Note: This post is part 2 in a two-part series. Part 1 provided a general introduction to the importance of deep learning dispositions not just to students’ growth in subject-matter competence but to spiritual growth. This was followed by an exploration of how two (of five) dispositions explicitly facilitate spiritual formation when applied. Today’s post explores the remaining three dispositions along with some concluding thoughts.
Willingness to Fail – When we understand “that failure is a natural part of the learning process and that failure should be utilized to help facilitate learning,”1 we are set free to “Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!” (in the words of everyone’s favorite science teacher, Ms. Frizzle). The growth mindset is not a new educational concept and is likely encouraged across your campuses, yet many students are afraid to try new things or to be wrong for fear that the identity they have constructed of themselves will come crashing down. Even so, we know that in order to develop understanding, to discover new ideas, we must be able to stomach some level of a lack of success. If I am unwilling to practice shooting free throws for fear of missing one, my game time performance will leave me (and my team!!) very disappointed. In the classroom, we can develop a culture of productive failure through our language and the structure of assignments. We are looking to build mastery, not perfection. When studying, do we pick the methods with which we feel most successful in the moment, or are we willing to choose methods that require effort, thought (and potentially failure) but ultimately help us to consolidate our memory and more effectively practice recall when it matters? What feels easy should not be equated with what is required.
As I have considered this willingness to fail in my relationship with Christ, it has made me more willing to name my imperfections. It doesn’t give me permission to go on sinning so that His grace may abound (Romans 6:1-2), but it does allow me to admit my need for Christ’s redemptive work in my life. Our identity in Christ is not found in our perfection, but in His. When I take steps towards living in ways that reflect who God calls me to be, and I inevitably fail, I am not changed by ignoring these failures. I am changed by repenting and admitting my need for God.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (1 Corinthians 12:9-10)
Inquisitiveness – Inquisitiveness involves both our “curiosity as well as asking questions” 2. When we don’t understand something, we can move towards our desired learning through asking questions of the educator or of the content. How does this work? What does this mean? Why did they make this decision instead of that one? Easily connected to active engagement, the inquisitive student asks questions in class when they don’t understand what the instructor is communicating. They move beyond not knowing and towards trying to find the answer to what it is that they don’t understand.
In relationships, we get to know someone by being curious about them. We ask them questions. In his book How to Know a Person, journalist and professional question asker David Brooks writes, “I’ve come to think of questioning as a moral practice. When you’re asking a good question, you are adopting a posture of humility. You’re confessing that you don’t know and you want to learn” (p. 87).3
With Jesus, I am tying to ask these curious questions as a posture of humility, seeking to know and understand. Questions help illuminate our awareness. When we seek answers to uncertainty, we admit what we don’t know. Whether it is seeking answers to theological questions by engaging with expert theologians, being curious as I read a passage of scripture, or simply pondering the truths of who God is through questions, I know Him more as I am curious about Him.
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. (Psalm 139:1)
Intentional Effort – Learning must involve trying. Student success is connected to a myriad of factors, but a student’s effort and willingness to do hard work represent a critical component of the learning process. “Learning is deeper and more durable when it’s effortful. Learning that’s easy is like writing in the sand, here today and gone tomorrow”4. Students must be willing to “put in the work” if they want to succeed. Gaier et. al describe this as not only working hard, but also working smart. “Intentional effort not only acknowledges students must work hard but also takes into consideration that there are effective ways of studying”5 It is not simply effort but rather effort pointed in the right direction. There are more effective methods for developing memory (recall, spacing, interleaving), and there are steps we can take to help us be organized and accomplish the work of a student (keeping a calendar, to-do lists, etc.). Students must put in effort, but it should be pointed in the right direction.
In the same way, if I am not actually trying to grow spiritually or to deepen my relationship with God, a stagnant faith is the likely outcome. It is okay to be a “try hard” in our faith. There is goodness in making intentional steps towards growth. It is not enough to simply acknowledge I want to deepen my relationship with Christ, I must also play an active role in this formation.
This intentional effort may take the form of practicing spiritual disciplines, those tried and true methods of spiritual formation built on scripture and tradition6 like prayer, fasting, worship, sabbath, and scripture engagement. Regardless of the methods I use, it most certainly involves actively trying to grow in my faith and demonstrating an attitude of intentional effort. I have been challenged and encouraged to try to put effort into developing my relationship with Jesus and to build thoughtful structures into my days that will lead to my formation.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. (2 Peter 1:5-7)
Concluding Thoughts
As I articulate these thoughts on deep learning and their connections to my spiritual formation, I am struck by their simplicity. These are likely not new ideas for you as seasoned followers of Christ. However, I have found that these dispositions, these attitudes and actions, have provided a framework (and conviction) for the steps of faith formation that I desire in my own life (and in the lives of my students). They don’t simply lead me to know more about God, but when applied appropriately, push me to know God more. Sometimes, despite my years of faith, I lose sight of the simple steps towards growth that require my participation. I am humbly trying to take to heart the “expert” advice I offer to others.
Footnotes
- Gaier et. al, “Helping students become effective learners,” 134.
- Gaier et. al, “Helping students become effective learners,” 134.
- David Brooks. How to Know a Person. (Random House, 2023), 87.
- Brown et. al, Make it Stick, 3.
- Gaier et. al, “Helping students become effective learners,” 135.
- Adele A. Calhoun. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2015).
