What do your students need to learn?

25/01/07 10:05 Filed in: Questions | Value-added content
As a result of you asking a Biblical perspective question, your students need to learn 3 things:
  1. What the question means
  2. A Biblical answer that adds value
  3. How to use the question to further understand and use a Biblical perspective
Thing 1:
As a result of you asking a Biblical perspective question, your students need to learn what the question means. When using a question to help your students increase their understanding and use of a Biblical perspective, make sure they understand what the question means. Make sure your students understand:
  • What each word in the question means
  • What Biblical truth(s) you are targeting
  • What related questions you are asking.
For example, when I ask 12th graders “What’s wrong with the world?”:
  • I know they understand what each word in the question mean.
  • I share what truth(s) I’m targeting: the impact of the fall and sin on each person and on all of creation.
  • I share the related questions I am asking: What’s the conflict? How are we alienated from God, ourselves, each other, and creation? Why do we suffer?
No 2 teachers use a given question exactly the same way. So, make sure each of your students understand what each question means within the context of your class.

Thing 1 Practice: Choose 1 of the following 10 questions. Next, define the meaning of each word (as appropriate), identify the truth(s) you are focusing on, and identify 3 related questions you are asking. Do this right now.

Here’s the list of 10 questions:
  1. What’s wrong?
  2. What’s the solution?
  3. How can you be a wise steward?
  4. How does learning this help you?
  5. How can you use my learning to serve?
  6. How does belief affect design?
  7. How do authors help me see truth?
  8. How should Christians apply mercy and justice?
  9. How will you achieve the “good”?
  10. How can you communicate truth?
Now that you have defined the words, identified the Biblical truths, and identified the related questions, keep reading.

Thing 2:
As a result of you asking a Biblical perspective question, your students need to learn Biblical answer that adds value. Your goal is to help students increase their understanding of a Biblical perspective. You’re a teacher, you’re asking a Biblical perspective question, and you should provide a Biblical answer.

Make sure your answer adds value. Meaning, your answer should provide new content and/or should result in your students making new connections between a Biblical perspective, course content, and life.

To add value in terms of content, provide a Biblical answer that includes at least 1 verse, 1 principle, and 1 concept. What does this look like? Check out the following:

(1) What’s wrong with the world? (English on racism)
  • Verse(s): Genesis 3, Romans 7
  • Principle(s): As a result of sin, we are alienated from God, ourselves, each other, and creation.
  • Concept(s): The fall
(2) What’s the solution? (social studies on perjury)
  • Verse(s): Exodus 20:16
  • Principle(s): Tell the truth.
  • Concept(s): Honesty
(3) How can I be a wise steward? (PE on substance abuse)
  • Verse(s): I Corinthians 6:19
  • Principle(s): Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.
  • Concept(s): Stewardship
(4) How does learning this help me? (science on creation)
  • Verse(s): Psalm 19:1-4
  • Principle(s): God reveals Himself in creation.
  • Concept(s): Revelation
Once you have asked your question, provided your students with a value-added Biblical answer, and asked your students to find additional Biblical answers, you’re ready to add even more value. How? By asking your students to connect a Biblical perspective to course content and to their lives. Here’s what it might look like:
  • What’s wrong with the world? (English on racism): Alienation of people groups in South Africa is a result of the fall. -->I need to eat lunch with people who are culturally different from me.
  • What’s the solution? (social studies on perjury): Perjury is sinful and harms both perjurer and intended victim. Successful perjury results in unBiblical oppression.-->I need to tell the truth, even when it means I can get into trouble.
  • How can I be a wise steward? (PE on substance abuse): Drug addiction is unBiblical and hinders me from following hard after God.-->I won’t do drugs.
  • How does learning this help me? (science on creation): God displays His power through photosynthesis.-->I will marvel at God’s creative power in the trees I see when I go jogging.
Thing 2 Practice: Use your question from “Thing 1 Practice.” Define a Biblical answer for your question by identifying 1 verse, 1 principle, and 1 concept that you’ll teach your students. Next, identify a connection between a Biblical perspective and your course content, and between a Biblical perspective and your life.

Need tools to develop your Biblical answer? For verses and concepts, use a concordance or an online Bible. For principles, use Ruth Haycock’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Truths (published by the Association of Christian Schools International).


Thing 3:
As a result of you asking a Biblical perspective question, your students need to learn how to use the question to further understand and use a Biblical perspective. Questions are useful tools. Your students can use questions to increase their understanding and use of a Biblical perspective in class and throughout their lives. Each generation of Christians is called to apply God’s timeless truth to the current situation. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, questions can help your students do this.

Thing 3 Practice: Help your students understand and use a Biblical perspective by asking students to identify which of your course questions would be helpful to ask in a given situation. Try this out yourself. Imagine that you’re a student in a class that has the following 5 Biblical perspective questions:
  1. What’s wrong with the world?
  2. What’s the solution?
  3. How can I be a wise steward?
  4. How does learning this help me?
  5. How can I use my learning to serve?
Which question(s) would be helpful for you to ask if the situation is _____?
  • Seeing favoritism in the workplace
  • Personally experiencing culture shock
  • Learning that mom has cancer
  • Advertisements targeting young children
Review: As a result of you asking a Biblical perspective question, make sure your students learn 3 things:
  1. What the question means
  2. A Biblical answer that adds value
  3. How to use the question to further understand and use a Biblical perspective
Remember to use classtime to help students increase their understanding and use of a Biblical perspective. Yes, doing this means I have a little less time to cover course content, but that’s OK. The goal isn’t to cover content. The goal is to help your students apply a Biblical perspective to course content.

Also remember, if you don’t help your students learn a Biblical perspective…
  • They won’t increasingly look to God and His Word for answers. Instead, they’ll increasingly look to themselves for answers. Human beings are wired to look for answers. Your students are looking for answers. Help them develop a habit of looking first to God and His Word, second to Biblical answers developed by mature Christians, and third to themselves.
  • They won’t grasp how the Bible applies to all areas of life, including art, technology, language, business, athletics, history, science, law, music, relationships, government, ecology, and war. Church and home do help your students gain Biblical understanding, but schools can address topics that are not regularly addressed at church and/or home.
So, what’s the real question? Well, it’s not “What do I want my students to learn?” It’s “What will my students learn today about a Biblical perspective?”

Remember, success is your students increasing their understanding and use of a Biblical perspective by responding genuinely to a good question you ask and by learning one or more Biblical answers that add value. Success is not you identifying what you want students to learn. But remember, you have to identify what you want students to learn for them to learn a Biblical answer that adds value.

Apply your learning. Ask your students one question and explain what the question means by defining the meaning of the words (as appropriate), identifying the truth(s) you are focusing on, and identifying 3 related questions you are asking. Next, teach one Biblical answer that adds values and that includes at least 1 verse, 1 principle, and 1 concept. Do this during this unit or during the next unit.


If you don’t want your students to increase their understanding of a Biblical perspective, here’s are 4 things you can do:
  1. Don’t explain your question. Teach on the assumption that your students already understand your question or at least that they should already understand you question. Doing this gives you the appearance of having high standards while discouraging your students from deepening their understanding and use of a Biblical perspective. Most students won’t risk asking what a question means. If 1 of your students does ask what a question means, answer by saying, “I want you to discover the meaning of the question on your own, OK?”

  2. Use questions to teach the idea that all answers are acceptable. When using you question in class, follow-up by asking your students “What do you think?” and not “How does the Bible help?” This will encourage students to say “I think” and not “God says.” Finally, emphasize that we need to love our neighbors by accepting them and their answers. Doing this will look Biblical and encourage students to equate love with tolerance.

  3. Don’t teach Biblical answers that Christians have developed throughout history. Instead, encourage your students to recall what they already know. This will validate what they know without adding value in terms of content. And, this will result in your students generating simple (and hopefully simplistic) answers, because they don’t have core knowledge, for example, regarding Biblical positions on war and genetic engineering. As an added bonus, when your students use their limited Bible knowledge on complex issues, they will learn that the real goal is simple answers, or better yet, that the Christian faith has nothing to say about complex issues.

  4. Don’t make understanding and using a Biblical perspective a matter of learning and faith; instead, make this exclusively a matter of faith. Be sure to emphasize the mysteriousness of faith—that way, you won’t have to teach a Biblical answer. And that way, you’ll discourage non-Christian students who feel that matters of faith don’t apply to them or that they can’t learn a Biblical perspective because the content comes from some mysterious place outside the classroom (which is true, provided you are careful not to teach any answers).