Jesus and the Gosples: Part II

Well, I survived my first week of 'tutoring'. It was an interesting experiencing. Perhaps the most akward moment came when I figured out that the Watson that was in my class was related to Francis Watson, one of the authors that we had to read for the tutorial! Fortunately, I figured it out before saying something stupid about the article he wrote. During the entire session I couldn't decide whether I should let the cat out of the bag and tell everyone that the article we were discussing was from (pointing across the table) her dad or whether she was going to freely offer that information. I was so afraid someone was going to say something mean or stupid about the article. I braced myself when I had to ask, "So, what did you all think of the Watson article?" Fortunately, all were kind and civilized. Maybe they already knew.

Here are a few things regarding the class profile that I thought were interesting:

1. There was a wider age range than I expected. There is one woman around fifty training to be a minister in the Church of Scotland, and another man from Ireland who I would guess is in his later 30s, maybe even early 40s.

2. There were a few Americans in the class. To my surprise, they were not exchange students.

3. There were an equal number of male to female; predominantly caucasian; only a few from Scotland; most from England.

4. There were quite a large number of students who were not Christians and who had never read the Bible.

Other things I noticed:

1. They set the standards very high for these students. I have noticed that in the US there has been a bit of a dumbing down process going on for years, especially in theological/religion courses as kids that come in know less and less. The standard here is notably higher. The essays they had to read for this first week would not have even been assigned in my seminary coursework. This is the great benefit of the UK system, these kids come out knowing there stuff.

2. UK students love a good argument. The really enjoy disagreeing and arguing counter-points, are well-articulated, and remain friends afterward.

3. UK students are very hesitant to give up any personal information.

In the end I found myself experiencing quite a bit of culture shock. I realized after my tutorial that I am much more comfortable being with and teaching Latin students. So, it should be an interesting, challenging experience.