“Watch your step,” we were told by our soft-spoken guide. And then a second time as we drew in close to see what he was referring to: “Watch where you step—this is a mass grave; you cannot step here.” The second time, I turned my gaze from the mossy rise of green in front of […]
The Center for the Advancement of Christian Education (CACE), an outreach arm of the education department at Dordt College, had a wonderful opportunity in 2017 to partner with the Prairie Centre for Christian Education (PCCE) to further develop and distribute the teaching and learning framework known to many Christian educators as Teaching for Transformation (TfT). […]
What’s your story? How would you answer this question if it were posed to you by a curious seatmate on an airplane? Would you tell her about your childhood, where you’ve lived, your education and job, your family? What you choose to share tells her about you, your history, your priorities. What you choose not […]
I am a product of Christian education from kindergarten through college. I loved my education and am grateful for how it shaped my knowledge and worldview. When I began teaching in a Christian school straight out of college, however, it “got real, real quick.” Being responsible for helping students to see God in every subject […]
Last night, our school held its annual open house for parents. Throughout the evening parents moved from classroom to classroom to hear their children’s teachers talk about what they would be teaching this year and how they would integrate faith with their instruction. During my presentations to parents of my English 4 and AP English students, I […]
As educators, we interact on a daily basis with students who are influenced by what goes on around them in the world. While students vary in the extent to which they are aware of community, national, or global news stories, they bring to their classroom a variety of perspectives, beliefs, understandings, and questions related to […]
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 […]
As schools everywhere try to economize, one of the areas that, regrettably, they decide they can no longer afford is the position of the art teacher. Why is art education so important for our children? Many teachers and parents think that the way students deepen their spiritual dimension is by increasingly learning and coming to […]
In 2010, Dr. Harro Van Brummelen and I conducted a research study to discover the ways in which Christian high schools involve their students in (or shield them from) cultural awareness and engagement. Does cultural engagement take place within the curriculum, or does it happen primarily in extracurricular fashion outside of the classroom? Is […]