Die onderrig van geloofsleer in die Christelik–Afrikaanse sekondêre skool

Abstract

The revival of Christian religion has once again placed the focus on man'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 of religious subjects since it is the determining and directing factor which governs one's whole life, i.e. to whom the child will devote his life, at school and extra-murally. The pistical modality (faith) is man's supreme function and all other human functions are subject to the guidance of faith. Human functions are developed under the guidance of the pistical function. Thus the instruction in Christian Faith can be seen as the heart of Christian education; the foundation on which the child can build.

The task of the educator is to help determine norms and supply directives in the development of the functions of the child. Christian Faith is directed towards the religious as well as the other functions of man. Education is thus subject to the guidance of faith. In Christian Faith the dogmatic should be taught, but not a specific non-Scriptural dogma. However, the teacher cannot shed his personal religious conviction which must, perforce, influence his instruction of Christian Faith. Every lesson in Religious Instruction should reinforce the faith of the child. Although Christian Faith as a subject is restricted to standerd ten, every lesson from standerd six onwards should confirm the pupils faith. Lessons in other subjects, like History and Science, should contribute to the confirmation of faith. As a consequence the child will experience and realise his faith.

The teacher of Christian Faith must guide the pupil to an acceptance of a specific religious conviction, otherwise the child will form a neutral idea of God. The clauses on dogma in the education ordinance expect a neutral Christian Faith instruction. To circumvent neutral instruction, it is recommended that Christian Faith is presented on a differentiated basis, so that the members of each religious group will 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 be Biblically centred, that the psychological development of the child should be borne in mind and that the teacher must guard against factors which could affect the nature of Christian Faith instruction. Christian Faith instruction requires a specific method in which the following may be used successfully: class discussion, dialogue teaching, the buzzing groups, the question-and-answer method, the method of setting problems, and the self-study method. The teacher of Christian Faith should be aware of factors which could have an adverse effect on pupils. Intelligence, feelings and morality should not receive undue stress, Churchism may not be encouraged through the absolutising of personal opinion, nothing in the Bible that seems unacceptable maybe omitted and Scriptural Truths may not be presented euphemistically. The Bible is, furthermore, no Scientific text-book. The principal and the subject inspector must see to it that the foundations for Christian Faith are properly laid and developed.