Christian schools can take fuller advantage of a key opportunity—to help students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches. One way to move forward on this is to develop a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum:

• Guaranteed: All teachers at a given Christian school teach specified Bible content in each subject they teach.
• Viable: All teachers have sufficient instructional time to teach the specified Bible content.
• Biblical perspective: The specified Bible content is formatted as Biblical principles. Each Biblical principle is supported by at least 3 Bible passages.
• Curriculum: The specified Bible content is documented in the curriculum.

Question: Regarding a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum, what are the opportunities/problems?
 
Here are responses from Christian school educators like you:
 
Opportunities:

1. Teacher: If we had a documented scope and sequence of the Biblical principles we want our students to learn, our students would more likely have a Christian perspective of each subject. We could be more certain that we are carrying out our mission in terms of helping students develop a Christ-centered worldview. It would make it easier for new staff to get a feel for Biblical integration.
2. Curriculum coordinator: Having standards/benchmarks connected to enduring understandings would help us define our learning targets. We would be clear on what we want our students to know. We would be more clear in terms of direction.
3. Consultant: It would bring an expected and consistent content and reference point across the entire curriculum, independent of teacher experience and preferences. It would create a smoother flow across the content and prevent popular or well-known topic and emphasis from being over taught or repeated while not excluding other, lesser known Biblical issues or references. A well documented integrative reference point could assist novice faculty or those with limited Bible knowledge in the integrative process while ensuring their connection with the school’s overall integrative goals.
4. Teacher: Having a documented Biblical perspective curriculum would help teachers get a better handle on what students have already been taught and what they need to teach their students. All students would systematically be taught Biblical principles during class. Students would experientially understand that the Bible has something to say about all areas of life.
5. Principal: It would help new teachers who are not familiar with Christian worldview thinking. We could use our documented Biblical perspective curriculum to help them see how we apply the Bible across the curriculum. Administrators could use the documented curriculum as a platform for talking with teachers about how they’re helping students develop a Christian worldview. And having a documented Biblical perspective curriculum would result in kids making more connections between what they study and the Bible.

 See also teacher testimonials
 
Problems:

1. Teacher: Our existing curriculum documents are not sufficiently developed. In order to develop a Biblical perspective scope and sequence of our curriculum, we need to more fully develop our scope and sequence of our curriculum. We need to be really clear about what we teach, about what students are supposed to have a Biblical perspective of.
2. Curriculum coordinator: We have insufficient shared understanding for moving forward on this. We need to tap into the passion of teachers so that they will be fully committed to this.
3. Consultant: Basic lack of Bible knowledge will hinder some from contributing to the development process. The natural tendency of teachers to focus only on their grade or discipline will hinder their ability to move into a “big picture” view of the curriculum encompassing an entire department, school unit, or the entire school program for integrative development. And general unawareness of curriculum development, design, and formulation in most teachers will slow the process as they learn the verbiage, see the vision, and get an attainable goal in mind for the potential outcome.
4. Teacher: Developing a Biblical perspective curriculum can take a long time. Teachers are already busy, so a good process and a good set of tools will need to be developed. And there’s staff turnover—new staff will have to be brought up to speed on developing a Biblical perspective curriculum.
5. Principal: Teachers feel that instructional time is already tight—so if we ask them to implement a Biblical perspective curriculum, they’ll want to know how to fit it in. This concern would need to be talked through, for example, during a meeting. It’d be helpful to remind teachers that Christian schools are about more than just covering secular academic standards.
6. Teacher: Teachers don’t have sufficient experience with connecting content/skills and Biblical principles. Teachers didn’t receive this kind of education—it’s difficult to teach what you weren’t taught. Teachers need to experience Biblical perspective lessons and need to see Biblical perspective curriculum documents.
7. Consultant: An unwillingness to be a team player; unwillingness to commit to one view or Biblical perspective; forwarding personal preferences or agenda in the document rather than a balanced, evangelical position.
8. Teacher: Is increasing student understanding and use of a Biblical perspective of course content a real priority? I’m not asked to grade my students on this. It’s not part of ITBS, PSAT, SAT, or AP tests. It’s not on college applications. If I my students don’t master a certain skill, parents are concerned—no parent has ever talked to me about how well their child understands a Biblical perspective of my course content. When my students don’t master certain content or skills, I hear about it from the teacher above me—I don’t think I teach a Biblical perspective of my subject, and no teacher above has talked to me about this.

See also roadblocks
 
The point: To develop a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum, we need to focus on the opportunities and solve the problems. And as a next step, we need to consider how stakeholders view a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum.
 
Question: What’s your stakeholders’ perspective of a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum?

*This blog entry addresses Biblical perspective teacher training standard #4: To help students love God and impact the world for Him, teachers develop a curriculum that targets students understanding and then applying a Biblical perspective to course content and skills, and ultimately to their lives.