April 2011
Editorial
This issue of the Christian Educators Journal again offers reviews of a range of books that may be of interest to educators in Christian schools. They range from fiction that you would personally enjoy and can share with your students, to analyses of the ways in which Christians can be in the world in transformative […]
Review
“You are not a gadget “is the manifesto of Jaron Lanier, written last year in response to the way that the Internet is changing our lives. Lanier’s own background is in virtual reality, and he is sometimes referred to as its “father.” In his dedication, he thanks his colleagues in the digital revolution for “considering […]
Review
When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor … and Yourself
Over the course of the past decade there has been a remarkable increase in awareness of global poverty issues. While this awareness is exciting on many levels, it has resulted in two trends: first, more people are working to reduce poverty around the world; second, more harm is being done as we endeavor to help […]
Review
For over thirty years Dr. James Sire’s The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog has pressed upon readers the weight of Socrates’ old axiom, “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Plato, Apology, 38a). With the publication of the fifth edition in 2009, it seems time to review the book afresh and show why […]
Review
The Next Christians: Six Ways to Restore the Faith
Whenever I have an opportunity to talk about the Bible for the first time with a group of students, I often start with a too-easily overlooked question: When Jesus “finished” his incarnational task—his birth, life, death, and resurrection—and was preparing to ascend, why didn’t he take his followers with him? Why the delay? In many […]
Review
White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son
There are some things that Tim Wise would like to put on the table right now. Our success is not determined solely by our individual will and determination. When we are born, we all inherit the past. And for most people in this country, the past alone can dictate whether you rise to the top […]
Review
To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World
James Davison Hunter has a way of ruffling feathers, not only outside the Christian community, but also within it. His recently published book, To Change the World, critiques much of what passes for Christian public engagement—from the right, left, and Anabaptist perspectives—as sincerely misguided and “participating in the very cultural breakdown they so ardently strive […]
Review
Journeys of the Muslim Nation and the Christian Church
My career as a history teacher began in 1970. Scholars at that time viewed medieval through modern history through the prism of technological progress, the evolution of democracy, and the struggle between the competing ideologies of capitalism and communism. By 1990, the curriculum was changing. Communism had collapsed and a new world order was emerging. […]
Review
Top Ten Books (Not about Teaching) to Renew You This Summer (According to One Book Lover, Anyway)
I am always amazed when I hear about teachers who belong to book clubs during the school year. My amazing wife, who teaches middle school math and Bible at Calvin Christian in South Holland, Illinois, regularly gets together with friends from two other Christian schools, and they read fiction, nonfiction, and children’s literature on a […]
Column
Some Books for Help with Special Students
Question 1 I was aiding at a school where a student’s parents were in denial about their child’s disabilities. It was obvious there was a disability present and the student was in a special education classroom. Their reason for him being there, despite their denial of a disability, was to have him tested to see […]
From My Window
Of Empowering Stories and Assertive Squirrels
I woke up early this cold morning, shivering as thoughts surged around in my head. Reflecting on my late-night reading, I could not get Parvana, from Deborah Ellis’s The Breadwinner, out of my mind. Although her dreams were brutally crushed, this young Afghan girl found hope enough to rise above the ashes. Parvana’s story forces […]
P@nel.edu
Reading Suggestions for Christian Educators
January 6, 2011 Al Boerema starts the conversation: Hello people, The theme of the next issue is books that all Christian educators should read. Our contribution will be the books that you are reading these days and think would be good for others to read. January 14, 2011 Rebecca De Smith starts it off: […]