Developmental Theory and the Nurturing of Faith in Children

In attempting to describe how each of these developmental theories relates to the task of nurturing a child’s faith, it seems pertinent that we first define the nature of the task at hand, principally that of nurturing a child’s faith.  Stonehouse equates the task of nurturing with spiritual formation, which is “a maturing of faith and a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ, through which we become more like Christ in the living of our everyday lives in the world.”[1] She believes that spiritual formation is contingent upon “practices that help to open the person to God and break down barriers that hinder his or her perception of God.”[2] As such nurturing faith must take into account the whole person.

This is not an easy task, however, for human beings are complex physically, socially, psychologically, and spiritually.  Hence, Stonehouse provides us with developmental theories which she hopes will help us to understand, and therefore more properly minister to, the complex being- a child- in which we desire to nurture faith.

She begins by introducing us to the psycho-social developmental theory of Erik Erikson.  Erikson believed that human development was a result of biological and psychological factors working together, in inseparable fashion, within a specific social context.[3] Thus in order to understand the person, and be able to facilitate spiritual formation one must appreciate the respective biological, psychological, and social factors that ultimately form the child.

Erickson believed that there were eight psycho-social stages (Stonehouse deals extensively with only the first four) that comprise a human beings existence.  These stages, as proposed by Erikson are not designed to neatly order one’s life nor are they designed to provide a psycho-social label for one’s existence.  Erikson’s stages are presented as a guideline to help us understand some of the “dynamic processes in which they are involved” and as such “insight into the person.”[4] Crises and conflicts are associated with each respective stage of psycho-social development.[5] At each stage the respective crises and/or conflicts can be resolved either in either a positive or negative fashion; usually it proves to be a combination of the two.

Keeping in mind the strengths evidenced at each level of development- trust, hope, will, and purpose- it becomes clear why Erikson’s theory is so helpful.  We begin to see that one’s development psycho-socially is invariably linked with the task of Christian education.  In fact, as Stonehouse claims, a healthy psycho-social development “sets the stage for a relationship with God.”[6]

It is not hard to see how the two spheres are related.  Christianity claims that you must trust/believe in God.  One’s trust/belief provides hope of a future in heaven.  Christians claim that through this relationship with God one finds his or her purpose by submitting to the will of God.  Yet, a negative psycho-social development could result in a child’s inability to desire such a relationship.  If a child had a bad experience relating to their father and the Christian educator presents them with God who is like a Father, they may find it hard to put their trust in God.  They may find it hard to find hope in heaven, for them it may just appear to be another broken promise from their father.

Since the Christian educator seeks to nurture a child’s faith, this means that the educator and the Church might have to intervene and create a positive psycho-social experience.  The educator and/or church must provide a relationship of love, whereby they can learn to trust.[7] This may mean providing a nursery or Sunday School environment that is safe and consistent.[8] It may mean affirming the child’s worth by providing them opportunities to use their abilities in church (by reading, singing, playing an instrument, etc.).[9]

Catherine Stonehouse proceeds to discuss the developmental theory of Jean Piaget.  Piaget’s theory is primarily concerned with the cognitive development of a person.  His research led him to believe that minds of children and adults work in different ways.  In fact he came to believe that children are least like adults in their thinking and are most like adults in their feelings.[10]

Piaget determined that as a child develops, he or she goes through four stages.  In each stage “the child’s thinking and logic are qualitatively different.”[11] In stage one, the sensorimotor stage, the child interacts with his or her environment thereby building a cause and effect understanding of how it works.  In stage two, the preoperational stage, the child needs concrete physical situations to conceptualize.  In stage three, the concrete operations stage, the child begins to make sense of his or her experiences via accumulated experiences.  At this stage abstract thinking begins to be developed and implemented.  At stage four, the formal operations stage, the child’s thinking and reasoning is reflective of their adult counterparts.

Piaget’s theory gives the Christian educator much to think about.  He or she must find ways to facilitate experience.  This may mean allowing them to play, because when children play is it is their work.[12] It may mean finding ways for them to experience the values of their church.[13] This may mean providing them with opportunities to participate in the service, help at church dinners, care for children younger then themselves, be greeters, and visit those who are shut-ins.

Some further items that Christian educators need to take into concern, is that the time spent in contact with children must include social interaction and meaningful response to their questions.  The educator must realize that in order to learn children must interact with their classmates.[14] The educator must also treat the child’s questions as though they are important.[15] The educator must realize that even though this question may seem trivial to them, that it is not trivial to the child.  We must be sympathetic to child’s situation.

Kohlberg, Stonehouse believes, provides us with another model.  Kohlberg’s model is one of moral development.  He believes that morality develops in three levels, each level containing two stages.  In level one of moral development the individual is concerned only with him or herself.  Thus morality springs from what oneself, what one views as right or wrong- most often the decision of morality is influenced by the rewards or benefits of a specific action.[16] Level two morality is based upon models of right and wrong, as well as rules.  At this stage of moral development external forces provide moral guidance for the individual.  He or she acts according to what they are told is right or wrong.[17] At level three an individual is concerned with the principle at work behind the action.  The person at this stage of moral development is cognizant of whether his or her actions take into account the equality of human rights and/or the dignity of the individuals involved.[18]

The ways to employ Kohlberg’s moral development theory are varied.  One way to begin this process would be to facilitate “role-taking” among the children.[19] In the process of role-taking a person would find themselves playing a role in a given situation.  This type of teaching is somewhat exemplified in the parables of Jesus.  In the parables Jesus invites the hearers (or readers) into the story.  Once they have found their place within the story they are usually forced to choose between two opposing sides.  Thus they experience the rightness or wrongness of their choice.

Another way to use Kohlberg’s theory would be to use “inductive discipline.”[20] Using this approach one would give the child certain responsibilities.  Having given the child his or her responsibilities the educator would step back and let the child act for him or herself.  This would allow the child to discover for him or herself the impact that their actions had upon themselves and others.

Yet another way to go about the task of applying Kohlberg’s theory would be to create/facilitate a “just community.”[21] Within the context of this community, in our case the church or one of its programs, the educator would respect and attentively listen to the viewpoints of the child.  In doing so the child will feel loved, respected, and affirmed.  Thereby trust-building between child and educator will have occurred.

In the end, however, the best way for Christian educators to employ Kohlberg’s principles is to introduce the children to Jesus.[22] It is one’s faith in Jesus which ultimately gives reason to our actions.  Our faith in Jesus answers the question of why we act in a just way when it would not benefit us.  Faith in Jesus explains why we must act responsibly within our world and society.

Stonehouse concludes her discussion of developmental theories with that of James Fowler.  Her reason for concluding with Fowler is clear, in fact, she explicitly states it.  James Fowler was “informed by developmental understandings from Erikson, Piaget, and Kohlberg”[23] when he began his work.  Thus it seems appropriate to discuss his theory last, since it uses the other three.

Faith, according to Fowler, is a potential in children from the moment that they are born.[24] However, faith does not develop instantaneously within an individual.  Faith, as Stonehouse has already stated, needs to be nurtured to develop.  Its development occurs in one pre-stage and six subsequent stages.[25] Stonehouse, however, only deals with the pre-stage and three of the subsequent stages.

The first stage is termed “primal faith.”[26] At this stage a child simply has a “disposition to trust.”[27] The trusting disposition begins before birth.  It is further evidenced as the child is cherished and loved by family, which is usually a result of faith working in their lives.  It is this primal faith that provides the foundation for trust in God.[28]

The second stage of Fowler’s developmental theory is the “intuitive-projective faith.”[29] At this level the child takes concrete things- pictures, events, stories, etc.- coupled with the feelings generated by the objects to construct an image which in turn has a long-lasting effect on their faith.[30] Often times the child will take the image they have constructed and incorporate it into their image of God.

The third stage of faith is “mythic-literal faith.”[31] At this stage the child has a transitional image of God.  As such, they begin to see God as a just figure, since it is at this stage that they feel very certain that justice must be at work in their world.  They want a world that is just and fair, and they believe that God acts in such a way.  Since their image of God is transitional at this level, they use stories as the medium through which they know, understand, and express their understanding(s) of God.[32]

The last stage of Fowler’s developmental theory, mentioned by Stonehouse, is the “synthetic conventional stage.”[33] At this stage the child takes in information from all sectors of life.  They assimilate and synthesize this information to form a value, meaning, and belief about the world and God.  Furthermore, the child at this stage of development deeply desires to have a personal relationship with God.[34]

In attempting to apply Fowler’s developmental theory to Christian education, I will attempt to discuss how all of these developmental theories can come together to help inform our methods for journeying with children on the walk of faith.  Fowler proves to be a good point to attempt such a task, since he best synthesizes the various approaches into one full-orbed approach.  I think that Christian education program that took these theories seriously would attempt to use stories, ritual and liturgy, explanation, and questions in a meaningful way.  The educator would use stories to communicate ideas.  These ideas, hopefully, would not be boiled down to simplistic moral maxims.  Rather, one would hope that these stories would serve the same purpose as Jesus’ parables.  One would hope that the stories would draw the child into them, allow them to use their imagination, and thereby by placing them within the story allow them to experience first hand the working of God or the challenge to act in a righteous or unrighteous way.  One would hope that they could experience the Good Friday story by placing themselves in the crowd before Pilate, chanting “Crucify Him!”

Liturgy and ritual are also important.  It is these elements which allow the child and the educator to journey together.  In partaking in ritual and liturgy both the educator and the child are doing the work of the people together, but they are also linked with the larger body of believers- their church.  Moreover, it is through participating in ritual and liturgy that they are also linked with the church universal, as well as the church of the past, and hopefully the future.  Liturgy and ritual also allow the child the opportunity to participate and make sense of their faith on their own.

It is after the child has been allowed to place themselves in the story, ritual, and liturgy of the church that the time for questions and explanations come.  I should make it known that I am not advocating the promotion of heresy.  If a child is obviously straying in the concepts that they are formulating, then the educator should do the job of a companion on the journey and steer the child back on course.  That said, having allowed the child to experience the stories, find their place within the worshiping community, and experience God in their own personal way we can commence a meaningful dialogue with children- with trust established, children will ask questions and thereby gain knowledge that they were lacking.  Through their questions, many misconceptions will hopefully be corrected.

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[1][1] Stonehouse, Catherine, Joining Children on the Spiritual Journey: Nurturing a Life of Faith, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), p. 21.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid., p. 45.

[4] Ibid., p. 46.

[5] Ibid., p. 47.

[6] Ibid., p. 63.

[7] Ibid., p. 65.

[8] Ibid., p. 66.

[9] Ibid., p. 67.

[10] Ibid., p. 70.

[11] Ibid., p. 73.

[12] Ibid., p. 87.

[13] Ibid., p. 88.

[14] Ibid., pp. 89-90.

[15] Ibid., p. 91.

[16] Ibid., p. 99.

[17] Ibid., p. 104.

[18] Ibid., p. 109.

[19] Ibid., p. 113.

[20] Ibid., p. 115.

[21] Ibid., p. 117.

[22] Ibid., p. 123.

[23] Ibid., p. 150.

[24] Ibid.

[25] Ibid., p. 151.

[26] Ibid.

[27] Ibid.

[28] Ibid., p. 152.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Ibid., p. 153.

[31] Ibid., p. 159.

[32] Ibid., p. 161.

[33] Ibid., p. 164.

[34] Ibid., p. 165.

Tags: Catherine Stonehouse, developmental theory, discipleship, Erickson, Fowler, Kohlberg, Piaget, Soteriology
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