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 sug ...