Seminary Teaching Perspectives: A Comparison Study of Teaching Perspectives Between Seminary Faculty and Students at a Midwestern Seminary

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to look at the teaching perspectives within a seminary setting. Seminary settings are drastically different than local church settings. They are primarily focused on the academic development of students. It is possible that the academic focus of the seminary setting fosters different perspectives and values regarding instruction than the local church setting. This study determined if there were any significant differences of teaching perspective present based upon role (student or faculty), department, (male or female), or gender (male or female). This study did not reveal a significant difference between seminary faculty members and students in any of the TPI categories. Additionally, students in the ministry and counseling departments both held apprenticeship as the highest mean score but with the counseling students scoring significantly higher than ministry students irrespective of gender. This seems to suggest that the seminary faculty approach teaching with similar perspectives as the students and that counseling students approach their discipline from a perspective of apprenticeship that exceeds that of ministry students.