Christian Educators Journal February 2022 Vol. 61 No. 3
School Staff: A Precious Resource Professional Development “Let Us Go Together” Fostering the Teaching We Espouse Nurturing Cultures of Collegiality A Growth Mindset for Educators Letter to a Young Teacher
Future Issues April 2022—Resource Review Each year we highlight the best books, films, websites, teaching tools, and other resources for Christian school teachers. We publish reviews of student-facing material (like which books to stock in your classroom library) as well as materials relevant to school staff (like curriculums or books about teaching). The April 2022 issue will also include a description of each of our 2022–2023 issues— be sure to stay tuned to this space for the reveal.
Contents
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Editorial STEVE TUIT AND ABBY ZWART
Professional Development for Christian School Educators and Leaders LYNN SWANER
“Let Us Go Together”: School Staff and the Power of an “Us-Together” Culture KELLY HAYES
Fostering the Christian Teaching We Espouse CHRIS PRIOR
Nurturing Cultures of Authentic Collegiality DAVID LOEWEN
A Growth Mindset for Christian Educators THOMAS LAMBERT
Letter to a Young Teacher PENNY CLAWSON
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Christian Educators Journal Vol. 61 No. 3, February 2022 cejonline.com Co-editors Steve Tuit and Abby Zwart cejeditor@gmail.com The Christian Educators Journal (CEJ) encourages letters to the editor in response to articles presented in the CEJ. Letters must be accompanied by the author’s name and email address. The CEJ reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Where a letter addresses issues raised by the author of an article, the CEJ reserves the right to invite the article author to respond to the letter. Subscriptions Bill Vriesema 3075 Kissing Rock Lane Lowell, MI 49331 616-460-2926 business@cejonline.com Subscription Price (US dollars) US: $25.00 (one year, print) Canada: $30.00 (one year, print) Digital: $25.00 (one year) Beginning September 2021, all subscriptions outside the US and Canada will be digital only. Please visit www.cejonline for subscription information. US Postal Information Nonprofit Organization Postage paid in Grand Rapids, MI Permit No. 657 Return postage guaranteed to: Christian Educators Journal 3075 Kissing Rock Lane Lowell, MI 49331 Address Correction Requested Canadian Postal Information Registered under Publications Mail Agreement: No. 40022165 at Norwich, ON Return postage guaranteed to: Christian Educators Journal PO Box 39 Norwich, ON N0J 1P0 Indexed in Christian Periodicals Index Copyrighted 2000 CEJ. All rights reserved. Christian Educators Journal (130630) is published quarterly by Christian Educators Journal Association. Scripture All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Statement of Purpose The Christian Educators Journal Association publishes the Journal as a channel of communication for all educators committed to the idea of Christian day school at the elementary, secondary, and college levels. The views expressed are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the association. Reprint Policy We allow free reprinting or photocopying of individual articles that have appeared in our journal, as long as the copied articles are used within the context of schooling and the source is acknowledged. Co-editors Steve Tuit and Abby Zwart Copyeditor Bethany Murphy Design Editor Klaas Wolterstorff Business Manager Bill Vriesema Web Shepherd Heather Altena Board of Trustees Dr. Henry Algera Heather Birch Justin Cook Dan Diephouse (Secretary) Albert Kok (Chair) Gayle Monsma Ed Noot Jim Rooks Sean Schat Christine Scholma Tricia Stobbe Edith Van Der Boom Heather VanDyke Christine Webb Supporting Institutions Calvin University Edvance Christian Schools Association Institute for Christian Studies The King’s University Redeemer University Trinity Christian College Tyndale University Subscribing Organizations Christian Educators Association Christian Educators of British Columbia Prairie Centre for Christian Education Printed back issues (if available) can be purchased for $7.50 per copy (cost of shipping to be added to total). Some back issues may be available in digital format.
Editorial “PD Day”
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hose words on the school calendar may create a pretty broad range of feelings. Scheduled professional development can be a welcome break from the classroom, a chance to catch our breath in the middle of a busy school year. It can give us a chance to develop practical skills or focus on important big-picture work. But it can also feel like an interruption to meaningful work in the classroom—or just more work being heaped on our already full plates. Looking around the room by the early afternoon of even a good professional development day may reinforce how varied our attitudes about them are. Some of us are still leaning forward in our seats, following every word. At the same table, someone else is slyly glancing at their phone. Someone in the back may actually be grading papers. Despite the range of attitudes we sometimes feel about professional development, there’s no question that it’s important. Studies consistently show that high-quality teachers matter more to student achievement than any other aspect of schooling, and professional development expands our understanding of effective practices; allows us to respond to the changing landscape of issues and needs that we need to address in working with students, families, and communities; and assures that we’re aware of changes in standards or graduation requirements. In Christian schools, professional development also plays an important role in the development of the Christian community that we share with our colleagues, as well as the one that we’re trying to build for our students. How can we make sure that the time we spend working to grow as Christian professionals is meaningful and engaging? This issue examines some answers to that question. After a broad look at trends in professional development as they impact Christian schools, we’ll consider how to build a culture of unity, growth, and collegiality from a variety of perspectives. We’ll end with a note of encouragement for new teachers—and anyone who feels like a new teacher once in a while. This issue, we’ll each share one of our best PD takeaways. At one of the first “PD” days I went to in my first year of teaching, the presenter began by projecting this image on the screen: Which of these is your school?
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The fact that I can remember that illustration probably means that it worked. But it also reminds me of the deeper goal of PD days: to remind us what it looks like to work together, pulling in the same direction, so that we can serve our students and fulfill our mission faithfully. —Steve Tuit In developing the theme and soliciting articles for this issue, I had hoped we would hear from some teachers or administrators about what they’re doing to develop and care for their staff not just as educators, but as humans. I imagined schools were finding creative ways to make teachers feel appreciated and healthy and rejuvenated—especially in the midst of these three extra-difficult school years. We didn’t get any bites for articles about that. I’m not sure if it’s just because no one thought to write about it, or if it’s because it’s not happening. I hope it is. I hope schools are providing lunch for their staff, asking students to write notes of thanks, and planning social time for teachers to remember that they like each other, not just that they work together. On that note, I’ll share my school’s best “PD” day this year. We started off together doing the usual PD business—this time it was some great diversity, equity, and inclusion training—but we broke at 11:30 and went bowling. The school had reserved lanes and gotten us all the right size shoes set aside and ordered pizza and pop. We just got to laugh and let off some steam and commune with coworkers we perhaps hadn’t caught up with for a while. It was a good day. —Abby Zwart
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Professional Development for Christian School Educators and Leaders LYNN SWANER
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rofessional development opportunities are nearly universal in the experiences of US educators, both in public school settings and in Christian schools (Darling-Hammond et al., “Trends and Challenges”; Finn et al.). Nationwide spending on professional development (PD) totals billions of dollars, which makes PD for educators “big business” (Hill). Yet despite the sizable investment of time and resources, teachers generally report dissatisfaction with PD experiences, particularly with short-term workshops, which comprise the majority of PD offerings (Darling-Hammond et al., “Status Report”). Moreover, both practitioners and researchers are uncertain as to what constitutes effective PD. According to the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center (1), even after nearly five decades of research, “Parsing the strengths and weaknesses of the vast array of programs that purport to invest in teachers’ knowledge and skills continues to be a challenge.” A number of issues in practice and research have contributed to this challenge, such as a lack of a shared definition for most PD practices; use of varying metrics to determine PD effectiveness (e.g., increased teacher knowledge, changed instructional practice, and student achievement gains); a myriad of program and study designs, which renders comparison of findings across the research difficult; and the complexity of PD programs and settings, which makes PD effectiveness an equally complex phenomenon to study. In an effort to address these problems systematically, I conducted a literature synthesis—involving extensive searches of the academic litera ture and analysis of over five hundred studies and documents, with the following guiding question: “What are the best frameworks and practices in professional development for Christian school teachers and leaders?” In answering this question, findings from the literature are organized into four distinct lines of investigation: first, mapping the landscape of PD in the United States (including history, models, conceptual frameworks, and PD in Christian schools); second, examining the evidence for program components (such as content focus, active learning, and duration) that may contribute to PD effectiveness; third, reviewing the research base for a number of specific PD practices; and fourth, encapsulating the research on PD for school leaders.
The Professional Development Landscape When one surveys the landscape of PD programs and related research, three broad time periods over the last five decades can be identified. In the first, the school restructuring era, from the 1960s to the mid-1990s, federal Christian Educators Journal
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“Let Us Go Together”: School Staff and the Power of an “Us-Together” Culture KELLY HAYES
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As we teach Jesus’s message, we can also learn his leadership methods.
n his classic book Teaching to Change Lives, Howard Hendricks made the case that effective communication leads learners to understand truth and “feel deeply about it” (83). Understanding comes when truth “affect[s] their actions in a significant way.” This action-shifting understanding is exactly what school leaders yearn to catalyze through professional development activities. During his earthly ministry, Jesus led and communicated in such a way that brought about growth in his disciples. Today’s Christian school leaders can learn from the ancient, ultimate leader. Though Christ is much more than a paragon of leadership, he is not less than that. The content of Christianity is largely, and rightly, focused on what Jesus accomplished, but my aim here is to highlight one imitable instance of how he did his work. Specifically, it is my desire that institutions committed to discipleship, particularly in an academic setting, consider the leadership culture that Jesus modeled in the prototypical discipleship setting. As we teach his message, we can also learn his leadership methods.
First-Century Methods Jesus’s teachings stirred up strong responses. In John 10, people picked up stones to execute him. Later, in the same chapter, the people tried to seize him, “but he escaped their grasp” (John 10:39). Consider what the disciples may have been feeling at this time. They had hitched their lives to the teacher, but now that teacher was a wanted man. Imagine the wave of relief that must have washed over them when they escaped. Then, in the very next chapter, Jesus proposes that they return to the scene of their near demise. The disciples reply in a predictable, relatable manner: “A short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” (John 11:8). They seem incredulous. Yet, they went. Following Christ as one of his hand-selected representatives was challenging and costly in the disciples’ day. Likewise, representing Christ as academic disciple-makers can be bruising in other ways today. A Christian school teacher in Ontario or Arizona may not likely be struck with stones, but the God we follow is as controversial in the secular, postmodern West as he was in the religious, ancient Near East. The Lord told his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matt. 16:24–25). His words were true then and they are true now. Why did the disciples sign up for this 16
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life of death and loss? Why did they walk with Christ even to the place of potential stoning? The way that Jesus led his team to, and through, difficulty in the first century has much to teach us about leading in the twenty-first. In walking with the Lord into danger, his disciples were experiencing a hands-on learning experience that was an essential part of the “professional development” that Jesus had planned for them. While the andragogy of Christ is a goldmine, I intend to excavate a single deposit here. In the face of obstacles, Jesus invited the disciples to journey with him. While the Bible contains important instances of Jesus sending his followers out, in this case, he did something different. He included the disciples in his own journey. Note his words in John 11:7: “Let us go back to Judea.” Jesus’s plan was that they would go together. The power of Jesus’s approach can be understood clearly by taking a close look at a particular word he used. The phrase “let us go” comes from the Greek word agōmen. This is a first-person, plural subjunctive verb. The first-person, plural nature of this verb makes it inclusive: let us go. Jesus actively associated his disciples with himself. They were a unit—a team. The subjunctive mood of the verb conveys possibility: let us go. Jesus used this verb as a compelling invitation. He said “Let us go” rather than “You must go” or “I will go.” He wanted his team to share his journey and his experience. He wanted them to go together. He was asking them to join him. How did the disciples respond? Thomas reflected Christ’s own words as he addressed the other disciples, saying, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:16). Like Jesus, Thomas employed the first-person, plural subjunctive agōmen. Before even taking a single step on the journey, Jesus’s plan was already succeeding. Thomas was acting as a leader among followers. He was encouraging and inviting his peers to join him in joining Jesus. The student was becoming like the teacher.
In walking with the Lord into danger, his disciples were experiencing a hands-on learning experience that was an essential part of the “professional development” that Jesus had planned for them.
Before even taking a single step on the journey, Jesus’s plan was already succeeding.
Twenty-First-Century Applications While the relationship between Jesus and his disciples is not equivalent to that of a school leader and staff, the principle here can translate to today’s Christian schools. The experience is different, but Jesus’s disciples were Christian teachers. Like the disciples, modern teachers face challenges, limitations, and questions. The disciples needed help, and so do we. They needed development just like we do. So how do Christian schools develop cultures of learning and growth? What types of leadership best help teachers succeed? How can we help teachers keep going when the job is tough? It seems wise to imitate the culture developed by Christ with his disciples. School leaders who call out, “Come with me. Let’s do this together” will draw in their staff members. They will create a culture of Thomases who also call their peers to faithfulness: an us-together culture. The idea of togetherness is not a new concept in education. One of its influential implementers was Deitrich Bonhoeffer. As a seminary teacher, he supplemented the expected classroom content with requirements that students eat together, pray together, walk together, play games together, and read together (Smith 99–100). Recognizing that these practices are hard to implement in our compartmentalized, structured schedules (102), Smith Christian Educators Journal
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School leaders who call out, “Come with me. Let’s do this together” will draw in their staff members.