Evaluation and Critique of Published Curriculum

Evaluation and Critique of Published Curriculum

Selecting curriculum can be very challenging, especially when the church you are selecting is apart of a denomination. I am finding that the resources the leaders of the denomination create or approve for the denomination use does not flow down to the membership. Example, my home church's denomination is the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZ) and we publish our own curriculum for Sunday school according to the Episcopal area. However certain Sunday school teachers at my church use a different curriculum published by Urban Ministries, Inc. (UMI) Because of this conflict in my church, I will evaluate and critique the Second Quarter December 2005, January and February, 2006 Sunday school books for teachers and students; "Young People-Adult Quarterly" (YPAQ) and Urban Ministries, Inc. (UMI) young adult Sunday school book named; "Direction" from both publishers.
I have provided the criteria selection sheet used to evaluate and critique the curriculum (see attached). I believe there are several areas that must be considered when selecting curriculum. Theological/Philosophical Foundations must agree with the churches teachings or there will be confusion among the membership. Social Awareness is an important aspect of church teachings that is often over looked by main stream evangelist, which many church members see on the television, hear on the radio or purchased literature from books stores. The church has to ask itself and answer for the congregation "What would Jesus do?" This has to be taught at every level of Christian Education. Teacher's materials must prepare the teacher for every class, give examples on how to engage the students, and suggest additional resources for more information. Student materials must be easy to read, give a variety of life application examples, and be age appropriate for the intended reader. The Presentation of the material must appeal to the reader and give visuals that relate to the subject being taught. This way the student can have a clear picture of what was taking place and the impact it can have on their spiritual lives.

Theological/Philosophical Foundations:
The Urban Ministries material for young adults called "Direction" and they have been developing Sunday school lessons for 35 years (Flennoy 2005). The theological/philosophical foundation for this material is Trinitarian basic bible understanding of Christian Education. Because it is not linked to any denomination they tend not to lean toward anyone specific belief or theological perspective that might conflict with general Christian tenants. Even without the denomination connection Direction still bases their Sunday school lessons on the International Sunday School Lessons; the International Bible Lessons for Christian Teaching Copyright© . Based on the Trinitarian teaching and following the International Sunday School Lessons, Direction does not conflict with the Churches teachings on theology or philosophy, but neither does the curriculum make a theological or philosophy stance on controversial issues. On January 8, 2006, the lesson is "Pray for Everyone". There are three goals for this lesson: 1. Know that God desires that we pray for everyone, including people in authority such as parents, supervisors, community, world leaders, and ourselves 2. Be convinced that by praying for others we can affect the outcome of certain situations 3. Commit to further develop and deepen our prayer lives . The YPAQ Sunday School has similar points but in addition calls for praying in the spirit combined with corporate prayer. Praying in the spirit can be defined by speaking in tongues or a holy language and when you combine it with corporate prayer, you add several people to pray. This is not believed by all Christian faiths and can be considered a controversial theological or philosophical issue.

The YPAQ Sunday school books gives what it refers to "Lesson comments" . The scripture lesson is broken down and explained in sections by separating the scripture lesson into sub topics. Additionally, YPAQ also provides "Lesson Sidelights" which gives students references to other scriptures that relate to the lesson and history of the early church . Having both the Lesson Comments and Lesson Sidelights gives students several opportunities to understand the theological and philosophical perspective of the Church. In the book "Direction" students are given "More Light On The Text" by being given the Greek definition of key words in the scripture . They also phonically spell the word to assist in pronouncing. This gives student more exposure to what God is trying to say to Christians through the bible.

Social Awareness
The UMI Direction addresses this area from an urban African American prospective (hence it's name) and doesn't go into great detail about social awareness. They mainly address what seems to be hot media topics and ask a question that will relate back to the lesson for the week.

YPAQ Sunday school books go into great detail about social awareness and the importance of Christianity being more than just something you practice on Sunday but everyday. YPAQ addresses current events as well as regional issues in the area it is distributed. Discussion starters are also given to drive home the point of life application and how do I apply this to my life.

Teacher's Materials
UMI Direction gives some great "Teaching Tips" for teacher's . Six lesson topics are given to the teachers to assist in teaching: Words you should know, teacher preparation, starting the lesson, getting into the lesson, relating the lesson to life and arousing Action. The material also includes a worship guide contains songs that relate to the lesson, additional scriptures and a meditation.

YPAQ prepares teachers by giving suggestions before each area in the lesson. The teacher notes are placed in bold letters that give teachers ideas on how to educate their students. Lesson goals for the teachers are given at the beginning and questions are asked to the students to test their understanding at the end of the lesson.

Student Materials
UMI Direction has a lot of sections that break the lesson in different focuses. For example: The focus verses, in focus, focus background, and focus in depth. This keeps the students progress towards a goal, learning a little bit in each section while building on top of each other to ultimately bring everyone to one direction.

YPAQ lesson evolves lots of discussion starters after a area of the lesson is covered. This promotes life application and encourages students to share their thoughts with others in the class. The students are prepared for these discussions by being given home daily bible readings for the up coming week. The student is giving a lot of bible readings then encouraged to formulate thoughts on how to live what they read.

Presentation
UMI Direction features a picture of a person on the cover in relation to the quarter's topic, but throughout the book, there aren't any more pictures.

YPAQ books have a painted picture on the front cover and at least on picture to start off the lesson. The other pictures in the lesson call the students to action. Example, when you see the hand together in the praying position, it is calling the students to prayer and when you see the bible, this is calling the students to read.

Overall I believe both materials are good and can be used in our church. However I believe you will have a more unified church if all the churches taught the approved Sunday school material.