BY DARRYL DEBOER AND JUSTIN COOK
For good reason, when people talk about learning in schools, the conversation usually involves language of deeper learning. The idea of deeper learning can be traced back to the Hewlett Foundation and is generally aimed at ensuring “students compete globally and become engaged citizens at home” (“Deeper Learning”).
Appropriately and to the benefit of Christian education, many Christian schools have responded to the aims of deeper learning and have been exploring how to implement teaching practices that develop twenty-first century competencies—collaboration, communication, critical and creative thinking, growth mind-set, directing one’s own learning—among teachers and students. Our friend and fellow deeper learner Steven Levy has created helpful charts that compare the aims of the Hewlett Foundation’s six competencies of deeper learning to the aims of Christian schools (see “Deeper Learning in Christian Schools”). Following Teaching for Transformation (TfT), many Christian schools have also begun a journey of implementing pedagogical approaches from groups such as Expeditionary Learning Education and project-based learning as promoted by the Buck Institute. Furthermore, organizations such as the Center for Advancement of Christian Education (CACE) sponsor annual gatherings for Christian educators to grapple with the ideas and implementation of deeper learning practices. For Christian schools actively involved in implementing deeper learning practices, the design of learning experiences has significantly shifted. In fact, deeper learning demands teachers become experts in learning design. (Many stories about this process have been shared in this CEJ issue on TfT.) This is to be celebrated. As Christian schools explore and implement deeper learning practices within the classroom, questions are raised: Does the deeper learning conversation in Christian schools need to be a different type of conversation? Should deeper learning in Christian schools be distinct? If so, how? Deeper learning into what?
With this in mind we, along with Australian learning leaders, were invited to grapple with these questions at the Christian Education National organization’s first-ever teaching and learning conference (see “Parallel Conferences”). In preparation for and during our work there, we proposed a working definition of deeper learning in Christian education: People of God’s story engaged in real work that forms self and shapes the world. This definition of deeper learning guides how we design learning within the TfT framework and within the Ontario Alliance of Christian Schools (OACS). This article will explore the three main facets that make up this definition.
People of God’s Story
There are many stories at work within a school—the story of being socially accepted, the story of achieving good grades, the story of handing your schoolwork in on time, the stories of compliance and engagement. And, for good and bad, participating in these stories shapes us and deeply roots what we value and desire in our lives. As Sarah Arthur writes in the book Shaped by God, “We are story-formed people. Our lives are first shaped by narrative, not by information” (38-39).
So, as deeper learning suggests, shaping or forming a human being is less about the what (i.e., curriculum) of school and more about the stories that the curriculum is part of. James K. A. Smith echoes this in his book You Are What You Love: “A Christian education can never be merely a mastery of a field of knowledge or technical skills; learning is embedded in a wider vision of who I am called to be and what God is calling the world to be. How does my learning fit in this Story? And what practices will cultivate this ultimate orientation in me?” (164).
The pursuit of deeper learning in Christian schools must be anchored in the story that we are part of. Our curriculum finds its meaning and purpose within God’s unfolding story: a story of redemption that invites us to participate, to cocreate with God, in the restoration of a broken but beautiful and delightful world. Deeper learning brings us deeper into this story.
Those nitrate and phosphate measurements in the stream study? Part of God’s story of making all things new again. The study of conflict and war through history? Part of the same story. The writing of poetry and music, the study of the stars, and that timeless PE game of dodgeball? It’s all part of the same story. And without this story, it is simply stuff.
While the deeper learning goals described by the Hewlett Foundation (to ensure “students compete globally and become engaged citizens at home”) are consistent with the hopes of our students and parents, they fail to recognize the epic purpose and story we are part of. Our students—these curious, passionate, desiring students—were created to participate in the epic of God’s unfolding story of redemption. Our students and teachers are the people of God’s story. And God’s story is not out there or later upon graduation—it is here and now. So in Christian education, deeper learning means inviting our students to play their role in God’s story every day and in every class—it is the story contained in the distinctive promises of our Christian schools’ mission and vision statements.
Engaged in Real Work
We all know the classic student question that rises from confusion, boredom, or both: “Why do we have to learn this?” It’s a pretty crucial question, even if it feels like a punch in the gut. If you’re like us, then too often in your career you’ve wanted to ignore the question because you didn’t like your own answers. Too often the answer relates to one of the counterstories that we named above: “because it’s in the curriculum” or “because it’s on the test” or “because I told you so.” The answer we often end up giving is something like, “You need to learn this to get good grades so that you can get a good job.”
This narrative reduces student work to transaction—learning cultures of strategic compliance—or, even worse, retreat or open rebellion (“Schlechty Center”). Students obey and participate in the work expected if they are going to get something in return; clearly, as people of God’s story, this is not the ultimate aim of Christian education.
How can we root the purpose of what and how we’re learning in a more redemptive story? What if the actual structure of our learning was more explicitly rooted in the biblical vision of shalom—the right relatedness of all things? What if the work of students was about meeting real needs in our broken but delightful world and involved individuals, experts, and community organizations beyond the walls of our schools? This kind of work involves inviting, nurturing, and empowering students to participate in kingdom work that meets real needs for real people, rather than just doing an assignment for the purpose of meeting a standard.
Perhaps it will be helpful to consider a few “real work” learning snapshots:
While learning about visual art and language, grade one students in Edmonton, Alberta, created thank-you cards and sent them to the city’s snowplow drivers. In gratitude, the city workers brought their large trucks to the school to visit the students.
While learning about literature and slavery, grade five and six students in Georgetown, Ontario, published a book of slave narratives and donated the proceeds to International Justice Mission Canada “to change history and free slaves today” as student Amelia shared with me.
While learning biology, grade eleven students in Surrey, British Columbia, developed their knowledge of flora and fauna as curious gardeners, caring for a local urban forest (Tynehead Regional Park and salmon hatchery) and leading tours for others to experience and care for the park too.
God’s story of restoration for here and now is embodied in deeper learning experiences that, regardless of the specific pedagogical terminology, connect student mastery of knowledge and skills to character formation and work that meets real needs for real people. Teachers weave in learning targets that make explicit both the focus of the learning and the purpose of learning.
Work That Forms Self and Shapes the World
This “real work” shapes both the learner and God’s world. Any Christian school that pursues deeper learning will design learning that facilitates both inward and outward renewal, as students explore their role in God’s story. Deeper learning inspired by a vision of shalom and designed for engagement and purpose is intentional about a shift from information to formation.
In preparation for the CACE—sponsored deeper learning in Christian Schools conference, we composed an expanded definition of deeper learning, using the same root definition that we outline here. You can access the full definition online, and it describes the inward-outward movement of transformation this way: “As learners form habits that connect learning to living, these outward practices are, in turn, forming the learner. Learning that engages beyond self, deepens self. So that as students engage in learning that renews school, community, and creation, renewal and character development within the learner mirrors the external ‘making of all things new again’” (“Deeper Learning in Christian Schools”). Any Christian school that pursues deeper learning will design learning that facilitates both inward and outward renewal as students explore their role in God’s story.
So what forms us and shapes the world? First, the hero of the epic story of the universe is the Prince of Peace, Jesus, not reason or knowledge acquisition. Doug Blomberg expresses it this way: “Truth is a network of relationships; any one person, thing or event stands at the intersection of a vast number of these. Ultimately, truth is the relationality that is God’s covenant community, held at the center by the cosmic Christ. Not reason but love is at the heart of Creation” (117). Many Christian schools express their mission as being “Christ-centered.” Formation occurs through relationship and love, and deeper learning commits to intentionally forming Christ-centered relationships of love. We are interdependent in our relationships to creation, to one another, and to God.
Second, we must recognize that formation is the work of the Holy Spirit. A Spirit-filled culture will reveal the fruit of the Spirit as outlined in Galatians 5:22–23: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In Galatians 5:22–23 of The Message, Eugene Peterson describes Spirit-filled formation this way:
But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
Doesn’t that sound amazing? We all know too well how frantic and exhausting the pace of work for students and teachers can often feel. Deeper learning doesn’t aim to pile on even more work. It must be rooted in a Spirit-filled ethos of love and grace, even as this work of partnering with the Spirit is often incredibly busy. As we live within this culture of interdependence and belonging, we form habits and desires that both reveal and shape our character. We give explicit norms and protocols for how we will treat one another, and we give one another feedback in kind, helpful, and specific ways. Assessment is cultural; we are all engaged in giving one another feedback that is both formative and reflective. Learning designs that engage in real work weave interdependence with the learning experience. Grade one students are connected to one another, to their teacher, and also to the snowplow drivers of their city; grade five and six students are personally connected to the pain of modern day slavery; grade eleven students are directly connected to their local urban forest and salmon hatchery. Students are active agents in those relationships, “involved in loyal commitments.” Shalom is this right-relatedness of all things.
Third, we recognize the connection of personal formation and community formation. We are people of God’s story engaged in real work that forms self and shapes our world. Formation is always inward and outward—Hamilton District Christian High School expresses this with the mantra “Deeper in and further out.” As we are formed more and more into the likeness of Jesus through our learning, (deeper in) our Spirit-inspired dreams and visions will inevitably impact our larger contexts (further out).
Conclusion
Without a doubt, the evolution of TfT’s practices over the past seven years has been shaped by the learning design practices of EL Education and project-based learning. The growing interest and broad appeal of Christian deeper learning has brought these various pedagogical strands into more intentional dialogue with one another. Together, Christian schools using any number of deeper learning approaches should ask the question, deeper learning into what? Our hope is that the definition people of God’s story engaged in real work that forms self and shapes the world provides an explicit north star not only for TFT schools but also for many classrooms across the world.
Works Cited
Arthur, Sarah. “Distinguishing Dragons: The Importance of Story in Faith Formation.” In Shaped by God: Twelve Essentials for Nurturing Faith in Children, Youth, and Adults, edited by Robert J. Keeley, chap. 3. Grand Rapids: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2010.
Blomberg, Doug. “Whose Spirituality? Which Rationality?: A Narrational Locus for Learning.” Journal of Education and Christian Belief 13, no. 2 (2009): 113–24.
Buck Institute. http://www.bie.org.
CACE. https://cace.org.
“Deeper Learning.” William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. https://www.hewlett.org/strategy/deeper-learning/#overview.
“Deeper Learning in Christian Schools.” October 30, 2017. CACE. https://cace.org/deeper-learning-in-christian-schools.
“Deeper Learning in Christian Schools: Playing Our Part in God’s Story.” CACE. https://cace.org/christian-deeper-learning/
EL Education. https://eleducation.org.
“Parallel Conferences.” Christian Education National. https://www.cen.edu.au/index.php/all-events/events-calendar/national/236-developing-leaders-conference.
“Schlechty Center on Engagement.” Louisville, KY. https://www.rcsdk12.org/cms/lib/NY01001156/Centricity/Domain/1053/sc_pdf_engagement.pdf
Smith, James K. A. You Are What You Love. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2016.
Darryl DeBoer is the K–12 director of learning for Surrey Christian School in Surrey, British Columbia, a senior fellow for CACE, and a TfT school designer through the Prairie Centre for Christian Education and CACE.
Justin Cook is the director of learning with Edvance Christian Schools Association, which supports Christian schools across Ontario and eastern Canada in a vision of leadership and learning for flourishing communities.