October 2014
Editorial
Rooted In, Responsive To, Reaching Out
In October 2013, the Christian Educators Journal, in collaboration with the Andreas Center for Reformed Scholarship and Service at Dordt College, sponsored a conference with the theme “ROOTED IN, RESPONSIVE TO, REACHING OUT: THE TASK AND IMPACT OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.” The conference drew together over one hundred participants who, in lectures and workshops, dealt with […]
Feature
The Task of Christian Education in Creating an Inclusive Worldview
In many ways, the lives and experiences of students with disabilities have improved since the late 1970s when federal legislation requiring an appropriate public education for these students began to be implemented. Christian day schools, however, have been slow to accommodate the needs of children and youth with disabilities, often focusing only on students […]
Feature
Karl Barth’s Mozart: Lessons for Christian Music Education
Despite my title, “Karl Barth’s Mozart,” I should say that I am not here directly concerned with Barth or Mozart so much as what I propose are lessons for Christian music education. Specifically, I consider Barth’s thoughtful and emotional engagement with Mozart’s music and argue that Christian music educators are in a special place […]
Feature
Although Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy is well known for his rare decision to voluntarily resign in 2013, one initiative from his reign that might deserve more attention is the “Courtyard of the Gentiles” project. The vision for the initiative was to create a space in which believers and nonbelievers could discuss “the great questions […]
Feature
Teachers Matter: Communities of Inquiry for Professional Learning and Development
To ensure a higher standard of learning, schools must insist on the best possible quality of teaching and create an integrated, collaborative, continual-growth faculty culture where practice and research unite (Barber and Mourshed). The Critical Impact of Teachers in Schools Recent research confirms what most of us already know—that high-quality teaching improves student […]
Article
Love, Creation, Virtue as Models for Environmental Education
Too many conversations about the environment and environmental education start off on the wrong foot. “What good is a prairie?” “Fracking is going to poison our water supply.” “We need to cap CO2 emissions.” Questions are raised about our values, priorities, and lifestyles—the many things tied intimately to our identities and the things we love. […]
Article
Every now and then I run into someone who, upon finding out that I am a literacy researcher, patiently explains to me that with computers and the Internet, books will soon be things of the past and teaching reading will be about as valuable as teaching cursive. One of the Christian high schools in my […]