Education Commons^™

Letter From The Editor, Christina Belcher

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

It seems like the years just fly by, but I begin every year with this reflection on the poem by Minnie Haskins, “God Knows”, incorporated into the Christmas Day speech of King George VI in 1939:

“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, give me a light that I may travel safely into the unknown.

And he replied: Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.” So I went forth, and finding the …

Ripples Of Gratitude: The Flow-On Effects Of Practicing Gratitude In The Classroom Environment, Jane Wilson, Paige Harris

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

This research explores God’s call to gratitude, summarizes current research on the benefits of gratitude, identifies key gratitude disciplines/practices, and utilizes a conceptual framework to study gratitude in the context of educational settings. In contribution to the relatively recent discussion on gratitude, especially in the education field, the researchers explored the effects when pre-service teachers practice an inner attitude of gratitude and intentionally express gratitude in the classroom setting. This study expands the current educational research of gratitude by incorporating three primary gratitude practices – the State of Preparedness, gratitude language, and gratitude journaling – and examining both personal benefits …

Parting Editorial, Christina Belcher

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

As I settle in at my keyboard, my neighbour (who restores older vehicles), is cruising happily down our street with the windows down and the radio on high. Without restraint, in joyful volume, the Byrds are singing familiar words from the book of Ecclesiastes: “To everything, there is a season … turn, turn, turn; and a time to every purpose unto heaven.” How apt.

Chasing The ‘Hounds Of Hell’: Howard Thurman’S Jesus And The Disinherited As A Curriculum For Racial Justice And Reconciliation, Sandra Richards Mayo

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

This essay explores the implications of the Trayvon Martin case for educators who must contend with the complexities of race in the context of schooling. With the assumption that race continues to function as an important category in social arrangements, this essay addresses the following questions: What is the role of race and racial stereotyping in educational disparities? How can educators work purposely toward a curriculum of racial justice and reconciliation? Drawing on the work of African American theologian and civil rights leader Howard Thurman, this essay argues that new approaches to social justice education should address both the extrapersonal …

Teachers’ Understanding Of Imago Dei, Beverley Norsworthy, Christina Belcher

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

Often education is viewed pragmatically as that of preparing students for life as employees. Another view is that education is about enabling human beings to flourish. The pragmatic and flourishing paradox has consequences for national citizenship. For Christian teachers, critical to such an approach would be the manner in which their teaching practice is informed and shaped by a Christian worldview. Such shaping involves an applied knowledge with reference to understanding people, and particularly students as “Imago Dei.” This research presents a pilot study in which 120 teachers in Christian schools in New Zealand and Canada were invited, via an …

Educating In The Spirit: An Examination Of The Person And Role Of The Holy Spirit In Christian School Education (Part Two), Thyra Cameron, James Swezey

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

This study is the second of a two-part article that examines the Person and role of the Holy Spirit in Christian school education. Part One (ICCTE Journal, 10(1)) was an extensive literature review of the Person and role of the Holy Spirit from the two perspectives. Part Two is a cross-case study of two principals who led schools representing each perspective. The rationale for this study is that since Christian schools submit to the authority of the Bible, and Scripture recognizes the preeminence of the Holy Spirit, these schools would seek to comply with these biblical prescriptions. The …

Truth, Goodness And Beauty: Revisiting The Classic Common Core Standards, Gary Gramenz

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

As the educational community works to simultaneously understand and implement the Common Core standards and its emphasis on the development of various intellectual traits and capacities, it is worth pausing to consider this most recent educational reform in light of the classical understanding of the educational task. This article highlights three elements from the “classic” common core educational standards as understood by classical educational theorists: truth, goodness, and beauty and the role each plays in developing an educated person. These classic standards place the development and elevation of the human spirit as the foundation of all learning. Although truth, goodness, …

Book Review: Bible Shaped Teaching, Christina Belcher

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

Lately, I have been contemplating the act of remembering. Not just as this regards to memory, but as it applies to metaphorically putting the members or attributes of our physical, mental and spiritual holistic self into the act of teaching and learning; re-assembling the “members” of being human into a coherent and flourishing wholeness. In many ways, this aligns well with the essence of John Shortt’s small but powerful text. It needs to be read more than once. It returns the mind and heart to the entire landscape of teaching.

The Troubled Sense Of Otherness Among Christian And Non-Christian Esl Freshmen At A Christian College In The Midwest, Yin Lam Lee-Johnson

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

This study was derived from an ethnographic study conducted with five ESL learners and their peers in a Christian college in the Midwest. The theoretical framework of this article was built upon Freire’s (2000) and Kumashiro’s (2001) anti-oppressive education. The study employed various data sources to find out how Christian and non-Christian ESL freshmen experienced a sense of otherness in the local college community. The findings reveal the hidden norms in the faith-based college, which marginalized the non-Christian ESL freshmen from being legitimate participants (Lave & Wenger, 1991). The researcher provides recommendations to educators and administrators in higher education for …

Book Review - Index, Ken Badley

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

This index includes book reviews that appeared between 2011 and 2014 in four different journals that focus on Christian views of education at all levels, the place of religion—especially Christian faith—in education, and the roles of Christian educators in elementary, secondary and higher education, both public and church-related. The journals are these:

Educating In The Spirit: An Examination Of The Person And Role Of The Holy Spirit In Christian School Education (Part One), Thyra Cameron, James Swezey

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

This essay is the first of a two-part article that examines the Person and role of the Holy Spirit within the context of Evangelical Christian school education. Both parts form the foundation of a study that compared and attempted to contrast two perspectives on the Holy Spirit: Reformed and Charismatic-Pentecostal. Part One is an extensive literature review of the Person and role of the Holy Spirit from the two perspectives. Part Two will be a cross case study of two principals who led schools representing each perspective. The rationale was that, since Christian schools submit to the authority of the …

The Good Shepherd: Lessons For Teacher Education, Scott Key

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

Across the continent, the demand for increased student achievement dominates conversation. Teacher education programs are under pressure to ensure that pre-service teachers are able to step into classrooms and improve student achievement. This pressure can invite programs to focus on subject-specific and pedagogical competencies while minimizing ethical and relational aspects of teacher preparation. Yet caring relationships are central to more positive learning experiences. What should these relationships look like? For Christian teachers and teacher educators, the answer to this question lays, in part, in an examination of Jesus. This paper focuses on Jesus the Good Shepherd as seen in the …

Letter From The Editor, Scot Headley

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

Ten years ago this autumn, I sat in an office on the campus of George Fox University with a small group of colleagues who had accepted the responsibility for beginning a scholarly journal that would provide a forum for teacher educators at CCCU and like institutions. We were responding to a call to support the efforts of scholars and practitioners who had been exploring the influence and implications of their Christian faith and worldview on their professional work as educators. We did this by providing a forum for scholars to share their ideas and served practitioners by making ideas, programs, …

Exploring Perceptions Of Care In Christian Teacher Education Communities: Toward A Faith-Informed Framework Of Care, Cathy Freytag

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

During a recent sabbatical (spring 2013), the author investigated perceptions of care in a variety of teacher education programs at Christian colleges and universities across the United States and Canada. My purpose for engaging in this study was to ascertain whether there might be elements of care unique to teacher education programs at Christian institutions that reach beyond prevailing conceptions of care found in the feminist philosophical literature. In this article, I discuss prevalent views of care across sacred and secular lines, detail the research methodology employed in the current study, elaborate upon emergent themes and trends, propose a model …