Christian Philosophy of Education
Christian Philosophy of Education As we go through our day by day lives in a very secular world, I believe it is very easy to question ourselves as Christian educators. We ask ourselves if we are doing our jobs exactly to God’s calling. Are we striving to teach the truth? And with that, what is truth? According to Gaebelein in his book The Pattern of God’s Truth, “All truth is God’s truth.” As educators we are called upon to cultivate “Christlike minds” (Moreland). This is quite the task, especially given our surrounding circumstances and constant secular environment. Not only are we, as educators surrounded by this secularism, but our young, adolescent students are as well. So, how do we accomplish such as task of guiding these young minds to the truth? How can we lead them to have “Christlike minds?” What should our philosophy on education be as a Christian educator? Well, we can start with the first and greatest commandment, “Love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). This commandment, among other things, is a great place to start and feed off for all the elements of a Christian philosophy of education. My personal understanding of the crucial elements of a Christian philosophy of education starts with love, and continues by teaching with grace and truth through both the teacher and the learner. Because human beings are made in the image of God (Graham), we also must be motivated and rejoice in this fact. We must keep in mind that all of our students are perfect in the way in which God has created them. Although, this also means each student will have different individual personalities and qualities that we must learn to love and embrace. Therefore, the question is: what motivates each individual child; the question is not what motivates the class as a whole. Discovering these motivations of each individual student is part of a Christian educators calling. The students are
Bibliography: -Foundations of Christian School Education. Colorado Springs, CO: ACSI, 2003 -Love Your God With All Your Mind. J.P. Moreland. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1997. -Reclaiming the Future of Christian Education. Albert E. Greene. Colorado Springs, CO: ASCI, 1998. -Teaching Redemptively: Bringing Grace and Truth into Your Classroom. Donovan Graham. Colorado Springs, CO: ACSI, 2004. -The Pattern of God’s Truth. Frank Gaebelien. Colorado Springs, CO: ACSI, 1997.