A CRISIS OF CRITICAL THOUGHT
We are facing a very real crisis of critical thought among today’s youth. Our secular culture increasingly favors a growing multiculturalism that affirms a uniform tolerance of all worldviews while simultaneously opposing a firm commitment to any one belief. Many young people believe that all religions are basically the same. Consequently, many young men and women cannot articulate their own faith.
Seeking to challenge these realities, the ASK curriculum aims to empower students with the critical tools necessary for understanding their own faith and for investigating and evaluating differing worldviews.
CLASS DISCUSSIONS – CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT TO ASK QUESTIONS
ASK was intentionally designed to be interactive. That means the group leader must introduce the session topic in class, help inspire conversations based on the questions provided, and use different multimedia tools (DVD videos, SMS polling, PowerPoint and Keynote presentations, online web forums) to create a dynamic learning atmosphere.
Why do we place so much emphasis on interaction? Why not just play a DVD for 45 minutes? In the book Soul Searching, Christian Smith’s observations gleaned from the National Study for Youth and Religion (NSYR) show:
• Religious educators need to work hard on articulation
• Youth are comfortable talking about God but not Jesus
• Teens need to practice talking about their faith
• Articulation fosters reality
The group leader is to help carry and focus the class conversations around the session topic. We want to help develop the student’s ability to think critically. We do not expect a group leader to have all of the answers. Actually, we expect a facilitator to learn with the class and model how to gracefully find answers when don’t know.
THE ASK CURRICULUM
Unlike DVD curriculum where the video dominates classroom time and requires only fill-in-the-blank answers, ASK requires a group leader to inspire and encourage students to verbalize their beliefs. For a group leader, ASK demands a time commitment similar to preparing for an in-depth Bible study.
Hosted by Nathan Zacharias, speakers in this DVD series include Ravi Zacharias, John Lennox, Stuart McAllister, Andy Bannister, John Njoroge, and Jill Carattini.
ASK was built to reach students of high school age and up.
The interactive ASK curriculum is comprised of:
- A four-DVD set containing 16 sessions in 4 modules – origin, meaning, morality, and destiny
- An introductory video to start the class discussion and a concluding Q&A video with an RZIM speaker for each session
- Exclusive web access for your class on this site containing facilitator and student content
- A free ASK SMS text message service for in-class discussion and polling
- An online and digital facilitator’s guide (downloadable from this site after registration)
- Bonus material from RZIM CD and DVD messages for different sessions
- Online question and answer videos from RZIM open forum events
- Ongoing site enhancements with new content based on feedback from your group
Disc 1 ORIGIN
What is ASK?
1.1 Something or Nothing – Andy Bannister
1.2 Cause and Effect – John Lennox
1.3 Reason and Order – John Lennox
1.4 Origin and Evidence – Ravi Zacharias
Disc 2 MEANING
2.1 Big Questions – Stuart McAllister
2.2 Beauty All Around – Jill Carattini
2.3 The Meaning of Stuff – Stuart McAllister
2.4 Living Purpose – Ravi Zacharias
Disc 3 MORALITY
3.1 Whose Morality Is It Anyway? – Stuart McAllister
3.2 Judge and Jury – John Njoroge
3.3 War – Stuart McAllister
3.4 Moral Stories – Ravi Zacharias
Disc 4 DESTINY
4.1 Imagining a Destiny Beyond the End – Stuart McAllister
4.2 In the Marketplace of Ideas – Andy Bannister
4.3 Your Life, Your Destiny – Stuart McAllister
4.4 Destiny Matters – Ravi Zacharias