian life4. knowledge and intimate connection with the

liturgy and rituals of the church5. development of a life of prayer6. moral formation in Jesus Christ 7. empowerment of mission in the world;

engagement in actions of justice & service(General Directory for Catechesis no. 87 and 90; National Directory for Catechesis 20)

VISION: ANCIENT & FUTURE(MARIA HARRIS, FASHION ME A PEOPLE)

Didache(Teaching

)

Leiturgia

(Prayer &

Worship)Kerygma

(Proclam-ation)

Diakonia

(Service)

Koinonia

Community

Faith Formation Ecosystem

The curriculum is the entire course of the church’s life, found in the fundamental forms of that life. It is the priestly, prophetic, and political work of didache, leiturgia, koinonia, kerygma, and diakonia.

VISION: ANCIENT & FUTUREThe church educates to all of these five classical forms, as well as through all of them:

to koinonia (community and communion) by engaging in the forms of community and communion;

to leiturgia (worship and prayer) by engaging in the forms of prayer and worship and spirituality;

to kerygma (proclaiming the word of God) by attention to and practicing and incarnating the kerygma, “Jesus is risen,” in speech of our own lives, especially the speech of advocacy;

to diakonia (service and outreach) by attention to our own service and reaching out to others, personally and communally, locally and globally;

to didache (teaching and learning) by attention to the most appropriate forms of teaching and learning

VISION: ANCIENT & FUTURE

Community will have elements of kerygmatic speech, of teaching, of outreach, and of prayer.

Worship will have elements of community, teaching, outreach, and prophetic speech.

Teaching will incorporate elements of outreach, prayer, community, and kerygma.

Grades 1-

5

Grade 6-8

High Scho

ol

Confirmati

on???

“TRADITIONAL” SCHOOLING MODEL

“TRADITIONAL” ADULT MODELS

21ST CENTURY FAITH FORMATION: PRACTICE

CONVERGENCE

21st Century Faith

Formation

Changing Landscape

New Technologies

New (Digital) ResourcesChanging

Models of Learning Social Network

Operating System

CHANGING LANDSCAPE

New Context

Religious

Generational

Technological

Economic

Family

Socio-Cultural

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

NEW RESOURCES

Faith Formation in the Age of Networks

Learning the Bible

Today

BIBLE STUDY @ CHURCH

ONLINE COURS

E

ONLINE RESOURCE CENTER

ONLINE COMMUNITY

- experts- learners

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

- course - conference

BOOKSAUDIOVIDEO

THE SHIFT TO NETWORK MODELS

“I don’t think education is about centralized instruction anymore;

rather, it is the process of establishing oneself as a node in a broad network

of distributed creativity.”

Joi Ito

THE SHIFT TO NETWORK MODELS

“Planned information structures like textbooks and courses simply can’t adapt quickly enough to incorporate network-speed

information development. Instead of being the hub of the learning experiences, books,

courses, and classrooms become something more like a node in part of a much broader

(often global) network. The shift to networks is transformative in how a society organizes

itself.”

George Siemens

FAITH FORMATION NETWORKS

Religious networks provide a rich set of connections each of us can make to people in both our online and offline worlds who can help us with our spiritual development and faith growth pursuits. Today we can turn to people, organizations, and resources anywhere in the world to help us answer questions, connect to relevant content and resources, or just share their own experiences with us.

FAITH FORMATION NETWORKS

Instead of being the center of faith formation experiences, programs,

classes, and books now become nodes on a much broader faith formation

network that is lifelong and lifewide.

The shift to networks will be transformative in how we imagine and

organize faith formation for all ages and generations.

FAITH FORMATION NETWORK

We are moving from. . . One Size Fits All Curriculum &

Programmingto

A Network of Personalized & Customized Faith Formation Activities

& Resourcesfocusing on addressing people’s

spiritual and religious diversity by offering a wide variety of religious

content and experiences

Providing Differentiated Faith Formation

FAITH FORMATION NETWORK

We now have the resources and technologies to: Expand faith formation to address the

diversity of people today – life tasks and issues, religious and spiritual needs

Deliver religious content and experiences to people wherever they are, 24 x 7 x 365

Engage people in a wide variety of experiences tailored to their needs, interests, spiritual journey, and busy lives

Connect people to each other – in physical places and virtual spaces

FAITH FORMATION NETWORK:PRINCIPLES

1. Address the diverse spiritual and religious needs with a variety of content, programs, activities, and resources.

Person or

Family

Fashion Faith Formation around the People

FASHIONING FAITH FORMATION AROUND THE PEOPLE

Children & Families Teens & Families Emerging Adults: 20s Young Adults: 30s-40s Mid-Life Adults: 40s-

50s Mature Adults: 60s-70s

(Baby Boomers) Older Adults: 80+

1. Life Tasks2. Life Issues3. Milestones

and Life Transitions

4. Spiritual & Religious Needs

5. Ethnic-Cultural Needs


2. Recognize that learning is a process of active inquiry with the initiative residing within the individual.

MOTIVATION 3.0

Motivation 3.0 (Daniel Pink)

Autonomy: desire to direct our own lives

Mastery: urge to get better and better at something that matters

Purpose: the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves


3. Guide individuals and families in discerning their spiritual and religious needs and creating personal plans for faith growth and learning.

A PERSONALIZED PROCESS

Assessing Spiritual Growth

Working with a Mentor/Guide

Finding Resources on the Network

Engaging in Formation

Sharing with the Community

Reflecting on Growth and

Identifying New Needs


4. Incorporate informal learning, as well as formal learning in faith formation.

FORMAL LEARNINGclasses & workshops

speaker seriesonline courses

small group Bible study

self-studyBible study

social networkingfaith-sharing groups

INTENTIONAL UNEXPECTEDreading /watching a DVD

mentoringservice/mission activity

program at the library orlocal bookstore

internet surfingwatching a movie

TV showshopping at a homeimprovement store

INFORMAL LEARNING


5. Utilize a variety of faith formation settings and methods to address the diverse life tasks, religious and spiritual needs, and interests of people: on your own at home in small groups in large groups in the congregation in the community and world

FAITH FORMATION SETTINGS

Faith Formation Network Methods

Events & Programs

Courses & Workshops

Small Groups

Online Courses & Activities

Books & Print Resources

Audio & Video Programs

Action Projects

Retreats Extended Programs Trips

Mentors

Blogs & Social Media

Apps

User-Generated Content

Video Confer-encing


6. Offer programs and activities in face-to-face physical settings; in virtual, online settings, and in blended settings that combine both.

They can be offered only in physical locations

They can be offered only in virtual settings(online course, wiki, online resource center.

They can be offered in a blended approach, combining a gathering in a physical location with online delivery (activities, group projects, interaction)

A CONTINUUM OF APPROACHESFully online program or activity with options for face-to-face interaction in physical settings.

Mostly or fully online program or activity with regular interaction and programming in physical settings.

An online platform that delivers most of the program or activities with leaders providing on-site support on a flexible and adaptive as-needed basis through in-person mentoring and small group sessions.

Programs and activities in physical settings guided by a leader with online components that extend beyond the program sessions.

Programs and activities in physical settings that include online resources to supplement the program content.


7. Incorporate communities of practice to connect individuals and groups throughout the congregation.

We Can Now Provide Faith Formation for

All Ages & Generations!

EXAMPLE: AN ADULT FAITH FORMATION NETWORK

TARGETING ADULTS

Mature Adults: 60s-70s (Baby

Boomers)

1. Life Tasks2. Life Issues3. Milestones and

Life Transitions4. Spiritual &

Religious Needs5. Ethnic-Cultural

Needs

An Adult Faith Formation NetworkContent Areas

FAITH FORMATION SETTINGS

Faith Formation Network Methods

Events & Programs

Courses & Workshops

Small Groups

Online Courses & Activities

Books & Print Resources

Audio & Video Programs

Action Projects

Retreats Extended Programs Trips

Mentors

Blogs & Social Media

Apps

User-Generated Content

Video Confer-encing

SPIRITUAL & RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY

Scenario 4 Uncommitte

d & Participating

Scenario 1 Vibrant Faith

& Active Engagement

Scenario 3 Unaffiliated

& Uninterested

Scenario 2 Spiritual but

Not Religious

RESPONDING TO THE 4 SCENARIOS

Scenario #4+ Life issues+ Extending worship+ Online FF center+ Service & mission trips+ Deepening faith &

engagement

Scenario #1+ Life issues+ Extending worship+

Courses/workshops/small group programs

+ Online FF center + Service & mission trips

Scenario #3+ Life issues+ Third Place settings+ Events (movie nights,

concerts, festivals)+ Service projects

Scenario #2+ Life issues + Third Place settings+ Service & Mission Trips+ Spiritual formation+ Spiritual seeker faith

formation

Spiritual Growth for Baby BoomersSunday Worship

Online Courses

Apps & E-newsletters

Online Prayer & Spirituality Resources

Small Group Bible Study

Trip to the Holy Land (with Road Scholar)

Retreats

Day at the Monastery

Spiritual Book of the Month Club

Monthly Spiritual Practices Series

Spiritual Seeker Program

Third Place Spiritual Conversations

Share It

Blog/Forum

After Mass Conversation

At-Home Conversation Activity

Live It

Ideas for living the Message

Weekly Christian Practice

Justice & Service Ideas

Pray It

Weekly Table Prayer

Praying with the Saints

AM & PM Prayer

Sunday Worship

A Third Place gathering space in the community, offers hospitality, builds relationships, hosts spiritual conversations, provides programs and activities, and nourishes the spiritual life of people.

Introduction Dinner: Is there more to life than this?Week 1: Who is Jesus?Week 2: Why did Jesus die?Week 3: How can we have faith?Week 4: Why and how do I pray?Week 5: Why and how should I read the Bible?Week 6: How does God guide us?Week 7: How can I resist evil?Week 8: Why & how should we tell others?Week 9: Does God heal today?Week 10: What about the Church?Weekend: Who is the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy

Spirit do? How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit? How can I make the most of the rest of my life?

SPIRITUAL SEEKERS: ALPHA

21 st century learning & faith formation

Documents

social worldsas

social networking

peoples social lives

groupsafforded people

new discoveries

new methods

new worlds

new environment