臺灣基督教會學齡前兒童主日學教育者教育信念與實踐內涵之探究—以臺北市兩間教會爲例

本研究採用質性研究的方法，探究臺灣基督教會學齡前兒童主日學教育者的教育信念與實踐內涵，以及在教學實踐中遇到的困難及克服之道。研究對象為臺北市兩間教會兒童主日學的教育者，資料蒐集方式包括訪談、現場觀察、檔案資料蒐集等。經由質性資料分析獲得研究結果如下：一、教育者信念內容涵蓋四方面：（一）「幼兒特性」：包含積極和消極層面。積極面認為幼兒充滿好奇心、心思單純容易接受教導，幼兒是獨立的個體且擁有無限潛能；消極面認為幼兒注意力集中時間短，不太能理解抽象事物，容易受到外界影響且比較自我。（二）兒童主日學「課程」：最主要是為了讓幼兒能認識耶穌，並且培養幼兒的屬靈品格。（三）「教育環境」：認為應兼具美感與功能性；除了教會環境，家庭環境也是幼兒信仰教育的重要場域。（四）「教師角色」：教師應該與上帝及幼兒皆能建立親密的關係，成爲上帝與幼兒之間的橋樑。二、教育實踐內容涵蓋三方面：（一）「課程」：注重延續性與適齡性，且運用體驗學習及多元的教學方式。（二）「教育環境」：教育者對教育環境甚為重視，不侷限於教室內空間，也延伸至戶外環境與家庭環境。（三）「教師角色」：著重師資培育，包括教師教學技能的培養與教師屬靈生命的操練。總而言之，兩間教會教育者信念與實踐整體上相當近似。僅在某些細節上略有不同，或許是因爲在實踐過程中受所遇困難不同所致。三、遇到的困難歸結為三方面：（一）教學時間有限導致教師對幼兒的瞭解不夠深入；混齡教學或班級人數過多對教師的能力有很大挑戰。（二）師資不足以及教師的經驗不夠會影響教學效果；教學場地不夠導致教學活動受限。（三）家庭與教會的教養方式不一致。針對這些困難，教會做了以下努力：（一）教師利用升班典禮、團契聚會等機會與家長溝通；透過開家長會、家訪等方式增加對幼兒的瞭解。（二）培育新老師，鼓勵家長參與服事並利用社區公共資源和教學空間。（三）牧養幼兒的同時也牧養家長。依據研究結果，就兒童主日學負責人、教師及未來研究提出相關建議。

關鍵字

臺灣基督教；兒童主日學；教育信念；實踐內涵

並列摘要

This study adopts the method of qualitative research, aiming at exploring the Educators' Beliefs and their Implementations of Taiwan Christian churches' preschool Children Sunday School, and the difficulties and ways to overcome in teaching practice. The research subjects are the educators of children's Sunday school from two churches in Taipei City. Data collection methods include interviews, field observation, document collection, etc. Through qualitative data analysis, the study results are as follows: I.The contents of educators' beliefs include four aspects: (I)"Children’s characteristics": including positive and negative sides. On the positive side, children are filled with curiosity, simple-minded and easy to teach. Children are independent individuals with unlimited potential; on the negative side, children have a short attention span, and are unable to understand abstract things. They are easily influenced by the outside world, and are possibly self-centered. (II) Children's Sunday school "curriculum": Its main purpose is to let children know Jesus, and cultivate their spiritual character. (III) "Educational environment": It should be both aesthetic and functional; in addition to the church environment, the family environment is also an important field for children's belief education. (IV) "Teacher's role": Teachers should be able to establish close relations with God and children, and become a bridge between God and children. II. The contents of educational practice includes three aspects: (I) "Curriculum": to pay close attention to continuation and age suitability, and to use experiential learning and diversified teaching methods. (II) "Educational environment": Educators attach great importance to the educational environment, not merely limited to classroom space, but also extended to the outdoor as well as the family environment. (III) "Teacher's role": to place emphasis on teacher education, including the cultivation of teachers' teaching skills and the practice of teachers' spiritual life. On the whole, the educators' beliefs and practices in two churches are quite similar in general, but they are slightly different in some details, perhaps because of different difficulties encountered during the practice. III.The difficulties encountered can be summarized into three aspects: (I) The teachers' understanding of children is not deep enough due to limited teaching time; mixed-age teaching or excessive class size can be a big challenge to teachers' ability. (II) The lack of teachers and the inadequate experience of teachers affect the teaching effect; the lack of teaching space leads to limited teaching activities. (III) The familial educational style is not harmonious of that of the church. In order to cope with these difficulties, the church has made the following efforts: (I) making use of opportunities such as promotion ceremonies and fellowship meetings to communicate with parents; improving their understanding of children through methods such as holding parent-teacher conferences and home visits. (II) training new teachers, encouraging parents to participate in serving, and making use of community public resources and teaching space. (III) fostering children, at the same time also fostering parents. Based on the study results, relevant suggestions are put forward on children's Sunday school principals, teachers and future studies.