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Saturday, October 11, 2014
Children's Definition's of Faith
Post due by 10/18
Take a look at this video: Children's Definitions of Faith. Reflecting on Fowler's stages of development, which stages do you think these children exemplify? You can pick a particular child, or talk about them as a whole.
When I watched this video Hebrews 11:1 immediately came to mind. While it seemed that a couple of the children were in the I-P stage where basically faith is God, most of them were in the M-L stage. They said that Faith is believing in what you can't see or believing you can do something or the courage to do something and believe you can do it. They have matured past the imagination stage and seemed to either have experiences leading them to the conclusions they came to or may have heard others faith stories. Benjamin seemed very sure of his answers with no questions. Little Tyler was too funny and he wanted to make sure he had the right answer.
This is a very interesting exercise. It reminds me of how some adults respond when asked the same question. The first 4 kids knew in their spirit what faith was, but had difficulty articulating their feelings/thoughts into words. I would place them in Fowler’s stage one category of intuitive-projective faith. As discussed by Fowler, they have a sense of trust and openness at this stage in life which is usually heavily influenced by their home and authority figures. Six of the kids in the video seem to be further along in their cognitive development and expression. Fowler’s stage two discussion on mythic-literal faith is a good description of them. Their thoughts and comprehension were much more orderly and defined. Most of them reflected an air of confidence in their understanding of the word faith. I must say that Tyler was truly adorable! He wasn’t about to give up on answering.
Stage 1 Intuitive Projective is what the younger children displayed when they were familiar with the word "faith" and not the actual meaning. I believe that when children start to understand things like faith it is our job to paint a clear picture so that like the older kids, they are able to transition into Stage 2. Stage 2 Mythic Literal was definitely present with the older children who had more of an idea about what "faith" really was. These children automatically related faith to God. The children as a whole were in some way influenced by the word faith. Since faith starts at birth, I believe it is our job to nurture the understanding of faith regardless of age because ultimately children will have faith in something even if not God. it's just incredible how one word can have an effect on every individual and no one has the exact same understanding.
The children in the video, to me, represented Stages 1 & 2. Tyler seemed to exemplify Fowler's basic definition because he was afraid that he got the answer wrong. Benjamin, I think, was "spot on" with his definition. In general, I would say that the children volleyed between the two stages. Some seem to have a general idea of what faith is were too young to know how to articulate it properly. I would dare to say that some adults may have that same difficulty! I probably would have quoted the biblical definition.
I believe that the children had two stages that stood out to me. m-l and I-p stages where faith is believing in what they see and belief in God. I notice that he younger children struggled explaining what faith mint to them, while the older children seem to have a better understand of the meaning. Yet instill adults also struggle what it mean's to them as well. Maybe faith to some people is more of what you feel then a definition.
The children in the video represented stage1 and stage 2 of Fowlers theory. The older child had an idea of what faith was and was able to somewhat define it in their own understanding. The younger children were not able to articulate the meaning of faith. The meaning of faith for some people may vary in definition.
When I first watched this video last week, I immediately fell in love with Tyler. All of the children caught my attention, but Tyler and the last child stuck out the most to me; particularly because of the dynamic between their respective individual stage of development. Tyler seemed to display more signs of being in the intuitive-projective stage while the last child seemed like he was closer to being in the mythical-literal stage of development. Just like on the handout you gave to us, there was seemingly no gray area for last child, while Tyler seemed to have an understanding of faith that was possibly tied to his imagination. Most of the children seemed to be somewhere between these two stages; however, a few of them also could be labeled as being in the synthetic-conventional stage due to their ability to regurgitate what they've obviously learned from their elders. I found this to be extremely profound for it to be such a short video. Had this been a video of adults given the same amount time, it might've even been more thinking and less speaking due to the fact that adults would typically do more reflecting before speaking.
When I watched this video Hebrews 11:1 immediately came to mind. While it seemed that a couple of the children were in the I-P stage where basically faith is God, most of them were in the M-L stage. They said that Faith is believing in what you can't see or believing you can do something or the courage to do something and believe you can do it. They have matured past the imagination stage and seemed to either have experiences leading them to the conclusions they came to or may have heard others faith stories. Benjamin seemed very sure of his answers with no questions. Little Tyler was too funny and he wanted to make sure he had the right answer.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting exercise. It reminds me of how some adults respond when asked the same question. The first 4 kids knew in their spirit what faith was, but had difficulty articulating their feelings/thoughts into words. I would place them in Fowler’s stage one category of intuitive-projective faith. As discussed by Fowler, they have a sense of trust and openness at this stage in life which is usually heavily influenced by their home and authority figures. Six of the kids in the video seem to be further along in their cognitive development and expression. Fowler’s stage two discussion on mythic-literal faith is a good description of them. Their thoughts and comprehension were much more orderly and defined. Most of them reflected an air of confidence in their understanding of the word faith. I must say that Tyler was truly adorable! He wasn’t about to give up on answering.
ReplyDeleteNaomi B. Powell
October 14, 2014
Stage 1 Intuitive Projective is what the younger children displayed when they were familiar with the word "faith" and not the actual meaning. I believe that when children start to understand things like faith it is our job to paint a clear picture so that like the older kids, they are able to transition into Stage 2. Stage 2 Mythic Literal was definitely present with the older children who had more of an idea about what "faith" really was. These children automatically related faith to God. The children as a whole were in some way influenced by the word faith. Since faith starts at birth, I believe it is our job to nurture the understanding of faith regardless of age because ultimately children will have faith in something even if not God. it's just incredible how one word can have an effect on every individual and no one has the exact same understanding.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Brown
The children in the video, to me, represented Stages 1 & 2. Tyler seemed to exemplify Fowler's basic definition because he was afraid that he got the answer wrong. Benjamin, I think, was "spot on" with his definition. In general, I would say that the children volleyed between the two stages. Some seem to have a general idea of what faith is were too young to know how to articulate it properly. I would dare to say that some adults may have that same difficulty! I probably would have quoted the biblical definition.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn L. Jones
I believe that the children had two stages that stood out to me. m-l and I-p stages where faith is believing in what they see and belief in God. I notice that he younger children struggled explaining what faith mint to them, while the older children seem to have a better understand of the meaning. Yet instill adults also struggle what it mean's to them as well. Maybe faith to some people is more of what you feel then a definition.
ReplyDeleteDarrin L. Hill
The children in the video represented stage1 and stage 2 of Fowlers theory. The older child had an idea of what faith was and was able to somewhat define it in their own understanding. The younger children were not able to articulate the meaning of faith. The meaning of faith for some people may vary in definition.
ReplyDeleteSharon Nichols
When I first watched this video last week, I immediately fell in love with Tyler. All of the children caught my attention, but Tyler and the last child stuck out the most to me; particularly because of the dynamic between their respective individual stage of development. Tyler seemed to display more signs of being in the intuitive-projective stage while the last child seemed like he was closer to being in the mythical-literal stage of development. Just like on the handout you gave to us, there was seemingly no gray area for last child, while Tyler seemed to have an understanding of faith that was possibly tied to his imagination. Most of the children seemed to be somewhere between these two stages; however, a few of them also could be labeled as being in the synthetic-conventional stage due to their ability to regurgitate what they've obviously learned from their elders. I found this to be extremely profound for it to be such a short video. Had this been a video of adults given the same amount time, it might've even been more thinking and less speaking due to the fact that adults would typically do more reflecting before speaking.
ReplyDelete