Teaching
It may surprise you to know that aside from the dinners, the bars, the nightclubs, and the croquet, a large part of life at the House is actually taken up by work. This might seem a scary thought - perhaps you’re coming back to study after a long break, perhaps this is your first experience of higher education - but worry not! St. Stephen’s House is ideally placed to offer you the best academic resources in the country at the level that’s right for you. Things won’t necessarily be easy at first, working out how to write essays, how to deliver effective presentations etc., but there are plenty of people on hand to teach you the skills and to guide you through.
Undergraduate teaching at Oxford occurs primarily through the tutorial system. St. Stephen’s House students take advantage of this system both with in-House and external tutors. A tutorial generally involves you turning up to a tutor’s study with an essay, reading it out, and being criticised for what you’ve written. This isn’t to trick you or to upset you, but to get you to think about the material which you’ve read and to look at things in perhaps a slightly different way. The best tutorials are those which quickly descend into argument.
Your Faculty may also offer classes for your modules. These are often, for theologians, language classes in Greek or Hebrew, or text-based preparation for Biblical modules. As a seminary, St. Stephen’s House trains its ordinands for a life of study, which will be integral to their future ministry. This means that aside from what you ‘have’ to do, there is plenty of opportunity to put your study into practice in other areas too: ‘Next Week’s Gospel’ classes are particularly popular. You will find a greater emphasis on class-based study in the House than in the rest of the University. This makes excellent use of our resident tutors, while helping the students to bounce ideas off one another too.
Lectures offer the opportunity to get to know expert minds in your field; particularly those who hold professorships in the University, and whose books you will probably be reading.
Graduate teaching is organised in a different way from undergraduate teaching - through the Faculties rather than through the College. Each course will have its own requirements which are set out in the relevant handbook. Those on research degrees are assigned a supervisor by their Faculty, and will meet the supervisor a number of times each term to review current research.
For ordinands, the Group System is one way in which the House fulfils requirements which can’t be fulfilled by University degree courses. On arrival at the House, all ordinands are divided into groups, headed by a Group Tutor and a Group Convenor (who is a member of the group). These two work together to organise Group Meetings, which take place most Mondays at 14:00. They provide various opportunities to reflect on the progress of term, especially with regards to pastoral placements.
O.P.T.E.T. is an acronym for the Oxford Partnership for Theological Education and Training, and is an opportunity to meet with ordinands from the other religious halls in Oxford: in Michaelmas, students from the Anglican colleges are divided between St. Stephen’s House, Wycliffe Hall and Ripon College, Cuddesdon for a Eucharistic service; in Hilary, the Roman Catholic halls and Regent’s Park join in for a non-Eucharistic service; and in Trinity, one of the theological colleges organises a service in the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. Each O.P.T.E.T. occasion is, of course, followed by supper at the College where you have worshipped, though St. Stephen’s House wins every time on the quality of food and the quantity of wine.
You are never stuck for a library in Oxford. Libraries operate on three levels. The central, Bodleian Library, is a reference-only facility. It is also a copyright library, which means it retains a copy of every book published in the U.K. Unlike the Bod, Faculty Libraries are lending libraries, and contain most of your essential reading material; and of course our own Library has a well- stocked collection, particularly for theologians.
And of course we couldn’t give you a section on teaching without mentioning the dreaded exams. If you’re on a university course, it is likely that some time while you’re here you’ll have to sit exams. These are generally three hour papers, sat in full sub-fusc.
Undergraduate teaching at Oxford occurs primarily through the tutorial system. St. Stephen’s House students take advantage of this system both with in-House and external tutors. A tutorial generally involves you turning up to a tutor’s study with an essay, reading it out, and being criticised for what you’ve written. This isn’t to trick you or to upset you, but to get you to think about the material which you’ve read and to look at things in perhaps a slightly different way. The best tutorials are those which quickly descend into argument.
Your Faculty may also offer classes for your modules. These are often, for theologians, language classes in Greek or Hebrew, or text-based preparation for Biblical modules. As a seminary, St. Stephen’s House trains its ordinands for a life of study, which will be integral to their future ministry. This means that aside from what you ‘have’ to do, there is plenty of opportunity to put your study into practice in other areas too: ‘Next Week’s Gospel’ classes are particularly popular. You will find a greater emphasis on class-based study in the House than in the rest of the University. This makes excellent use of our resident tutors, while helping the students to bounce ideas off one another too.
Lectures offer the opportunity to get to know expert minds in your field; particularly those who hold professorships in the University, and whose books you will probably be reading.
Graduate teaching is organised in a different way from undergraduate teaching - through the Faculties rather than through the College. Each course will have its own requirements which are set out in the relevant handbook. Those on research degrees are assigned a supervisor by their Faculty, and will meet the supervisor a number of times each term to review current research.
For ordinands, the Group System is one way in which the House fulfils requirements which can’t be fulfilled by University degree courses. On arrival at the House, all ordinands are divided into groups, headed by a Group Tutor and a Group Convenor (who is a member of the group). These two work together to organise Group Meetings, which take place most Mondays at 14:00. They provide various opportunities to reflect on the progress of term, especially with regards to pastoral placements.
O.P.T.E.T. is an acronym for the Oxford Partnership for Theological Education and Training, and is an opportunity to meet with ordinands from the other religious halls in Oxford: in Michaelmas, students from the Anglican colleges are divided between St. Stephen’s House, Wycliffe Hall and Ripon College, Cuddesdon for a Eucharistic service; in Hilary, the Roman Catholic halls and Regent’s Park join in for a non-Eucharistic service; and in Trinity, one of the theological colleges organises a service in the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. Each O.P.T.E.T. occasion is, of course, followed by supper at the College where you have worshipped, though St. Stephen’s House wins every time on the quality of food and the quantity of wine.
You are never stuck for a library in Oxford. Libraries operate on three levels. The central, Bodleian Library, is a reference-only facility. It is also a copyright library, which means it retains a copy of every book published in the U.K. Unlike the Bod, Faculty Libraries are lending libraries, and contain most of your essential reading material; and of course our own Library has a well- stocked collection, particularly for theologians.
And of course we couldn’t give you a section on teaching without mentioning the dreaded exams. If you’re on a university course, it is likely that some time while you’re here you’ll have to sit exams. These are generally three hour papers, sat in full sub-fusc.
