Item Detail
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22736
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0
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0
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English
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Man of Holiness is His Name : A Character-Based Approach to Knowledge Among the Latter-day Saints
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New Brunswick, New Jersey
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Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
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Ph.D. diss.
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"Problem. All education is theory-driven. What theories guide the Latter-day Saint (LDS) approach to knowledge acquisition? What do the pioneer church leaders' discourses about the search for truth and knowledge in the Salt Lake Valley reveal about the LDS community's approach to learning and teaching? Method. The Journal of Discourses is a twenty-six volume transcription of the public addresses of LDS prophets, apostles, and other prominent figures within the community from 1855-1886. The researcher describes a culture of learning and teaching which evolved among the Latter-day Saints through an interpretive examination of these public addresses. Several themes in the Journal of Discourses suggest the presence of a novice-expert paradigm for learning and teaching within the LDS community. These themes include: Christ's relationship to God, man's relationship to Christ, the best way to proceed to gain knowledge, individuals within LDS scripture who pursued knowledge, nineteenth-century church leaders who modeled truth-seeking behaviors, and LDS assessment of the program of learning and teaching in which they were engaged. Findings. There were many aspects of the LDS approach to learning and teaching which closely resemble more modern process-oriented approaches to education. These include: a novice-expert paradigm for learning and teaching; the importance of personally restructured knowledge; formal mechanisms within the church structure which gave learners opportunities to teach; and an emphasis on learning strategies over learning material. Significance. The contemporary Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has extensive educational programs. Since the LDS approach to knowledge acquisition is rooted in a process orientation, each of the contemporary educational programs should examine its practices of materials selection, curriculum design, and teacher-training from a process-oriented perspective. This study provides a basis from which to examine how contemporary educational practices within the church community remain consistent with or vary from their pioneer roots." [Author's abstract]