The attitudes or actions not only of the learner but the provider, whether church as a body or individual tutor, can have a profound effect on church-based learning and participation in training. One popular study [34] picks this up by stressing two types of barrier to learning in the church which help in identifying how specific barriers might best be overcome: • those that are personal to the individual potential learner • those that are structural, which may include the attitudes of leaders within the church.


Learning for Life [35] identifies ten key elements of adult learning (based on the acronym REVELATION) that should inform church-related education. These elements actually help identify significant learning barriers, which could potentially be counteracted by adopting the ten elements as recommended – as in Table 1 below.


TABLE 1


Barrier Irrelevance


Educational Element (from REVELATION)


Relevance Disconnection Experience Inflexibility Boredom Variety Enjoyment Unhelpfulness Learning Skills Rejection Acceptance Non-Reflection Tutoring Skills Uniformity Frustration Selfishness Individual Differences Opportunities to Act Nurturing Others Explanation


Learning unrelated to everyday life, or without discernible purpose for the learner


Learning that fails to incorporate the individual’s broader life experiences


Rigid and unchanging methodology of learning or mode of delivery


Learning that is uninteresting, or an unwelcoming or uncomfortable environment


Providing no assistance for individuals in learning how to learn or engage with training


Failure to affirm learners in their identity and life situation, with no security when risk-taking


Inconsistency in the tutor, and being unreflective about their input and approach


Failing to allow for the differing needs and learning preferences of individuals


Providing no opportunities for what has been learnt to be worked out in practice


Failure of the learner to reinforce their own learning, and pass it on, by sharing with others


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