The member institutions of the Association of Theological Schools share a legacy of collaboration. Recently, a renewed urgency for such partnerships has emerged. In this article, the collaborative tradition is revisited, longstanding approaches are scrutinized, and emerging models are explored. The historical motivations for…

This article begins with a brief autobiographical depiction of my religious education. It then charts the ways in which the inadequacies of that religious education caused me to treat my family's traditional religious expressions with suspicion rather than appreciation, undergirding coloniality as a phenomenon within my religious education.…

These brief essays by Mary Hess, Eugene Gallagher, and Katherine Turpin are solicited responses from three different contexts to the provocative book by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown, "The New Culture of Learning" (2011). Mary Hess writes from a seminary context, providing a critical summary of the authors' major concepts and…

Having completed a degree in theology and philosophy, Robert Jackson writes that he really did not know which career he wanted to pursue. He eventually opted to do a one-year postgraduate teacher training course, but was not sure that he wanted to be a teacher or that he would be effective in that role. The moment of truth was being sent into…

The development of critical thinking skills among learners is a common educational goal across graduate theological schools. The purpose of this article is to provide a survey of some of the primary historical influences of the critical thinking movement in higher education in the United States and the movement's impact on graduate…

Given American higher education's origins in British practice, it is surprising that training in the traditional "learned" professions follows such different patterns. Most strikingly, such training is post-graduate in the United States while it is often a first degree programme in Britain. Intriguingly, in the middle nineteenth century,…

Hispanic seminary students in American theological schools face considerable challenges as they work to pursue their degrees. Many balance service to the ministry and community involvement with the rigors of academia. Cultural barriers leave students pulled between two worlds. Focus groups of Hispanic seminary students and data drawn from the…

Effects of rating scale format and rater training on leniency and halo in student ratings of instruction were investigated. Subjects were students in a graduate theological seminary. The findings demonstrate the importance of focusing efforts to improve quality of ratings on the students rather than on the format of the instrument. (Author/MSE)