If you ask someone why they became a teacher, it is doubtful that anyone would answer with: “I just love disciplining children.” Most go into the profession because they either want to make a difference in children’s lives or make a difference in society, or simply because they have a deep love for the subject they teach. In striving to be a good teacher, however, discipline always comes with the territory. No matter the students’ backgrounds or strengths, they will make mistakes, and they need their teachers to be able to help them understand the concepts of repentance and forgiveness.

Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Ted Tripp addresses these issues. While this book is written primarily for a parent audience, its truths are applicable to teachers as well. After all, both Christian parents and Christian teachers are working towards developing productive citizens not only for the world’s communities, but hopefully also for God’s kingdom. Tripp writes with the latter goal in mind.

The book is split into two parts. The first part, “Foundations of Biblical Childrearing,” seeks to explain the Bible’s directions about discipline and how to look beyond unwanted behaviors towards the root of what it is within the child’s heart that is causing the behavior. As the book says, “What is important is understanding the ‘why’ of what has been done or said. You need to understand not just what has happened, but what is going on within your child. . . . While you can never understand the issues of the heart flawlessly, it is a pursuit worthy of effort” (74). Tripp uses Proverbs 20:5 to reinforce this idea: “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.” Going to the heart of an issue will not only fix the issue, but will help the student on a deeper level to build their character on biblical foundations.

Tripp explains that biblical discipline really has two components—a compassionate heart to try to understand a child’s motives, but also a firm authority that does not shy away from the punishments that should go along with sinful behaviors. He says, “Your children need to be known and understood. . . . They also need authority. They need limits that are clear and correction that is predictable” (112). The first section of his book goes into detail about the balance that needs to be found in our efforts to accomplish these two sides of discipline.

The second part of the book, “Shepherding Through the Stages of Childhood,” explains what the application of the ideas from the first part of the book should look like on a practical level at each stage in a child’s life, from infancy through the teenage years. Each section is split up into two parts: training objectives and training procedures. The training objectives give you the heart issues you should be addressing at this stage of childhood, and the training procedures give you practical ways to address these issues within your children.

This book is a wonderful guide to get teachers thinking about their classroom management structures and to ask whether their policies are in place simply to correct behaviors or to help children grow to understand God’s will for their lives. The book’s strengths lie in scriptural basis and readability. Each chapter is saturated with verses to help the reader see how Tripp’s ideas are derived from the Bible. The book is easy to read as well, and the chapters flow quickly and seamlessly into one another in a way that makes the reader want to devour the entire book in one or two sittings. The book’s weakness is a tendency to oversimplify more complex issues, particularly with the graphs and charts. Realistically, however, Tripp seems to understand that not all of his principles can be explained in detail that would fit each specific child. His simplified overviews equip the reader with the necessary tools to make specific connections for their own children or students.

Tom Kwekel is the principal at Providence Christian School in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and he requires all of his teachers to read this book before the school year starts in August. He explains his reasoning by saying, “Too often, we as teachers emphasize a discipline system that stresses ‘paying’ for sin by trying to modify a child’s behavior. This form of discipline does not propagate the gospel. Teachers who seek to shepherd a child’s heart and to understand their own sinful heart and its evil tendencies will desire to humbly but firmly give guidance to their students that stresses repentance, forgiveness, and acceptance in Christ alone. Giving children windows into their own hearts and providing well-worn pathways to the cross of Christ for repentance, forgiveness, and atonement are the best lessons that can be taught and understood in the classroom.”

Christian educators should read this book in order to have a deeper understanding of how to address issues that arise in their classrooms. Classroom management needs to be so much more than teachers trying to get students to “sit down and be quiet.” It should seek to understand students at a deeper level and help them to grow spiritually. We need to think: what are we really training our students to value? Tripp puts it like this: “Changing behavior without changing the heart trains the heart toward whatever you use as your means. If it is reward, the heart is trained to respond to reward. If it is approbation, the heart is trained to strive for approval, or to fear disapproval. When the experts tell you that you must find what works with each child, they are saying that you must find the idols of the heart that will move each child” (66–67). We need to train our students to seek Christ in all things and to find contentment and satisfaction in him alone. This book gives practical advice on how to change your mindset from one of punishment to genuine biblical discipline that stems from your love for your students and your desire to see them grow close to Christ.