1. By Karen Jones A Study of Children and Adolescents

2. EDUCATION Duke University Drew Theological Seminary 1971 Ph.D. Harvard University, Religion & Society with focus in ethics and sociology of religion Center of Moral Development at Harvard School of Education (post graduate studies) TEACHING CAREER 1969 – 1975 Harvard Divinity School 1975 – 1976 Boston College 1977 – 1993 Emory’s Candler School of Theology

3.  F UNDAMENTAL “none of us lives very well without it.”  U NIVERSAL “recognizably the same phenomenon in Christians, Marxists, Hindus & Dinka.”  I NFINITELY VARIED “each persons faith is unique;” “inexhaustibly mysterious.” (Fowler, xiii)

4. “M AN THE MEANING MAKER ” E ARNEST B ECKER, A NTHROPOLOGIST god VALUES P AUL T ILLICH, T HEOLOGIAN T RUST IN A CENTER OF VALUE & POWER R ICHARD N IEBUHR, T HEOLOGIAN

5. W. C. Smith states:

6. S HARED CENTER OF VALUE AND POWER SELFOTHERS Love – mutual trust - loyalty Meaning – Worth - Sustains Rest my heart upon Meaning – Worth - Sustains Rest my heart upon FAITH is triadic or covenantal in shape.

7. “In its imaginal mode, faith ‘forms into one’ a comprehensive image of an ultimate environment, an environment of environments, in relation to which we make sense of the force field of our lives.” Fowler, p 28

8.  Structural Development Theories & Faith P IAGET AND K OHLBERG – the push to examine the structuring activity of faith  Psychosocial Development E RIKSON – focus on the functional aspect of faith

9.  Contributions of Piaget – Kohlberg school  Epistemological focus  Focus on structure of knowing forming content of knowledge (although not as distinct in faith development); invariant sequence  Interactional process (innovative subject/changing environment)  Normative direction & implications

10.  Limitations of Piaget – Kohlberg school  Separated cognition or knowing from emotion (rational maturity makes matters of emotion as subjective bias, immaterial)  Very restricted role of imagination in knowing, unconscious structuring processes

11. It is with this imaging that Fowler’s research and observations identified what he calls “reasonably predictable developmental turning points in the WAYS faith imagines and in the WAYS faith’s images interplay with the communal modes of expression.”

12. --Infancy & Undifferentiated Stage 1Intuitive – Projective Stage 2Mythical – Literal Stage 3Synthetic - Conventional Stage 4Individuative - Reflective Stage 5Conjunctive Stage 6Universalizing

13. 1 Does faith development in elementary school & high school students reflect the formal descriptions of Fowler’s faith stages associated with childhood (Stage 2) and adolescence (Stage 3), respectively? 2 When a faith education community that utilizes an explicit, structured program of reflection – a hallmark of Stage 4 Individuative-Reflective Faith – are high school students likely to exceed Fowler’s Stage 3?

14. 1 I predict 5 th grade students will reflect Fowler’s 2 nd Stage of Faith Development and the High School Seniors (18 yrs. old) will reflect at least the 3 rd Stage. 2 I predict a small percentage of High School Seniors will be 4 th Stage or transitioning to 4 th Stage in the faith education community that utilizes an explicit, structured program of reflection.

15. St. Monica School 4140 Walnut Hill Rd., Dallas, TX Jesuit College Prep 12345 Inwood Dr., Dallas TX 25 – 5 th Grade students 10 – 11 years old 23 – 12 th Grade students 18 years old

16.  10- QUESTION SURVEY PART IPART IIPART IIIPART IV ConstructionCommitmentAuthorityImages 4 questions 1 3 questions 2 1 question2 questions 1 Leak, Loucks and Bowlin, 1999, p.124 2 Schwartz, 2006, p. 317

17. It is very important for me to… accept the religious beliefs and values of my church critically examine my religious beliefs and values. PART I - CONSTRUCTION

18. I don’t find value in being exposed to other religions. It doesn’t bother me to be exposed to other religions. PART I - CONSTRUCTION

19. I believe totally the teachings of my church. I find myself disagreeing with my church over some aspects of faith. PART I - CONSTRUCTION

20. I believe that my church… teaches a complete understanding of what God wants for us & how we should worship him. has much to offer, but that other religions can also provide some religious understanding. PART I - CONSTRUCTION

21. PART II - COMMITMENT

24. PART III - AUTHORITY

25. PART IV - IMAGES

26. Stage 2 Form & content from authority, literal, narrative, anthromorphic I think that God is like a blacksmith who is constantly working on creating yet another mammal, bird, reptile, fish, or amphibian. (5 th ) I think God is a very nice man who cares for his people. I think He also loves everything he makes. (encluding Dinosaurs) (5 th ) PART IV - IMAGES

27. Stage 3 Unexamined (tacit) images, religious model, mystery & awe, knowing & loving, as a companion. God is loving and fair. He is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is eternal and good. (5 th ) Alpha & Omega, The Man (2 students, 12 th ) All knowing deity, who loves and respects all. (12 th ) PART IV - IMAGES

28. God is all powerful, acts in our lives when we need it, whether or not we pray to him for help. (12 th ) He created the universe in the beginning & has been looking over it as it transformed through time. #7 (12 th) ) Stage 4 Process model – God affects the world and the world affects God. Demythologized to create sense of meaning. Social. PART IV - IMAGES

29. 35%15% 35%

30. GradeStage 2Stage 2/3Stage 3Stage 4 5 th 72%16%12%0 12 th 29%14%45%10% Do 5 th graders reflect Stage 2? The majority, yes – but not exclusively. Do HS Seniors reflect Stage 3? Yes, but not exclusively, with a wide distribution.

31.  Survey – too broad, no follow-up questions.  Survey questions needed to be more narrow and simpler for 5 th grade students.  18 year olds were all male.  Advantage / Disadvantage – Catholic school students only

32. Fowler, J. W. (1981). Stages of Faith: The psychology of human development and the quest for meaning. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row. Haunz, R. A. (1978). Development of some models of God and suggested relationships to James Fowler's stages of faith development. Religious Education, 73(6), 640-655. Kahoe, R. D., & Meadow, M. (1984). Psychology of Religion: Religion in Individual Lives. New York, NY: Harper & Row. Leak, G., Loucks, A., & Bowlin, P. (1999). Development and Initial Validation of an Objective Measure of Faith Development. International Journal For The Psychology Of Religion, 9(2), 105-124. Schwartz, K. D. (2006). Transformations in parent and friends faith support predicting adolescents’ religious faith. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 16, 311–326. Picture credit – Magnet & force field. http://static.geekbeat.tv/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Magnetic-Field-Lines-Around-a-Bar-Magnet1.jpg Works Cited