School Administration Biblical Integrations for Pre-K to 12th Grade Administrators

Christians are capable of being teachers in addition to implementing the Christian values, whether they are teaching in a secular or Christian school. As Christians and teachers, we must strive every day to attempt to integrate being a prophet, preacher, and king into our classrooms. Only one person in history has been able to properly balance these ideals, and he was Jesus. 1 John 4:8, 16 states, “God is love.” This three word sentence exemplifies what we should be doing in our classrooms. We must demonstrate that we embody a loving, merciful nature coupled with being a steward of God, all the while teaching in environments that are not always so accepting of these morals (Graham, 2003).

Preparing a student for the world is not a straight forward task, there are different learners: verbal, intrapersonal, visual or logical (Van Brummelen, 2009). Each student will take from different tasks differently, but if Christian values are implemented into the school environment, not just in the curriculum the students will learn material, as well as have more life lessons such as morality, integrity, love, compassion and so many more morals implemented into the person the student becomes. Not matter if a teacher is in a Christian school, a secular school, a class room or even in the middle of a rainforest, there can be Christian values implemented all around. v

Not only do we need to be champions of Christ in our actions, we must have mastered our knowledge in addition to pedagogy (Slavin, 2012). As teachers we are never finished learning. We are teachers who need to have a deep and complete knowledge of what is taught in conjunction with an ability to take this knowledge and have it come across as authentic while honing in the skill of communicating the knowledge in an effective way (Brummelen, 2009). The material taught must not only be understood but we must really know the information, but beyond this we must teach our students in a way that is beyond of knowledge. We must stimulate deeper learning. God created us as a natural inquisitive being. We explore and discover, whether it is for good, or for bad such as Eve discovering the forbidden fruit and taking a bite. When we are children we are constantly discovering, learning that it burns when we touch something hot, or that we can break something if we throw it. Teaching a student to memorize facts and reiterate them on a test is not truly teaching the students. Rather a teacher needs to provide real world situations in which the student can apply these facts and think about the information. As students grow they are able to problem solve better because of what they have learned they can apply. This holds true to the cognitive progression Piaget recommends (Slavin, 2012). Students have many different learning styles, but we should not just teach these styles and play towards these styles, rather we should learn to make students passionate again. We need to ignite a flame in students to make them truly want to learn. English, history, science or math, there is a constant that students need passion.

Long has been discussed the ability to meld church into public school, or what could be considered as the state sector. Church and state has been a subject for many generations. However, the Christian bible, as well as other religions not typically discussed during a church and state debate, can be integrated into any system public of private through using the moral bearings provided in the Holy bible, and through integrating this into the school. For instance, many schools have dress codes that prevent students from wearing clothes that are inappropriate. This notion ties into the Christian moral of modesty. Proverbs 11:22 states, “like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.” Though this only has the word women, people in general are considered to need to carry more modesty as Christians, due to not needing to create an instance for more lust. There are secular views found in a Christian school as well. For instance the characteristic of elitism and knowing the right people plays into a Christian school as much as a secular school, due to popularity.

Despite Christian values remaining in secular schools and secular values creeping into Christian schools, the same value of Christianity remains to be a follower of Christ. Christian teachers can thrive in both a public and Christian school. Common approaches are used toward curriculum (Van Brummelen, 2009). This is because instead of analyzing where these common core curriculums have come from, the morality and views of Christianity can be placed. This is where the values of holiness, integrity, faithfulness, beauty, and respect for life can be placed, rather can specifically teaching a class on religion (Van Brummelen, 2009).

Many secular schools do not allow the teaching of creationism, but evolution or Darwinism is an appropriate approach. This is where many Christian and secular schools show a clear disconnect, in the teaching of science. But why can’t Christians teach evolution in the idea that perhaps God intended for certain being to evolve throughout the years. Yes, there are many holes in the notion, but there could certainly be links that could show God existing within many portions of nature. This discussion is a very lengthy and much discussed topic; however, this can be a jumping point to show that a Christian classroom can still be maintained in a secular world. Romans 1:25 states, “they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator- who is forever praised. Amen.” But, this just defines created things in and of themselves, if a Christian teacher could circumvent the rules and guidelines and allow the teachings of creationism to be revealed within evolution, they are able to tie two disconnects in together in order to reveal truth rather than one particular avenue. I am not an expert on any sciences; however, when truth is mentioned in relation to teaching, this is a question for debate that is brought to mind.

Ultimately whether teaching in a Christian school or a secular school, the most important principle to uphold is that the learning performed by the students is a meaningful education. leave my class feeling as if they are not only prepared for a test, but rather a life lesson. Preparing a student for the world is not a straight forward task, there are different learners: verbal, intrapersonal, naturalist, visual, logical, etc. (Van Brummelen, 2009). Each student will take from different tasks differently, but if Christian values are implemented into the school environment, not just in the curriculum the students will learn material, as well as have more life lessons such as morality, integrity, love, compassion and so many more morals implemented into the person the student becomes.

The Holy Bible. NIV.

Van Brummelen, H. (2009). Walking with God in the classroom: Christian approaches to learning and teaching. (3rd ed.) Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design Publications.

Graham, D. L. (2003). Teaching redemptively: Bring grace and truth into your classroom. Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design Publications.

Slavin, Robert E. (2012). Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (10th Edition). Pearson Education, Inc., Boston, MA.