I felt my heart beat faster and my hands become clammy as I stepped out of my car and shut the door behind me. Butterflies were rapidly swirling around in my stomach, although today they felt more like bats. It was day one of being a student teacher, and while I was excited, the nerves seemed to be getting the better of me. ”How do I teach Christianly?” was the main question that was plaguing my mind.
The metal gate at the entrance of the junior school was broken, its once black color now a gray hue from frequent use. I pushed it forcefully until it budged enough for me to slither past and inspect my surroundings with squinted eyes. I glanced across to where I saw two students fighting, no more than seven or eight years of age. “This is why I’m here,” I thought to myself. I had naively entered the teaching arena with the mind-set that I was going to be the one to change the students I taught. Little did I realise that it was in fact them who would be changing me.
During my four-week practicum placement, I received a lovely little note from one of my students that said: “Miss Clark, you are pretty, smart, active, confident and you are a believer.” It was a very sweet gesture but the last two words struck me. A believer. How on earth did this student identify this? I had not publicized my personal convictions or even mentioned God. These students were not aware that I attended a Christian university; they didn’t know whether I went to church or owned a Bible. I did not wear a cross around my neck, nor did I have markings on my body or items of clothing that would even remotely indicate any evidence of my faith. Next to the word believer, this student had drawn a cross, so there was no questioning what she meant by the term. While her assumption was correct, unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to ask this student why she had presumed it. Although there was still ample room for improvement on my behalf, I was left to imagine that there must have been something about my demeanor, or the way I taught that demonstrated Christian characteristics to this student.
As I started reflecting upon this experience, I reaffirmed my belief that a personal commitment to Jesus Christ is a vital prerequisite that lays the foundations for teaching Christianly. However, being a sincere Christian does not mean that one “will automatically teach Christianly” (Van Dyke 5–6); this is a common misconception. Rather, a Christian educator will be intentional about building relationships with his or her students and modelling the qualities that scripture calls the fruit of the Spirit in every interaction. Unless teachers have these personal characteristics, students cannot be guided in “the truth in authentic and effective ways” (Van Brummelen 48).
Teaching Christianly is far more than just organizing activities or ensuring the learning goals on the lesson plan align with the curricular intentions. It goes beyond knowing all the names of the students, or the perimeters of the school. It is greater than academics, than the sporting teams or linking in a tokenistic Christian perspective. The effective Christian teacher views students holistically, through the same lens that Jesus uses, choosing to see past their “flaws” enough to appreciate the precious person on the inside.
To teach Christianly is all-encompassing, as Christian educators experience the “reality of God’s truth” (Cates 18) that guides and empowers them through their own teaching framework. This truth, based on the Word of God, influences their philosophical perspectives on teaching and learning, as they recognise that each individual student enters the classroom not as a “blank page” (Connell et al. 24), but with their own unique experiences, knowledge, and skills. An educator who teaches Christianly, therefore, will view his or her students through this holistic lens and appreciate the journey that each student is on.
Harvard University professor Howard Gardner, who developed the idea of multiple Intelligences, claimed that we all have different ways of learning and that everything can be taught in more than one way (Checkley 8–13). From researching this theory, I have identified that I wish to further explore how to efficiently accommodate my teaching methodology for specific educational needs, and integrate this into a classroom context.
By catering my teaching to suit the individuals in the classroom, I am reinforcing to them that they have value. Likewise, by teaching with a purely “one-size-fits-all approach,” I am unconsciously sending my students a very strong message: that they are not unique, and their learning does not matter to me. Using a model such as Gardner’s multiple intelligences would best allow me to provide my students with a richer and more fruitful learning experience.
Gardner’s approach strongly aligns with a Christian perspective, as the scriptures are full of beautiful examples of Jesus adjusting his language and teaching approaches based on the audience. Yet for teachers, it can be a challenging and daunting process to implement this in a practical sense. This begs the question: What does teaching Christianly look like within a classroom context? There is no clear-cut answer; every teacher’s process will be “unique to that individual and his/her context” (Herschell 121).
Teaching effectively is about taking an active interest in the student, meeting the educational goals, and communicating using a shared metalanguage. To teach Christianly means to take it one step further, as Christian teachers possess a vital “obligation to nurture the faith development of students” (Sutherland 24). Effective Christian educators understand that they are called to live in relationship—both with others and with their Creator. Sutherland (explains that teaching Christianly involves “leading students to more meaningful relationships with Christ through our relationships with them” (24). Along with educational philosophies and theories, these personal relationships are the backbone that underpins and ultimately drives how the educator teaches.
In the beginning of my teaching practicum, I taught with passion and gusto, but I failed to meet the students where they were at. Over the course of this adventure, I grew in confidence and developed my pedagogical practice to reflect the diverse social and emotional needs of the students. While teaching with enthusiasm is a commendable trait, it cannot sustain a teacher over the long haul. The Christian educator needs to have a deep-rooted knowledge of the way his or her students learn best, how they love best and how they respond best. Teaching Christianly is not just teaching students from your heart, but teaching to theirs.
Reflecting on my practice over the course of the month, I can now identify what I believe was the crucial element in this journey: It is not simply about teaching with zeal or enthusiasm. To me, teaching Christianly means that my relationship with Jesus Christ is paramount and shapes my values and the relationships that I have with the students. From there, the relationships I have with students influence the way I communicate and the various strategies I implement, essentially, guiding my entire teaching practice.
The relationships that I have built during my recent practicum experience have been truly remarkable and have been a profound influence on the way I teach. After getting off to a bit of a bumpy start, I managed to form the most incredible relationships with the students in which they not only liked and respected me, but also responded to me in a way that I hadn’t imagined possible.
Earlier on, I genuinely struggled to relate to some of the more challenging students in the class. I had tried multiple strategies—from staying late to help with homework, to arriving early and playing handball with students. Even on weekends during my “down time,” I found myself consistently looking for ways to help them. It was a desperate bid to form those much-needed relationships. However, I still was not meeting their emotional needs, nor seeing any form of progress. Disheartened, I began to pray about it.
I finally overcame this barrier by organizing for my students to complete the Love Languages Mystery Game (Chapman 2012). This mini-test allowed users to discover their primary love languages: words of affirmation, physical touch, acts of service, gifts, or quality time. This activity went exceptionally well and gave me some much-needed insight into the lives and personalities of my students. That day sparked something inside of me as I began thinking deeply about the way I connected with others. I wanted to be the sort of teacher that truly understood her students and made them feel valued and worthy. I was not content to just teach from a curriculum; rather, I longed to teach students from my heart. Even more than that, I yearned to speak their language.
I asked all the students to place their names around their primary love language to help remind each other, and especially me, of theirs. Based on their individual results, I was able to identify ways I could alter my practices to suit the needs of the students. From that moment on, things started to change.
I started looking for practical ways to demonstrate to the students that I genuinely cared about them. Like everything that is worthwhile, forming relationships with students takes a level of sacrifice, and this was no exception. For instance, it meant giving up my lunchtime to sit and chat one-on-one with my “quality time” students; for those students who valued “words of affirmation,” I was deliberate about the praise and encouragement I offered them.
Not only did I incorporate this intentionality on the playground, but I also brought it inside to the classroom. I started adapting my lesson plans to meet students social, emotional, and spiritual needs, in addition to their educational needs. As I did this regularly, something began to shift inside the students . . . and inside me. Students began to realize that I valued them and cared enough about them to want to shape my practice to meet their needs; in addition, my capacity to love increased. As a result of this, relationships formed, trust grew, and students’ learning improved because true Christian teaching practice took place.
It was only after finishing this practicum that I was able to appreciate fully the fruits of my labor. I made a quick visit to the school the following week and thought I would quietly get a report signed. However, this was not to be. When the students spotted me, they came racing towards me, wrapping their arms around me and shouting, “You’re back! You’re back!” Naturally, there were tears, some of which were my own. I had underestimated how strong an imprint the students had left on my heart.
There were many challenging and wonderful memories created over this experience, however that particular memory I will treasure forever as one of my ultimate highlights. It was at that point in time where I had a humbling “a-ha” moment. As students bolted towards me, I realized that I had truly left an impression on them in a tangible way, yet until that moment I hadn’t grasped how profoundly.
It was all because I finally learnt to speak their language and teach to their hearts.
Works Cited
Cates, Paul W. 1975. A Christian Philosophy on Education. Web. 26 May 2015. <transformingteachers.org/en/articles/philosophy-of-education/37-christian-philosophy-of-education>.
Chapman, Gary. 2012. Love Languages Mystery Game, adapted from The Five Love Languages for Children. Web. 19 May 2015. <focusministriesinc.com/images/CHILDREN_Survey.pdf>
Checkley, Kathy. “The First Seven . . . and the Eighth: A Conversation with Howard Gardner.” Teaching for Multiple Intelligences 55.1 (1997): 8–13.
Connell, Raewyn, Anthony Welch, Margaret Vickers, Dennis Foley, Nigel Bagnell, Debra Hayes, Helen Proctor, Arathi Sriprakash, and Craig Campbell. Education, Change and Society. Victoria, Australia: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Herschell, Robert M. “Teaching Christianly: The Search Continues,” in Nurturing and Reflective Teachers: A Christian Approach for the 21st Century, eds. Daniel C. Elliot and Stephen D. Holtrop. Claremont, CA: Learning Light Educational, Claremont, 1999.
Sutherland, Marjorie. ”How I Came To Christian Education and What Teaching Christianly Means to Me.” Christian Educators Journal 49.3 (2010).
Van Brummelen, Harro. Walking with God in the Classroom. Seattle: Alta Vista College Press, 1998.
Van Dyke, John. 2015, “Teaching Our Education Students to Teach Christianly.” International Christian Community for Teacher Education 10.1 (2015). Web. 28 April 2015. <icctejournal.org/issues/v8i1/v8i1-dyke/>.
Elizabeth Clark is a second year education student at Christian Heritage College in Brisbane, Australia, who dreams of being an effective and dynamic Christian teacher. She lives on the Gold Coast with her family and enjoys travelling, watching live musicals, and reading a good book in bed on a rainy day.