Educator Conference 2024: Digging Deeper—Abstracts

Keynote Address

How does archaeology and cultural awareness help us study the Bible? In hopes of equipping teachers with methods and tools for exploring the Bible with their students in its original context, this presentation will zero in on the Exodus story, articulating various Egyptian elements preserved in the book of Exodus to show how the writer of Exodus was quite familiar with Egyptian culture and politics, particularly as it concerned the military prowess of Pharaoh in the eyes of the Egyptians. 

The events surrounding Israel’s exodus from Egypt, as portrayed in the Bible, often get labeled as myth or legend. Many students are never given the opportunity to dig into the historical and cultural contexts of the book to examine the issue deeply. This presentation will demonstrate that the Egyptian cultural elements preserved in the text suggest the writer and his initial audience would have understood the events to have happened in a real time and space. Teachers who grasp this will have a better chance of impressing on their students the benefits of understanding biblical stories in context.

Keynote Address

Teaching with inquiry can be exhilarating. Inquiry learning engages and empowers students to take responsibility for their beliefs and actions. Inquiry teaching enables educators to inspire young people and facilitate the unique learning paths of individual students by trusting themselves and their students to do their best. At the same time, inquiry may seem daunting and, when done poorly, even detrimental. The goal of this session is to explore the philosophical grounding of inquiry teaching and learning with a focus on the C3 framework and the Inquiry Design Model (IDM). We will examine how inquiry can respect and lift up students as they examine compelling questions, work with sources, and complete tasks toward making arguments. In learning about the IDM and developing new inquiry ideas, special attention will be given to the ways that inquiry may support the study of archaeology and the history of the Bible.

Breakout Session

This session introduces participants to the C3 Inquiry Design Model (IDM) and a process for educators to use to create an inquiry-based lesson. Attendees will also explore the museum's latest C3 Inquiry, “How Has Archaeology Contributed to Our Understanding of the Bible?” designed specifically for our second annual Educator Conference. Lastly, you will have the chance to create a mini-inquiry using the IDM that you can share with your colleagues and community.

Breakout Session

This session will assist secondary school educators in using historical resources to supplement and support the biblical text. It will survey significant points in biblical history that are aligned with other primary and secondary source materials, providing a curriculum outline that can be implemented in the classroom.

Breakout Session

King David is one of the most developed characters in the Hebrew Bible. The Bible presents him as the second king of a united Israel, but archaeology raises questions about the biblical portrait of David. This workshop will look at the interplay between the biblical text, archaeology, and extra-biblical texts in relationship to David to see how the historian is a tour guide to the past who enables students to both appreciate that we can have reliable information about the past while still having questions that do not come to a definitive conclusion.

Lecture

Biblical archaeology is a unique field that to many seems to happen only in far off places and that has no application or useful significance to the average person. It is a field that fascinates many and conjures images of adventure and excitement, but it also often feels inaccessible, only for those who have specialized training. But this does not have to be the case! Archaeologists love what they do and are excited to find ways to share it with everyone, whether it be through museums, documentaries, social media, field trips, or more. The speaker herself first learned about archaeology when she was in fifth grade and the teacher shared the basic things an archaeologist does. That was the moment she knew she wanted to be an archaeologist. She went on to fulfill that dream and has worked as a curator and educational coordinator for the last decade, sharing her love of archaeology with everyone from elementary school students to senior church groups. This lecture will draw on that experience and share not only how to bring archaeology to life for secondary school students but also how this glamorized career draws on the many different things we learn as students. Our time together will end with a hands-on project focusing on pottery identification and restoration and will be something that can easily translate to any classroom.

Breakout Session

We have all heard students ask why they need to learn something because they do not think they will ever use it. This session will demonstrate that they are learning important skills that may come in handy when they least expect it by showing the need for math in archaeology! We will discuss the main uses of math in archaeology through the different measurements taken and the application of the all-important Pythagorean theorem. Not only does it give a real-life example of using math, but it can also be used to make math more enjoyable for students.

Breakout Session

Explore the work of archaeologists who have uncovered remnants of ancient Israel. Discover what archaeology reveals about Israelite and Judean culture and neighboring cities during biblical times and its contribution to understanding that period. This program ends with a review of the artifacts in the exhibit, The People of the Land: History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel, our long-term gallery from the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Breakout Session

This session will discuss the interaction between archaeology and our understanding of the development of literacy. Literacy in the ancient world was not due to compulsory education, so the advances we see in the archaeological record are truly impressive. Participants will be provided with lesson ideas that can be integrated into K–12 classrooms.