Teaching from a biblical perspective; avoiding the extremes ken.dickens@nice.edu.au
If not a biblical perspective then …… ..?
What’s a biblical perspective worth?
……..these schools were Chris5an and as such should be different in every aspect of their being (Anthony, 1948).
Respectably conformist or brainlessly pious (Jensen, 2009)
Biblical perspective 3 options (Van Dyk) Conformist 1. Dualistic Brainlessly pious 2. Tacky 3. Authentic
dualistic do education really well | do Christianity really well = lots of evangelism and Bible teaching = lots of good education but they never really come together
Religion
1. Dualistic 2. Tacky 3. Authentic
tacky reaction to dualism squeezing the Bible into education
tacky The Bible must address this!
Bible-based Bible bits
authentic ?
God (revealed) Bible big story (Christ) view of the world education
“If we allow the Bible to become fragmented, it is in danger of being absorbed into whatever other story is shaping our culture, and it will thus cease to shape our lives as it should. Idolatry has twisted the dominant cultural story of the secular Western world. If as believers we allow this story (rather than the Bible) to become the foundation of our thought and action, then our lives will manifest not the truths of Scripture, but the lies of an idolatrous culture. Hence, the unity of Scripture is no minor matter: a fragmented Bible may actually produce theologically orthodox, morally upright, warmly pious idol worshippers!”
Colossians 1: 15-20 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross.”
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things , and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things , whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross.
RESEARCH Surveying leadership in Christian schools: Should the Bible shape our view of all things? Y 100% Should the Bible shape the subjects that we teach? Y 50% Does the Bible shape the subjects that we teach? Y 18% (one school 0%)
Why?
Curriculum Pedagogy
teach ing guiding unfolding enabling
Teaching is guiding via unfolding towards enabling ... I tend to think that this formula points to the universal character of all teaching, Christian or secular. Secular teaching, too, guides, unfolds and enables… The crucial difference… lies in the answers to these questions: John Van Dyk
1. Towards which destination is the teacher guiding the student? Merely towards self reliance, social adjustment and solid citizenship? Or to the person God intended them to be; doing the good works he has planned for them to do? 2. And what is the teacher unfolding? Merely a world of nature controlled by natural law? Or a creation revealing God’s presence, power and love? 3. And to what end are they enabling? To be successful participants in the Western way of material consumerism? Or to be agents of Christ’s reconciliation?
what is your vision for education? guiding unfolding enabling
Curriculum is crea5on! (Greene, 1998)
CCE (Design) Designing Christian Curriculum CCE Teach Intro Slide
Creation Fall Redemption Restoration
The same and radically different
Common grace An5thesis
Has “worldview” lost its usefulness?
The final word from Naugle As a result, a philosophically sophisticated, God centred conception of a Christian worldview spares believers from naïve fideism, scandalous ant-intellectualism and cultural obscurantism. In turn it imparts to them a cognitive confidence, an apologetic strategy, a cultural relevance, and a sound, spiritual basis for life in the coherent picture of God’s larger story (Naugle, 2002, p. 341).
Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Real education that’s Bible-based
Bible bits
God (revealed) Bible big story (Christ) view the world education
ken.dickens@nice.edu.au
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