About Site Language

WHDL is viewable in multiple languages. Use the pull-down menu to select a language to view the site.

I changed my language, but I’m still seeing resources in the other languages?

If a resource or text has not been translated into your selected language, it will appear in the initially added language. We are always looking for help translating these resources. If you can help, contact us!

WHDL - 00014596

Implications of the perceived learning preferences of the intermediate pupils in the Free Methodist churches in Northern Mindanao, Philippines to curriculum design for Sunday school

Resource Types

Academic (Thesis, Dissertation, Etc.)

Resource Languages

English

Institutional Repository

Description / Abstract

The title of this dissertation is “Implications of the Perceived Learning Preferences of the Intermediate Pupils in the Free Methodist Churches in Northern Mindanao, Philippines, to Curriculum Design for Sunday School.” The main focus of the research is to explore the following problem: What are the implications of the perceived learning preferences of the intermediate pupils in the Free Methodist Churches in Northern Mindanao, Philippines, to curriculum design for Sunday School?

The first sub-problem is: What are the dominant educational theories in designing a Sunday School curriculum for intermediated pupils? The second sub-problem is: What are the learning preferences of the respondents in Northern Mindanao in terms of language, songs, storytelling methods, topics for Bible learning, and learning activities? The third sub-problem is: What implications can be drawn from the perceived learning preferences of the intermediate pupils in Northern Mindanao to curriculum design for Sunday school?

This research is based upon three assumptions. The first assumption is as follows: There are dominant educational theories in designing a Sunday School curriculum for intermediate pupils. The second assumption is as follows: The learning preferences of intermediate Sunday school pupils in Northern Mindanao in terms of language, songs, story-telling methods, topics for Bible learning, and learning activities can be identified. The third assumption is as follows: There are identifiable implications of the learning preferences of the intermediate Sunday school pupils in Northern Mindanao to curriculum design.

The study employed both field and literary research. Under the literary research, the biblical basis for Christian education of children as well as the contributions of John Dewey, Jean Piaget, James Folwer, and LeRoy Ford to education were given emphasis.

In the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments showed the importance of child education. Old Testament verses such as Deuteronomy 6:6-9 and Proverbs 22:6 among others gave education of children utmost importance. In the New Testament, passaged such as Matthew 19:14 and Ephesians 6:4 among other emphasized the education of children.

In addition to the biblical basis for the education of children, the research also accented the contributions of Dewey, Piaget, Fowler, and Ford to the general framework of designing a Sunday school curriculum for intermediated pupils. John Dewey (1859-1952) emphasized learning by doing, problem solving, the scientific method of inquiry, relevance of learning to the daily experiences of learners, and the importance of language, the arts, and song. Jean Piaget (1896-1980) conducted psychological experiments on children and formulated the cognitive stages of human development, that is, how children think and understand. James Fowler formulated the stages of faith development, that is, how people process their faith. LeRoy Ford stressed on knowing the needs and characteristics of learners to be able to teach them appropriately, using varied methods in the teaching-learning experience, and the 5-S principle of curriculum design which states: an effective curriculum involves somebody in learning something in some way somewhere for some purpose.

In the field research, the respondents of the study were the ten-to-twelve year old Sunday school pupils of the Free Methodist Churches in the Northern Mindanao Annual Conference of the Philippines. The research reported the general information about the 129 respondents. In terms of their age, it was found out that 33.3% of them were ten-year-olds, 35.7% were eleven-year-olds, and 31% were twelve-year-olds.

The survey yielded that in terms of gender there were sixty-five male and sixty-four female respondents. In terms of their grade level, 30.2% of the respondents were in Grade 4, 29.5% were in Grade 5, 34.1% were in Grade 6, five were in Grace 3, and two who were already in their first year in high school.

The survey identified the learning preferences of the respondents set forth in the questionnaire. In terms of language, the respondents preferred a combination of Tagalog, Cebuano, and English. In terms of songs, the respondents preferred a combination of action and prayer songs. In terms of storytelling methods, the respondents ranked using colorful pictures first, being part of the story second, and watching others do drama third. Concerning the relationship among the variables, it was found out that only gender and song preference show a significant relationship. The rest of the variables do not show any relationship.

With regards to the rating of the topics of Bible learning, based on the scale, the respondents rated stories about creation and stories about Jesus, “I like this very much.” In the learning activities, only drawing pictures was rated “This is very good.” The rest of the suggested learning activities were rated “This is good.”

Based upon these perceived learning preferences, the researcher drew implications for Sunday school curriculum design. First, the research indicated that since the preferred language of the respondents was a combination of Cebuano, Tagalog, and English, incorporating this combination in the curriculum design could enhance the teaching-learning experience. Second, since the preferred kind of songs of the respondents is a combination of action and prayer songs, the curriculum plan could make use of both. Third, the respondents ranked the storytelling methods as: first, using colorful pictures; second, being part of the story; the third, watching others do drama. Given this, the curriculum plan for Sunday school for the intermediates could incorporate these methods. Fourth, since stories about creation and stories about Jesus were rated, “I like this very much,” the curriculum plan for Sunday school for the intermediate could incorporate these topics for Bible learning. Finally, since “drawing or painting pictures” was rated, “This is very good” and the rest of the suggested learning activities were rated, “This is good,” the curriculum plan for the intermediates of the Free Methodist Church Sunday school among others could to consider this to promote democracy in the classroom and to enhance learning experiences. It was also indicated that creative, varied, and balanced activities in the classroom could enhance the teaching-learning experiences in Sunday school.

In the light of these findings, the researcher submits recommendations for further studies one of which is a content analysis of the Christian Life Club (CLC) curriculum from the Headquarters of the Free Methodist Church of North America. These materials are now distributed among local churches of the annual conferences within Mindanao area. A thorough examination of these Western materials could reveal findings that could be vital to the total education of children who belong to these churches.