Dan Beerens, vice president of learning services at Christian Schools International, focuses on Christian education in his blog Nurturing Faith. In this blog entry, he discusses why a Biblical worldview is critically important.

Ron Sider presents evidence in his disturbing book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World?, that evangelicals without a Biblical worldview are not living any differently (or in some cases demonstrating worse behavior) than the average non-evangelical. However, all is not gloom and despair! In the last part of his book he presents a strong argument that evangelicals with a Biblical worldview demonstrate different behavior – deeply committed Christians demonstrate more Godly behavior and spend significantly more time living out their faith. 

(For sake of clarity, he uses Barna’s definition of a Biblical worldview: the Bible is the moral standard, absolute moral truths exist and are conveyed through the Bible, God is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator who still rules the universe; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life; Satan is a real, living entity; salvation is a free gift, not something we can earn; every Christian has a personal responsibility to evangelize; and the Bible is totally accurate in all it teaches.) 

Knowing the Word and living it out (discipleship) is something home, church, and school desire for students – worldview development is a key task of the Christian school – it is the place where faith and learning intersect directly – again and again in planned ways over a course of years.

As a result of getting a Christ-centered education, we want our students to love God with their minds. So, we want our students to develop a Christ-centered worldview. One way to do to this is by having our students experience 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.

To move forward on developing a Biblical perspective curriculum, you’ve reflected on 5 key questions:

1. Regarding developing a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum, what are the opportunities/problems?
2. What’s your stakeholders’ perspective of a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum?
3. Where are you/your school in terms of having a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum?
4. Regarding developing a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum, what’s your/your school’s level of motivation?
5. To develop a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum, what do you/your school need to keep doing? start doing? stop doing?
6. Next question: How would you/your school develop a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum?

 
Here are responses from Christian educators like you:
 
Teacher: Here are some thoughts on how I would develop a guaranteed, viable, Biblical perspective curriculum.
 
Step 1: Make sure all the teachers know how to accurately Biblically integrate. This may include teacher inservices to help teachers develop Biblical thinking regarding the subject areas. Sometimes Christian teachers do not have very developed Biblical perspectives on their subject areas. Workshops may include worldview training (perhaps a book study on James Sire's The Universe Next Door) as well as training on how to develop integrated unit and lesson plans. This should also include developing a list of key Biblical principles that should be covered somewhere within the school year, or going through a previously developed list of key Biblical principles.
 
Step 2: Have teachers develop curriculum guides with Biblical integration points that include identified Biblical principles for each unit.
 
Step 3: Have teachers make sure the assessments also assess for Biblical principle understanding.
 
Step 4: Develop a scope and sequence of Biblical integration principles to make sure that key principles are not left out or over instructed. Make adjustments in the curriculum guides where needed.
 
This is no short process, and I would imagine it would need to be structured into some kind of long-term planning. I think a key component in this is allowing sufficient time during working hours to develop this. That could include after school meetings, scheduled teacher work days, etc. The administration will really have to be on board and be passionate about this getting done. I imagine that once teachers get going, they will really enjoy teaching from a Biblical perspective. Developing a guaranteed, viable, Biblical perspective curriculum will really help teachers and students to see things the way God does. The ultimate goal being that people will live as man was designed to live, giving glory to God.
 

Curriculum coordinator: Here is what I see as a series of action steps that need to take place for us to establish a viable and replicable Biblical perspective curriculum:

1. Adopt the creation-fall-redemption-restoration motif as the framework for the Biblical perspective standards and benchmarks.
2. Develop departmental standards for implementing the creation-fall-redemption-restoration framework.
3. Use the department standards to develop Biblical perspective grade-level benchmarks.
4. Develop and implement assessments to determine student performance on Biblical perspective standards and benchmarks.
5. Analyze assessment data and use the findings to set goals for improving student performance on Biblical perspective standards.
6. By department (or other grouping that would make sense given the data), determine instructional strategies that would improve student learning on the Biblical perspective standards. Implement instructional strategies as a department.
7. Measure results over time, and make needed adjustments on a routine basis throughout the school year (at least the end of each semester).
8. Review curriculum on a 5-year plan for making major revisions to the curriculum and/or assessments used to measure the Biblical perspective standards.

Teacher: Our school has a culminating assessment for seniors where they research a global issue, articulate a Christian response to it, and engage in a project that addresses that issue. This is a great expression of what we hope our school's education has equipped kids to know, be, and do. 
 
To take this assessment to the next level, we need to make sure our curriculum in grades 9-11 systematically prepares students for this senior assessment. 
 
In terms of a Biblical perspective curriculum, we would need to develop and teach a scope and sequence of Biblical principles in all subjects in grades 9-11. To do this, teachers would need to:

• List issues addressed by senior assessments in the last couple of years and identify the Biblical principles that address those issues. (Students should not have to be originating these principles; they should have been taught them in a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum.) 
• Look at this list of Biblical principles, seeing which principles naturally fit in their courses or subject areas, and incorporate them into their courses.
• Teach these principles, give assessments, and use assessment results to further develop a scope and sequence.

In short, we would focus on our senior assessment in order to develop our "starter" Biblical perspective curriculum. Then, we would expand it.


Close the Gap Now: Developing a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum is an aggressive, yet achievable, goal. Just as there are different ways to do curriculum, there are different ways to develop a Biblical perspective curriculum. In other words, there’s no 1 right way to do it.
 
Here are 10 possible action steps:

1. Cast the vision for students developing a Christ-centered worldview through experiencing a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum.
2. Set a schoolwide SMART goal regarding students connecting Biblical principles to what they study. For example: By June 2013, 90% of students will score at or above standard on connecting Biblical principles to what they study, scores being taken from classroom assessments.
3. Listen to stakeholders about what they think about developing a Biblical perspective curriculum. Then, address their concerns.
4. Make using the curriculum to help students develop a Christ-centered worldview an operational priority.
5. Define what having a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum means for your school. For example, if your school uses standards and benchmarks, it means that all subjects would have Biblical perspective standards and benchmarks and that teachers would assess the Biblical perspective standards and benchmarks.
6. Do a needs analysis, for example, determine where your school is in terms of having a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum. Determine what you need to keep doing, start doing, and stop doing. Determine the training your teachers need. (Reviewing Biblical perspective teacher training standards might be useful.) On a scale of 1-10 (10 being really motivated), rate your school’s level of motivation. If it is below an 8, take steps to raise it to an 8.
7. Collaboratively develop a schoolwide action plan regarding a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum.
8. Have teachers start small. For example, have teachers adding 1 Biblical principle to a unit map, designing an assessment for how well students can connect what they study and that Biblical principle, and teaching a lesson to prepare students for that assessment.
9. Over time, have teachers add Biblical principles to more units and subjects/classes. Then, use a framework (like creation-fall-redemption-restoration) to analyze all Biblical principles. This will help you find gaps, make revisions, and eventually develop a scope and sequence.
10. Ensure that all Biblical perspective standards and benchmarks are taught and assessed.

 
Again, there’s no 1 right way to do this. The point is to develop a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum and get students experiencing it—the point is not to write a plan for developing such a 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.

Targeting Biblical perspective is vital. To get an idea of where you are in terms of targeting Biblical perspective, reflect on 9 questions:

1. What kind of people do you want your students to be?
2. What do you want your students to understand about God and His creation? 
3. What’s your vision? 
4. What do you target?
5. Specifically, what do you want your students to connect?
6. What kinds of connections do you want to see your kids making?
7. To help your students make connections, what essential questions do you ask?
8. To help your students make connections, what student learning needs do you meet?
9. To help your students make connections, what unit assessments do you give?

Below, Kim Essenburg, English 10 teacher at Christian Academy in Japan, reflects on her course by responding to 9 these questions:

(1) What kind of people do you want your students to be? 
Kim: I want them to love Jesus. I want them to be joyful, inquisitive, thoughtful people who always connect what they learn with their lives.

(2) What do you want your students to understand about God and His creation? 
Kim: Through their study of English, I want my students to understand that God created a good world so that we could enjoy it and participate in developing its potential. I want my students to understand that in this fallen world, God calls us to join Him in working to restore peace and justice. Language helps us all understand God’s truth and communicate it to others.

(3) What’s your vision? 
Kim: To see students delighting in the creative beauty of language, checking the things that strike them as true with the Bible, reading fiction to vicariously understand the neighbor they are to love, and using language effectively to understand themselves and serve others.

(4) What do you target?
Kim: I want my students to understand that God created the world good, that sin has affected all of creation, that we as Christians have been redeemed by Christ, and that we should participate in restoring God’s creation. So, I target my students connecting what they study and what the Bible teaches.

(5) Specifically, what do you want your students to connect?
Kim: In English 10, my students hone their thinking, writing, reading, and presentation skills as they grapple with world literature, for example, The Analects by Confucius, Cry, the Beloved Country by Paton, “To My Brother Miguel” by Vallejo, Night by Wiesel, and A Midsummer’s Night Dream by Shakespeare. I want them to connect this content with the 11 Biblical principles they learn, for example:

1. Because people are made in the image of God (Gen. 1.27, 9.6; Jas. 3.9), we are creative (Gen. 2.19, 4.21-22; Exod. 35.30-36.1), communicative (Gen. 2.20-24, Exod. 4.10-12, Jer. 1.4-9) truth-seekers. —introductory unit
2. Because the Bible tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves, we must seek the good of anyone it is within our power to help (Lev. 19.18, Matt. 22.39, Mark 12.31, Luke 10.27, Rom. 13.9, Gal. 5.14, Jas. 2.8). —Night unit
3. Human search for belonging is ultimately fulfilled in God (Psa. 90.1; Phil. 3.20; Heb. 11.8-10, 13-16). —short story unit
4. God calls us to join Him in His work of restoration (Mic. 6.8, Isa. 1.17, Jer. 22.16, Hos. 6.6 and note, Matt. 23.23). —Cry, the Beloved Country unit

(6) What kinds of connections do you want to see your kids making?
Kim: Authentic connections—not object lessons. Real connections—not allegories. Here’s an example of what I mean, taken from an essay on Camus’s “The Guest”:

“In contrast to what Camus and Daru experienced, there is inherent meaning and moral guidelines in life given by God—a conclusion based on a Biblical principle. Truth, which is God’s teaching, is apparent everywhere…(New International Version, Romans 1.20). In fact, the truth of the only God is accessible…(Acts 17.20). We must learn what God’s truth is and apply it to our lives because as Daru understood, human wisdom is faulty…. Humans must establish God’s truth as their anchor and base their decisions on his truth, which may not yield the obviously ‘good’ consequences in this life, but are right because they are part of God’s perfect will.”

(7) To help your students make connections, what essential questions do you ask?
Kim: My students say that thinking about open-ended questions really helps them make connections. So in English 10, I ask my students 4 questions: Who am I? Who is my neighbor? What’s wrong with the world? What is the significance of words?

(8) To help your students make connections, what student learning needs do you meet?
Kim: My 51 students come from 13 different countries, and from a variety of Christian and non-Christian backgrounds. Some have little or no Bible background; some are accustomed to connecting the Bible only with church, youth group, and personal holiness. To help my students make connections with what they’re learning and to prepare them for the assessments, I help them value connecting what they study and what the Bible teaches, see that it’s possible to make connections, and know what quality connections look like.

(9) To help your students make connections, what unit assessments do you give?
Kim: I give assessments to see how well my students are connecting what they study and what the Bible teaches—and I give assessments to give my students practice making connections. I give a total of 9 Biblical perspective assessments. I assess content/Bible connections in 5 of 8 essays, 2 of 4 presentations, and 2 of 9 unit tests with 1 or more Biblical perspective questions. Here’s a sample unit test question (worth 12/100 points):

Describe the existentialism of the author we read who wrote both essays and short stories on the topic. Be sure to include the definition, the juxtaposition that makes humanity’s situation absurd, the 2 things the author says give meaning, and illustrate those 2 things from the story. What of truth (from a Biblical perspective) has the author seen, and what has he missed?

* Want to read additional reflections?

• Unit: Assessment helps students more deeply connect what they study, their lives, and a Biblical perspective
• Subject: Use 8 questions to reflect on a subject area

Christian school communities are composed of stakeholder groups, including staff, parents, students, alumni, donors, and the board. These groups have a stake in students developing a Christ-centered worldview.
 
Question: What’s your stakeholders’ perspective of 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.

Here are responses from Christian educators like you:
 
Teacher: Our stakeholders probably haven’t thought about a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum. Our board and parents would be supportive of developing one and would think having one is a nice idea. I think teachers might look at this in terms of how hard it would be to develop and implement. I think our administrator would think it would be great to have one and would be concerned about the amount of work it would take staff to develop one.
 
Principal: The mission and vision of our school imply that a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum is important to us. Parents would have some degree of expectation that this would be in place. Most of our teachers would place a high value on it, but not know what it takes to develop it. Having a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum is a very high value for the administration, and we’re talking about getting one in place. Our board wants us to have a one and would expect us to develop one.
 
Consultant: Most people I’ve interacted with have not considered having a  guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum. When I made a presentation about such matters at a Christian school board, the board was more concerned about students getting into high-powered universities. I said doing Biblical perspective would not detract from this, but they continued to feel it would. They felt that spiritual matters were the province of the church. Another time I visited a school that wanted to offer a distinctively Christian education—this school would welcome having a guaranteed, viable, Biblical perspective curriculum..
 
Teacher: Our board, administration, staff, and parents all want to help our students develop a Christ-centered worldview. The board has policies about our program fostering a Biblical worldview and about teachers teaching from a Biblical perspective. The administration carries out these policies. Practically speaking, what this looks like is teachers modeling Christ-like behavior, doing devotions and chapel, and using teachable moments to help students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches.
 
Everyone, including parents and students, seems to be satisfied with this—because they assume what we’re doing is the best that can be done. I don’t think our stakeholders are aware of the possibility of having a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum. I think if they were, all stakeholder groups would want to have one. I think if they were and they found out we don’t have one, they’d wonder why.
 
Consultant: I find several perspectives about a Biblically oriented or foundational curriculum to be in play with stakeholders of Christian educational programs:
 
One group seems to have no clue what that is nor do they typically care as long as their children are safe (from whatever they might be concerned about) and the educational program seems to be sound. These folks do not seem to be deeply motivated for or convicted about the need for a curriculum that has strong roots in Biblical truth, which may be a reflection of their own spiritual life (or lack thereof) or a lack of awareness of the concept.
 
They will typically wonder what all the fuss is about concerning the Bible, why the school commits to what they perceive as “Sunday school activities”—chapel, mission trips, spiritual activities, and constant Bible references in documents and the classroom. Typically, it is their sense that the school is a “private” school rather than a Christian school.
 
A second group of stakeholders knows that being a Christian organization and having the Bible central is important, but they think a separate chapel time, mission trips, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines and references are fine as long as they don’t intrude into the academic and instructional day. They see the two as distinctive and compartmentalized, having little to no influence on each other.
 
They seem happy to have “spiritual instruction” and yet are disinclined to commit to the scriptures as the definitive tome on truth and so see its influence in all of the instructional program. Their preference is that the school be a “preparatory” school that has Christian values, but just not too many of them.
 
A third group emerges as those who understand the need for all truth to be placed in the sieve of the scriptures and so expect all instruction and curriculum to be both guided and shaped by a Biblical perspective on all disciplines and subjects. These individuals are deeply committed to the need for a completely Biblically integrated instructional program and will identify those areas that veer too far from their perception of that truth.
 
This group can overdrive this conviction with strong opinions about what the Bible says about key contents (especially history and science) and can impose a personal belief on the broader educational system, but they are generally able to be wooed into meaningful negotiations about their concerns. They have very high expectations for the curriculum to be both guaranteed and viable in terms of its Biblical perspective, and know the school would not be a “Christian” school otherwise.
 
Next question: Where are you/your school in terms of having a guaranteed, viable Biblical perspective curriculum?
 
Target Biblical perspective. Today

*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.

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.

As a result of Christian education, we want our students to love Jesus and live for Him. So, we help our students develop a Christ-centered worldview by:

1. Modeling Christ-like behavior.
2. Providing devotions, chapel, and Bible class.
3. Giving opportunities for service.
4. Helping students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches.

In terms of worldview formation, each of the 4 things listed above are vital. We know this. None of us want to work at or send our children to a Christian school where:

1. Teachers model behavior that isn’t Christ-like
2. Devotions, chapel, and Bible class aren’t provided.
3. There are no opportunities to serve.
4. Students are encouraged to separate what they study and what the Bible teaches.

Analysis: In terms of worldview development, Christian schools do a better job of modeling, providing devotions and Bible class, and giving service opportunities than Christian schools do with helping students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches.
 
Opportunity: Christian schools can take fuller advantage of a key opportunity—to help students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches.
 
Recommendation: That Christian schools 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 3 at least 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?
 
Target Biblical perspective. Today.

*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.

Harold Klassen of Transforming Teachers emphasizes the importance of understanding a Biblical perspective of your subject area.

Making sense of any idea is always easier if you know where it fits in the big picture. Knowing where the subject you teach fits in the big picture of God’s purposes and activities, can help you see the connections between your lesson content and God and His word. Helping your students see things from a Biblical perspective becomes an exciting possibility rather than a dreaded responsibility.

Here are a few questions that can help you develop the big picture of your subject area:

1. What does _____ reveal about God?
2. What is God’s purpose for _____?
3. How is God misunderstood because of _____?
4. How is _____ misused?
5. How does the Bible confirm God’s revelation in _____?
6. What does the Bible say about God’s purpose for _____?
7. How has _____ changed my relationship to my heavenly Father?
8. Will I allow the Holy Spirit to use _____ to give me a thankful, worshipful spirit?

For more help thinking about the subject you teach, check out chapter 3 of the Visual Valet.

Everyone has a perspective. On everything. On things like grasshoppers, gasoline prices, glaciers melting, and God. Everyone has a way of looking at things. At things like chocolate, character qualities, carbon emissions, and Christ.
 
Every Christian school student has a perspective. And our role as Christian educators is to help each of our students develop a Biblical perspective. Ways we can do this include:

1. Authentically living out a Biblical perspective.
2. Making explicit how we connect what the Bible teaches and what we teach.
3. Focusing our students on Biblical teaching and on worshipping Christ.
4. Having our students connect what the Bible teaches and what they study in class. (This blog, Target Biblical Perspective, addresses this.)
5. Having our students apply Biblical teaching through service.

Help your students develop a Biblical perspective. Today.

Kim Essenburg, English 10 teacher at Christian Academy in Japan, uses 5 questions to reflect on connecting a Christian philosophy of education with classroom practice.
 
(1) What kind of people do you want your students to be?

Kim: I want them to love Jesus. I want them to be joyful, inquisitive, thoughtful people who always connect what they learn with their lives.
 
(2) Broadly speaking, what do you want your students to understand about God and His creation through one of the subjects they study?

Kim: Through their study of English, I want my students to understand that God created a good world so that we could enjoy it and participate in developing its potential. I want my students to understand that in this fallen world, God calls us to join Him in working to restore peace and justice. Language helps us all understand God’s truth and communicate it to others.
 
(3) In one of your subjects, what are some of the Biblical principles you want your students to be grounded in?
 
Kim: Language is a good gift from God. Because people are in God’s image, they are creative, communicative truth-seekers. All truth is God’s truth. The Bible is God’s Word and is the filter we use to analyze all truth claims. Because people are in God’s image, they are to be respected and honored. The neighbor whom I am to love is anyone I am in a position to help.
 
(4) In terms of your students applying a Biblical perspective to what they study, what’s your vision?
 
Kim: Students delighting in the creative beauty of language, checking the things that strike them as true with the Bible, reading fiction to vicariously understand the neighbor they are to love, and using language effectively to understand themselves and serve others.
 
(5) Helping your students learn course content is a big challenge. Christian education targets a bigger challenge—helping students apply a Biblical perspective to the course content they have learned. Is the “Christian education challenge” worth it?
 
Kim: Definitely. If we don’t teach students that the Bible connects to what they study and to their lives, we by default are teaching them that the Bible doesn’t connect. We simply can’t afford to be teaching that to our children, to the next generation of the Church. 

In terms of student learning at a Christian school, our stated definition of success is students applying a Biblical perspective to course content (not just learning the course content). However, our real definition of success is best seen in what we do, not what we say.

What’s your real definition of success? To determine your real definition, please respond to the following for a given unit of study:
Define success: Based on your responses, your real definition of success is…

• Having students apply a Biblical perspective to the course content they have learned.
  
• Having students learn course content.

Question: How can you further align your real definition of success (your behavior) with the stated definition of success (students applying a Biblical perspective content they have learned)? Here are 3 options:

1. Increase the number lessons in which students apply a Biblical perspective to course content.
   
2. Increase the number of instructional minutes in which students applied a Biblical perspective to course content.
   
3. Increase the number of assignments requiring students to apply a Biblical perspective to course content.

Take action. Target students applying a Biblical perspective to course content. Today.

By targeting Biblical perspective, teachers can help student apply a Biblical perspective to what they study.

You’re working at a Christian school, and it’s vital that you understand the answer to the following question: What’s your mission? To answer this question, first let me clarify what I mean by “mission.” Your school’s mission is your school’s purpose.

Given that Christian school mission statements are based on the Bible and a Biblical understanding of education, Christian school mission statements may resemble each other. Below are 10 mission statement excerpts. How are these alike?

1. Preparing students to influence culture and society for Christ.
   
2. Equipping students to impact the world for Christ
   
3. Empowering students with the knowledge and skills to live for Christ in contemporary society
   
4. Preparing young people to live fully for God in a rapidly changing world
   
5. Developing academically prepared Christian disciples who embrace Christ’s call to transform the world
   
6. Preparing students to be effective servants of Christ in contemporary society
   
7. Equipping minds and nurturing hearts to transform the world for Jesus Christ
   
8. Preparing students to serve God responsibly in His world
   
9. Equipping students to live a Christian life

So, how are these 10 mission statement excerpts alike? Three similarities immediately strike me:

1. They ultimately focus on the God of the Bible.
   
2. They focus on students using their education for God’s glory.
   
3. They all involve students in understanding and using a Biblical perspective of course content.

Look over the list of 10 mission statement excerpts and see if you agree with me.

What’s your mission? As a Christian educator, your mission is to focus your students on God and to prepare your students to bring glory to God—and, consequently, to help all of your students increase their understanding and application of a Biblical perspective.

Carry out your mission today. How? By helping your students increase their understanding and application of a Biblical perspective of your course content. How can you do that? Here are 4 suggestions:

1. Ask good questions.
   
2. Teach Biblical answers to your questions that include Biblical principles, Biblical values, and Bible verses.
   
3. Assess your students’ understanding and application of a Biblical perspective.
   
4. Meet your students’ learning needs regarding understanding and applying a Biblical perspective.

Shortest answer: The “4 Christ-centereds.”

Short answer: At a Christ-centered school, students learn Christ-centered content for a Christ-centered purpose from Christ-centered people in a Christ-centered environment.

Longer answer:
(1) At a Christ-centered school, students learn Christ-centered content, skills, and values. For example, they learn to…

1. Understand Bible stories, the plan of salvation, and a Christian worldview.
   
2. Understand subject content and skills.
   
3. Integrate content and skills from different subjects.
   
4. Value learning.
   
5. Use appropriate learning strategies.
   
6. Use a Biblical perspective.
   
7. Solve problems.
   
8. Organize and use information to support conclusions.
   
9. Make creative products and presentations.
   
10. Respect themselves and others as being created in God's image.
    
11. Work with others.
    
12. Communicate through writing, speaking, reading, listening, graphs and charts, and the arts.
    
13. Integrate different forms of communication.
    
14. Serve God and others, and care for God's creation.
    
15. Value and maintain physical, social, emotional, moral, and spiritual health.

(2) At a Christ-centered school, students learn for a Christ-centered purpose. They learn in order to impact the world for Christ. They learn in order to be Christ-like. The primary purpose of a Christ-centered school is not to help students get into college or get a job.

(3) At a Christ-centered school, students learn from Christ-centered people. They learn from God’s people. People with new hearts who live for God. People who bear the fruit of the Spirit. People who are passionate about helping all students increase their understanding and application of a Biblical perspective.

(4) At a Christ-centered school, students learn in a Christ-centered environment. A Christ-centered environment. An environment that is safe, healthy, and nurturing. An environment that is characterized by love, gratitude, trust, respect for differences, and high expectations.

What’s on my heart? I’m passionate about helping students apply a Biblical perspective to what they study. So 1 of my answers to “What happens at a Christ-centered school?” is: Students learn to apply a Biblical perspective of what they study in every class so that they are equipped to impact the world for Christ. Students learn from teachers who are passionate about being Christ-like, helping students develop the mind of Christ, and cultivating a Christ-centered environment.

Please consider this question: “What’s 1 thing you can do in the next 5 school days to help your students increase their proficiency in applying a Biblical perspective to what they are studying in class?” After you consider this question, use your answer.

Christian teachers are committed to helping their students develop a high level of Biblical literacy, to helping their students understand things like:

1. God’s overarching story of creation-fall-redemption-restoration
2. Bible stories
3. The books of the Bible
4. The Cultural Mandate (Gen. 1.28-30)
5. The 10 Commandments (Ex. 20.1-17)
6. The Beatitudes (Matt. 5.3-11)
7. The plan of salvation (John 3.16)
8. The Great Commission Matt. 28.18-20)
9. The fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5.22-23)
   

Question: How committed are you to Biblical literacy?

Christian teachers are also committed to helping their students develop a high level of Biblical perspective literacy, to helping their students understand:

1. Answers to the big questions of life
2. Answers to difficult questions
3. The relevant Biblical principles that apply to what they study
4. How a given unit and/or lesson fits into God’s overarching story of creation-fall-redemption-restoration

Question: How committed are you to Biblical perspective literacy?

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