Date of Award
2002
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Nancy Gadbow
Committee Member
Richard C. Conrath
Committee Member
James Pietrovito
Committee Member
Martin Parks
Keywords
adult education, applied dissertationocese, Archdi of America, clergy development, clergy training, descriptive research, formative committee, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Greek Orthodox clergy, implementation plan, novice clergy, Orthodox clergy, parish clergy, parish religious educators, parish teacher training, religious education, religious education training, Religious Education Parish Training Manual for Novice Parish Clergy, support resources, teacher development, teacher preparation, teacher training manual, training manual evaluation, training problems, training solutions, volunteer-based parish teaching staff
Abstract
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA) is responsible for preparing clergy for Orthodox parishes through America. An important responsibility of Orthodox clergy is the training a:nd development of parish religious educators. Greek Orthodox clergy, however, are rarely graduates of academic programs specifically designed with an emphasis on teacher preparation. Consequently, newly ordained clergy have difficulty developing their respective parish teachers. The problem is that novice clergy are not provided support resources for effectively teaching parish religious educators how to teach.
The seven research questions answered in this applied dissertation were as follows: What are the most recurring problems experienced by novice Greek Orthodox clergy attempting to provide training to their volunteer-based parish teaching staff/, What theories, principles and techniques of adult education-provide appropriate solutions for the training of religious educators?, What are the most effective expert solutions, approaches and strategies that have been proven to be successful when dealing with similar training problems?, What criteria shall be used to develop an effective training manual for novice clergy?, What content is appropriate for inclusion in the training manual?, What is an appropriate plan for implementing the training solutions and strategies?, and what is an appropriate plan f9r the on-going evaluation of the training manual?
Descriptive research, development and evaluation research methodologies were used to complete this study. Based on a comprehensive literature review and input from a formative committee, the researcher developed an interview tool that was used to determine the most common religious education training problems encountered by novice (0-5 years) parish clergy. Tue problems were analyzed and a list of the most common training problems were sent to expert (20 + years) parish clergy who were asked to identify successful training solutions, approaches and strategies that they have used to solve these problems. A Religious Education Parish Training Manual for Novice Parish Clergy, that includes the most common training problems with corresponding recommended solutions, was developed. Finally, an implementation plan that includes a component for the on-going evaluation of the training manual was developed.
From the results of the study, it was recommended that the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America take immediate action to initiate the teacher training manual's implementation and on-going evaluation plan developed in this study. The teacher training manual implementation strategies should extend over a period of two academic years. Last, it is recommended that this study be repeated.