Christian Educators Journal: October 2022

Christian Educators Journal October 2022 Vol. 62 No. 1

Science in the Christian Community Community, Communion, Classrooms Building Thriving Science Laboratory and Classroom Communities Cultivating Space for Christian Practices Could Humility Be the Heart of Our Classroom Communities?

Integrating Christian Virtues into the Science Classroom

Future Issues December 2022—Engaging Communities, Loving Neighbors No school exists in isolation; each is part of a broader community with its own assets and challenges.

What are the different ways that schools can work in and with the communities that they inhabit to form partnerships, enhance their mission, and work for the kingdom of God in their specific place? Articles may explore curricular connections, partner organizations, service opportunities, unique ways that schools celebrate the identity or history of their place, or other practices that Christian teachers and schools use to engage their broader neighborhoods and communities. The most helpful articles will present models that other educators can adapt to their own contexts.

February 2023—This Is Our Father’s World Because the first instruction God gives his people is to care for his creation, that task is part of our mission as Christian educational institutions. How do classroom teachers teach environmental stewardship at different grade levels and in different subjects? What building practices and procedures do schools use to conserve resources and model care for God’s world?

How is the glory of God’s creation celebrated in school activities, student activities, and curricula? We’re looking for articles from classroom teachers, administrators, custodians, architects, cafeteria managers, student environmental clubs, and community garden tenders about the way they’re having a positive environmental impact on God’s world.

April 2023—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 curricula or books about teaching). Proposals are due January 2. Articles are due January 30.

Contents

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Editorial: What Faith Has to Offer Science RACHAEL BAKER

Community, Communion, Classrooms DAVID I. SMITH

Building Thriving Science Laboratory and Classroom Communities AMY WILSTERMANN

Cultivating Space for Christian Practices in our Classrooms RACHAEL BAKER

Could Humility Be the Heart of Our Classroom Communities?

JULIE E. YONKER

Integrating Christian Virtues into the Science Classroom FAITH STULTS

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Christian Educators Journal Vol. 62 No. 1, October 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.

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Editorial What Faith Has to Offer Science RACHAEL BAKER

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n my class, we end the semester by reflecting together on what we have learned and what we hope to carry forward. As part of this reflection, one of my students wrote: Being humble has elevated my learning experience because now I get the chance to hear other people’s thoughts and ideas, as well as how they have come to their conclusions.

Humility may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of science, but it comes up frequently when I teach biochemistry. I think that humility, along with other practices like hospitality and gratitude, should be front and center in classrooms. These practices have immense value for helping students engage well in conversations and learn with each other. Discussing these practices also creates opportunities to help students think about how they want to approach future work in areas like the sciences. But in order for students to authentically engage, it is important to convince them that these practices matter for their learning.

Today, collaboration is an important part of scientific work, with people who have diverse ideas and experiences from various disciplines working together to solve complex scientific problems. While scientific teams have significant opportunities to address important problems in our society, they also face a myriad of challenges. Doing science in an interdisciplinary setting requires a distinct set of skills. As teachers, we should be thinking about how we prepare our students to work together to solve problems.

At this moment in science, when people are interested in understanding how to work together well in teams, we have an exciting and unique opportunity at Christian schools to be an important part of this conversation.

In David Smith’s article, we explore the importance of building communities in our classrooms and the impact they have on learning, regardless of discipline. As Amy Wilstermann discusses in her article, Christians—who have been living and working together in community for a long time—have developed and use a variety of practices to foster thriving community. A thriving community, characterized by safety, trust, productivity, and member well-being, can help teams tackle problems together.

A practice like humility fosters a thriving community and mitigates the challenges that can come with working together. Telling an accurate story about how scientists solve problems and how Christian practices can contribute creates new space for students to think about the intersections of faith and science. In this framework, faith adds value to the practice of science in rich and important ways. Students can develop a vision of how Christian Educators Journal

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they can carry their whole selves forward in the field of science. Consider the following reflection on humility from another student: The reading about humility resonated with me because I’ve been thinking about how God does not call us to be perfect—in fact, he knows that is impossible for us. I think this perspective is really important to have, because the realization of our imperfection creates room for his grace. I love how this concept of humility can relate both to complex problems in a biological context, and to our Christian faith.

So how do we get students ready for this work? We shape our conversations and learning experiences to bring community and learning together, front and center. We need a thriving community in our classroom, and for that we need to teach students how to build and participate in a thriving community. In my own article, we explore various Christian practices and the ways they can shape our learning processes and spaces.

When we are discussing a practice like humility, students often wonder what place they will have when they leave their Christian environment and move out into the working world. We explore ideas like how a genuinely humble person is more confident than a proud person because the confidence of someone with humility is rooted in what is real and what they know to be true about themselves and others. When we engage these Christian practices with students, we are helping them see how the practices they choose and the habits they develop contribute to forming their character.

In Julie Yonker’s article, there is a practical example of how this is done in a classroom. Faith Stults’s article describes a curriculum project created

by BioLogos that has been used in many Christian schools to help teachers incorporate Christian practices in the science classroom.

What excites me most about this project is that students see their faith as a resource that can help them be successful in a scientific field. The practices create space to talk about vocation with students both as what they would like to do and how they can live into being the person God has called them to be in the work that they do.

Rachael Baker is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Calvin University.

Her scientific research in the highly interdisciplinary rare disease field led her to focus on how to prepare students to be effective collaborators and team members in the classroom and in their future careers.

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Community, Communion, Classrooms DAVID I. SMITH

Missing Community Years ago, when I first began teaching at a Christian university, I asked a student at the start of a class to help me distribute a pile of quizzes that I needed to return. She passed out several before pausing and then resorting to standing and calling out names to identify the remaining recipients. I was a little taken aback. It was a beginner-level language class with lots of speaking practice, and I had been calling on students by name multiple times each day. It was several weeks into the semester. Yet this student appeared not to know the names of many of the other class participants. Apparently, knowing who else was there was not considered necessary to successful participation. There was no doubt a larger culture at work here, but I had to acknowledge that it also said something about the culture created in the class that I was teaching. I did this.

The following semester, a student who had been in that class asked me to mentor him. We began to meet weekly to discuss a range of topics. One day I allowed myself a little rant. “I had not taught full-time at a Christian institution before coming here,” I told him, “so I did not know exactly what to expect. But I am getting the impression that the general ethos among students is that each is here to get their learning and their grade from the instructor, and whether the person sitting two seats away from them lives or dies is none of their business. Other people are the teacher’s job. And I am wondering how that can possibly be Christian. Am I my brother’s keeper? Love your neighbor as yourself? All of the ‘one another’ stuff? It seems wrong.” What stayed with me from that conversation was the student’s response. He was a deeply thoughtful person with an articulate and passionate commitment to his faith. He had been through Christian elementary, middle, and secondary school and had spent time at two prominent Christian universities. Yet the idea that part of his discipleship included taking some personal responsibility for the academic wellbeing of the people sitting around him in class was an exciting new vista. He was animated with possibilities. I thought: how could he get through that much Christian education and this still seem new? Of course, a deeply individualistic surrounding culture is in play, but it also helps if seating arrangements in his classrooms were rows of individual, forward-facing chairs; if assignments were always solo; if grading was always individual; if attending only to the teacher’s words was rewarded; if his considerable academic success never actually depended on anyone but the teacher. We did this.

This was one of several experiences that started me thinking about the nature of the temporary community that is built during a course of Christian Educators Journal

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What connections and responsibilities do we have to one another as we learn, and how do they become part of the planning, teaching, and learning process?

instruction. What connections and responsibilities do we have to one another as we learn, and how do they become part of the planning, teaching, and learning process? Could I do something that would lead students closer to the “one anothers” while remaining focused on teaching my discipline?

Years later, I was in a conversation about planning for online courses early in the pandemic. It was that moment of parachute-deprived freefall into Zoom, and a group of faculty were brainstorming ways to make our first stab at large-scale online instruction somewhere close to palatable for all involved. Someone spoke up in favor of building a sense of community and suggested reserving a discussion forum where students could post personal pictures and share a little about themselves. This is by no means a bad idea, and I don’t think my colleague intended it as a comprehensive account of classroom community, but it made me pause. It made me wonder what we mean when we say “community.”

Confessing Community The history of Christian theology includes quite a lot of reflection on the nature of Christian community. In fact, it is a recurring theme in the major creeds and confessions. The Westminster Confession of Faith (chap. 26) puts it this way: All saints that are united to Jesus Christ their head, by His Spirit and by faith, have fellowship with Him in His graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man. Saints, by profession, are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification; as also in relieving each other in outward things, according to their several abilities and necessities.

Our commitment to one another does not arise because we share the same politics or musical tastes or ethnicity or neighborhood or nationality or sporting allegiances.

Several points that have been emphasized in various classic theological writings are worth noting here. Community (“fellowship,” “communion”) is rooted in Christ, not in preference. Our commitment to one another does not arise because we share the same politics or musical tastes or ethnicity or neighborhood or nationality or sporting allegiances. It does not arise because we would have chosen one another. It arises from God’s choice to unite us in Christ. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer argued much later, if we confuse Christian community with the cozy feeling of being with people we like, we will quickly become disappointed with the actual people with whom we have been placed in fellowship by God’s choice. They will fall short of our dream of unfractured belonging, they will spoil our idyll, and we will become accusers of others (Bonhoeffer 35–38). When the Westminster Confession of Faith (chap. 26) speaks of fellowship, the focus is not on feelings, but on responsibilities and practices—we are “obliged” to the “performance of duties” that amount to whatever contributes to the good of others. This is not restricted to religious behavior. Yes, it includes “worship” and “spiritual services” (the things that modern Christian talk tends to have in mind when 6

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referring to “fellowship”). But it also includes “relieving each other in outward things,” whether those things are “public or private.” Community here means (i) an acceptance that we belong by receiving grace, and (ii) an obligation to work out that belonging in intentional, practical, real-world acts of service aimed at one another’s overall wellbeing. Community is about embodied actions and mutual support in all life contexts, not just good company and church meetings.

I don’t mean to gloss over the real differences between the nature of the church community and the nature of a school class, but I want to focus here on some connections. Love of neighbor applies to the classroom as much as to the sanctuary. Classrooms include public and private actions, and opportunities to build one another up both in our spirits and in terms of our practical needs—in our ability to thrive. What if classroom community is not primarily about whether we can generate a feeling of camaraderie and a warm glow at being together, or whether we get to share our pet pictures, even if those things can have their own role and importance? What if classroom community is about investing in practices that habituate us to seeking one another’s good rather than primarily our own individual success?

Practicing Community These questions usher us quite quickly toward the limitations of verbal confession. I love the idea of a classroom where we have “communion in each other’s gifts and graces.” But passages such as the one quoted above are not meant to just give us beautiful words. They are supposed to describe how we go about life. They highlight how we fall short and invite us to growing obedience.

A few years ago, I had a conversation with a student about how one of her classes had begun that semester. She described how the instructor had talked on the first day about how the class was a Christian learning community, and that meant that each person was valuable, each had gifts to bring, and so it was important to attend class every day because each person belonged. She told me that she had found this inspiring. Classes more often began with the syllabus and due dates and course bureaucracy. Starting off by talking about community was different, striking. She paused. Then she commented that it had taken her a few weeks to conclude that what had been said at the beginning was not really true. The way the class was taught (mostly lectures, tests that required repeating what the teacher said) made it largely irrelevant whether she was physically present or not. In the end the community talk was just beautiful words (Smith 71).

Perfect wholeness is not going to arrive next term through some curriculum reform. All of us live all the time with gaps between what we profess and what we practice. Yet when the gap becomes particularly noticeable, then our use of Christian words in public can lead to cynicism. The words are not really true as a description of what is happening.

If community is more about practices than feelings, then falling short is not about our failure to be friends. It has more to do with choices made about how to teach.

I cannot claim to have solved this in my own teaching. I have been trying Christian Educators Journal

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Community is about embodied actions and mutual support in all life contexts, not just good company and church meetings.

I explain to students that they are responsible, as far as the limited environment of a single class allows, for the wellbeing of the other students in their small group.

out ways of being more intentional about practices aimed at mutual edification. For instance, I often assign each student in my class at the outset to a group of four. I usually meet with each student individually at the start of the semester, and I sometimes ask them to post a paragraph about themselves and their learning goals. This allows me to work from at least a general sense of where there might be fruitful connections within the class. I explain to students that they are responsible, as far as the limited environment of a single class allows, for the wellbeing of the other students in their small group. If one is absent, they should be the first to find out how they are doing. If one is struggling academically, they should be the first to know, to help, to draw me alongside as needed. If one needs encouragement, they should be the first to offer it. In the ensuing weeks I set aside a few short times during class for them to check in with their group or work together on a task. Once a week I assign a homework task that is to be done together with the group, in person or online (we check that the logistics will work early in the semester). I started doing this a number of years ago, and when the pandemic hit, I was glad for the structure it provided for mutual support.

Mark VanderWerf, who teaches religion at a high school near me, tells the story of how he realized that his practice of having students journal at the start of class about a quotation from a great Christian thinker was leading to a lot of journal entries that began with the words “I think.” He began to worry that what he was implicitly teaching with this assignment was that the important thing about Augustine or Simone Weil or Martin Luther King Jr. is that I have an opinion about them. He decided to move the activity to the end of class and change the prompt. Now he asks students to journal about what they had learned from someone else during the day’s discussion. Imagine this pattern unfolding across a semester, in which you know that at the end of class you will be asked to journal about what others said in class discussion. I wonder how this might affect the way you listen to others during the whole class session?

These are just two small examples. Your context, subject areas, and students may call for different approaches. The articles in this issue explore other intentional practices that can contribute to the kind of community that takes seriously its obligation to seek one another’s good. They are drawn from work in science classrooms but contain a great deal that can be connected to work in other areas of the curriculum. The question that unites them has to do with the kind of community that we assume and help create as we decide how to teach. If the idea of “communion in each other’s gifts and graces” has the ring of truth, then how do we intentionally, practically, and pedagogically enact that confession? It would be ironic if we tried to solve that challenge alone, through individual creativity. What conversations with colleagues, with administrators, with parents, and with students are necessary for us to respond?

Perhaps, together, we can do this.

Works Cited Smith, David I. On Christian Teaching: Practicing Faith in the Classroom. Eerd­ mans, 2018.

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Westminster Divines. “The Westminster Confession of Faith.” Ligonier, 12 May 2021, https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/westminster​ -confession-faith.

David I. Smith is director of the Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning, coordinator of the de Vries Institute for Global Faculty Development, and professor of education at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, MI. He serves as senior editor of the International Journal of Christianity and Education and has authored various books on Christian education, including On Christian Teaching: Practicing Faith in the Classroom.

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Building Thriving Science Laboratory and Classroom Communities AMY WILSTERMANN

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In recognition of both the need of scientists to work in community and the challenges inherent in these efforts, a new area of study has emerged—the Science of Team Science.

cience is a collaborative endeavor. Understanding of observed phenomena improves over time, as the findings of one scientist generate new questions that are investigated by another scientist. Further, teams of scientists with diverse expertise are often needed to tackle complex challenges.

Consider, for example, the World Health Organization’s Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being. Achieving this goal will require the efforts of a variety of scientists—biochemists, geneticists, and environmental toxicologists, to name a few—as well as the expertise of those representing other fields of study, such as sociologists, public policy experts, and economists. Addressing this, as for any complex challenge, will require individuals to work across disciplinary boundaries, as well as differences in age, gender, language, and race/ethnicity.

It is important that all our students understand and appreciate the collaborative nature of science, as this helps students understand why scientific advances occur incrementally over time, building upon the knowledge of others. Further, an awareness of the collaborative nature of science helps students recognize the value of having a diverse set of people with varied skills and experiences at the table when addressing big questions. Beyond recognizing collaborative efforts, it is also important for students to develop skills that will equip them to work effectively in collaborative team settings, scientific or otherwise. In our work as educators, we devote significant time and energy to developing students’ discipline-specific knowledge and technical skills, preparing them for the next level of education or work in their chosen field of study. Do we, however, provide them with the tools necessary to thrive and be productive in the collaborative environments that they will encounter? This is a question that my colleague Rachael Baker and I have asked in our roles as teachers and research mentors at Calvin University.

In recognition of both the need of scientists to work in community and the challenges inherent in these efforts, a new area of study has emerged— the Science of Team Science (SoTS). Studies within this field have identified numerous benefits of team science endeavors, including enhanced capacity to achieve goals, increased productivity and impact, and improved outcomes for individual team members. Studies have also identified several factors that hinder the attainment of team science benefits, such as difficulties associated with communicating across differences and coordinating shared tasks (Cooke and Hilton 24–38). SoTS researchers have recommended strategies for enhancing benefits and mitigating challenges. Many recommendations build upon studies of non-science teams—athletic, business, and military teams. This prompted Rachael and I, faculty at a faith-based institution, to ask another question: What insights might we be able to gain 10

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about building thriving, productive teams in laboratory and classroom settings by studying successful faith communities? We recognized that, similar to the practice of science, the practice of living a rich, faithful Christian life is a collaborative, communal endeavor. Further, we realized that faith communities have been living and working together successfully for thousands of years. Consider the monastic tradition where monks live, worship, and work together throughout their lives. In current culture, we find intentional Christian living communities where members commit to sharing space, time, and money and collaborate in work and ministry endeavors.

To answer our question, we interviewed and visited several faith-based intentional living communities that displayed characteristics—safety, inclusivity, productivity, and individual well-being—that we desired to see in our classroom and laboratory communities. Through discussions and observations, in addition to engagement with readings on the topic of Christian community, we identified several practices that are employed within successful groups. We discovered that the employed practices are valuable because together they foster thriving communities, which, in turn, promote safety, inclusivity, productivity, and well-being. These qualities enable communities to best utilize the gifts of diverse team members and achieve common goals.

Some of the practices that we identified as important contributors to the development of thriving community are hospitality, humility, learning together, self-reflection, gratitude, silence, and rest. We have incorporated these practices into our classrooms and research spaces in various ways over the past several years. Below, I will describe how the practice of hospitality has been integrated into educational settings and the impact it has made on classroom and laboratory communities.

In the educational spaces where we have employed Christian practices, we have discovered that the practice of hospitality serves as an important building block, a practice that facilitates engagement with several others.

As a result, this practice is introduced to students early in classes and research experiences. Hospitality, as described by Adele Calhoun, involves generously welcoming guests to our homes or communities (including our classrooms and laboratory communities) and to our tables (161). Hospitality facilitates a sense of belonging, which further facilitates trust, allowing community members to be vulnerable and take risks. Vulnerability and a willingness to take risks is essential in science, as these qualities enable individuals to ask new questions and propose new hypotheses—many of which will be incorrect. Further, in a learning environment, feelings of belonging, built through displays of hospitality, provide the safety required for students to ask or attempt to answer a question or seek assistance from a teacher or classmate.

Our students are introduced to the practice of hospitality through a discussion about the value of hospitality in educational settings, as described above, as well as a discussion about behavioral cues (hospitality practices) that can serve to signal belonging in a community. These cues include active listening, the inclusion of all voices in discussions, the recognition and appreciation of team members’ experiences and skills, and small attentive courtesies.

The next step in developing the practice of hospitality in our classrooms or research spaces is providing students with opportunities to employ and Christian Educators Journal

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The practice of living a rich, faithful Christian life is a collaborative, communal endeavor.

Vulnerability and a willingness to take risks is essential in science, as these qualities enable individuals to ask new questions and propose new hypotheses.

Practicing hospitality as an educator involves taking time to explain structures, practices, and rhythms of the community, using accessible language, and celebrating the unique contributions of each student.

reflect on the practice. Students are asked to be intentional about utilizing behavioral cues that signal belonging and to make a list of belonging cues that are practiced by others within their classroom, small group, or research team. At the end of a defined period, students are prompted to consider the impact of hospitality practices within their community and discuss the long-term effects of enhanced belonging, increased safety, and deeper appreciation of diversity within the community.

Students are also provided with opportunities to consider what the practice of hospitality might look like in other team settings, such as athletic teams, volunteer organizations, or work environments. Since many of our science students are planning to pursue careers in the health professions, we often spend time considering hospitality in health care teams. Students think carefully about who is part of the team—health care providers representing various specialties and educational backgrounds, patients, and family members—and how practices such as using accessible language, valuing others’ skills and experiences, and listening attentively can improve team (and patient) outcomes.

In addition to teaching students about hospitality and giving them opportunities to demonstrate hospitality, it is also critically important to model hospitality for our students. As teachers and mentors, we are inviting students into our spaces to join a learning community. Practicing hospitality as an educator involves taking time to explain structures, practices, and rhythms of the community, using accessible language, and celebrating the unique contributions of each student. It also involves helping students find their place within the learning community—a place that enables them to participate in meaningful ways in the community.

Feedback we have received from students indicates that they are recognizing the value of hospitality practices in helping to build a thriving community characterized by safety, inclusivity, productivity, and well-being.

One student provided this feedback: Creating a space in which people can belong and communicate well is hard.

It takes effort and intentionality, but for the health, productivity, and longevity of a team, it is necessary. One overarching principle in showing hospitality is making an intentional space in which each person feels valued and can thrive.

As educators, we are committed to the development of our students’ knowledge and technical skills. But to fully prepare them to engage with scientific questions as professionals or informed citizens, we need to provide them with an expanded toolkit. Equipping students with an understanding of the collaborative nature of science helps them to recognize and value the individual contributions of team members who bring a variety of skill sets, insights, and experiences to their work. This understanding can raise awareness of the importance of diversity and collaborative work in a variety of educational and non-educational settings. Further, equipping students with practices that facilitate effective participation in collaborative environments will enable them to contribute in meaningful ways to team thriving and will enhance safety, inclusivity, productivity, and well-being.

Our study of successful faith-based communities has given us new and exciting ways to integrate our faith commitments and our work as 12

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educators. We have identified several Christian practices that can be readily woven into learning environments, enhancing classroom or laboratory communities and preparing students for future collaborative work. As described, the practice of hospitality is a useful first practice that prepares students to engage in other community-building practices. Articles that follow in this special issue of Christian Educators Journal will describe some of the other practices that we identified and how they can be integrated into learning environments to build community, enhance learning, and promote student well-being.

Works Cited Calhoun, Adele A. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us. InterVarsity, 2015.

Cooke, Nancy J., and Hiton, Margaret L., eds. Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science. National Academies Press, 2015.

Amy Wilstermann is a professor of biology and director of the Honors program at Calvin University. Her research interests include mitochondrial rare diseases and virtues development for building community to support team science endeavors.

She is a co-founder of the Rare Disease Network, which aims to build community among scientists, medical professionals, students, and patients.

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Cultivating Space for Christian Practices in our Science Classrooms RACHAEL BAKER

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If we want students to understand scientific practice, our classes and labs should include learning activities where students depend on each other for success in solving problems.

ur shared imagination of classroom science is created by the images, words, texts, and activities in which the class participates. For example, textbooks often use beautifully rendered, polished images. These images make what we know seem comprehensive and static. They do not always create natural space for discussion of scientific models and how they change over time. Similarly, the way textbooks often present scientists crafts a narrative of an individual following a clear path to discovery. These and other elements of our spaces and pedagogical practices focus our attention on the individualistic aspects of science. But in reality, solving scientific problems requires teamwork and interdisciplinary collaboration (Cooke 7). To prepare students, we should think carefully about how we describe science and the work of scientists. The story about science into which we invite students can impact students’ beliefs about whether they can be successful scientists and what value they bring to science.

What if we designed our classrooms to cultivate in students the skills and practices needed to tackle scientific problems as a team? If we want students to understand scientific practice, our classes and labs should include learning activities where students depend on each other for success in solving problems. Such activities require students to draw on disciplinary knowledge but also use that knowledge in a context where they must navigate solving problems with others. Solving problems together can increase students’ abilities to articulate their own thinking, recognize gaps in their knowledge, and increase their openness to learning (Eberlein et al. 263). However, if success requires working together, we should also prepare students for the challenges that come with working in teams and equip them to participate effectively.

As we explored more deeply in the previous article in this issue, a focus on building a thriving community can help to overcome the challenges that can inhibit the productivity of teams and their ability to solve problems. Christian practices can become a bridge into discussing interdisciplinary team environments, as well as deepening students’ understanding of how faith can shape their vocation in science and interdisciplinary team settings.

The Christian practices my colleague Amy Wilstermann and I engage with students include both individual and communal practices. Communal practices like hospitality, commitment, and celebration build and strengthen community life when they are lived out together (McLaren 100).

Individual practices like humility, silence, rest, and gratitude shape character and can help prepare an individual to engage with others in communal practices that lead to a thriving community. Experiencing a Christian practice is a powerful way to explore the effect it has on the shared work of learning together and solving complex problems.

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In our classrooms and laboratories, we share why a practice is important, then take time to live it together before discussing the effect of the practice on learning, teamwork, and belonging. Many of the practices carry risks for participants because they require vulnerability. Committing as a class to trying things together creates a safe shared space for exploration.

Choosing practices that help students thrive in the classroom or lab also creates the incentive for trying the practice. Therefore, it is important to be explicit about how the practice fits in the classroom and what it contributes to learning. This allows students to understand why they are engaging with the practice, reflect on the impact it has on their experience, and consider how and why they may want to continue it in the future.

In a teaching setting that employs active learning pedagogies or group work, using Christian practices can improve learning. Students collaborate and participate more effectively because the pedagogical practices and Christian practices align to reinforce the course goal of working through problems like a scientist (Smith 72). In the following sections, we explore some of the practices that contribute to thriving teams and the ways they shape learning experiences.

Fostering Hospitality and Belonging through the Practice of Silence For our students, we define the practice of silence as freeing oneself from the addiction to distraction and noise to be present and attentive to what is at hand.* When students learn about silence, they learn about why it is important to remove distractions and how that contributes to being able to listen well to others. After an assessment of their own comfort with various elements of silence and listening, students practice silence through intentional choices to set aside distractions or listen to and understand someone else in the classroom.

In reflections after practicing together, we explore how silence supports the communal practice of hospitality and how, together, these two practices contribute to a thriving community by enabling us to better listen to, understand, and value the ideas of others. One student wrote concerning this practice: I managed to go out of my way and talk to someone new in our biochemistry class. We talked outside the classroom for almost one hour (yes, one hour—I was so surprised that our first real conversation lasted that long). After that first conversation, I have totally different perceptions about her. Before talking to her, I already held a couple of perceptions toward her based on the way she was interacting in class, as well as her look. From the conversation with her, I learned that I should be more mindful of my perceptions toward people, since perceptions can never be close to the beauty that person’s personality may hold. It is easy to talk about institutional ways to treat * Our Christian practices definitions throughout this article are adapted from Adele Calhoun’s definitions. We remove or broaden some of the religious language in the definitions to make them more directly applicable to the learning community in the classroom.

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When students learn about silence, they learn about why it is important to remove distractions and how that contributes to being able to listen well to others.

people with hospitality, but it is harder, yet sometimes more impactful, to enact this hospitality daily with the people around you.

When students feel like they belong, engagement and participation increase.

In this reflection, the student has made a connection between the focal practice (silence) and hospitality and has learned about the complexity and value of another student in their class. It is common with this practice that students begin to see the value of their peers in the class. Belonging increases for all students as they build relationships and learn how to listen to and value each other’s ideas. Belonging requires deep community that includes a shared imagination for what we are doing, why it needs to be done together, and why it is important (Freeman et al. 205). Students value and work harder at learning about and connecting with each other when they are asked to attend to silence during their science course. Pedagogies and practices together draw students’ attention to how values of inclusion and belonging are lived out in the classroom. When students feel like they belong, engagement and participation increase. This creates efficiencies in learning because the teacher can spend less time trying to draw students into participation in teams or learning activities.

Cultivating Humility and Engagement through the Practice of Study A valuable communal practice we explore with students is study, which is defined as the lifelong activity of the mind in seeking to understand our reality beyond stereotypes and misinformation. Students learn how this communal practice is different from the study they do for class, which is often centered on increasing their mastery of material to do well on an exam. Students are asked to think about how their engagement with others would change during class if their goal were to understand and learn from another student’s unique perspective. Students often learn about the individual practice of humility at the same time and can think about how practicing humility can prepare them for the posture necessary for the communal practice of study. After practicing study, one student reflected on the impact it had on their own learning: This past week, whenever someone asked a more comprehensive question during class, I tried to see how they came up with that question. Trying to hear their thought process about coming to that question helped me better understand the new material that we learned each day in class because it kind of forced me to have to grasp that concept right away in order to understand what they were asking.

Discussions are deepened when students are trying to understand the perspectives of others rather than just waiting to share their own ideas.

When students engage with the communal practice of study intentionally, it directs their attention to understanding others while keeping them highly engaged in course discussion. One of the benefits of this practice is that it emphasizes learning that values the process of thinking through a problem. Valuing the process of knowing creates space for all students to contribute. This deepens learning for everyone, which is essential for making inclusion authentic. Students can thrive and improve when it is safe to ask questions and be open to learning from others. Discussions are also 18

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deepened when students are trying to understand the perspectives of others rather than just waiting to share their own ideas.

Increasing Collaboration and Efficiency through the Practice of Stewardship Another important communal practice is stewardship. We define stewardship for students as the voluntary and generous offering of your gifts of resources, time, and talents for the benefit of others. Stewardship involves responsible use of individual and communal resources with the well-being of the community and its individual members in mind. Stewardship of time and talents includes making sure each person brings their best selves to their work and creating a culture where team members share their ideas, resources, and time to help others in the community. There is also stewardship of ideas and thinking processes, which are rich classroom resources.

Students could be asked to consider something like the following: Is there someone in your class or team whose ideas or resources are not being used well? Think of a way to make more space for this person to be heard. Directing students’ attention toward the values and ideas of others elevates the value of collaboration and directs them toward how to use some of the practices they may have been learning about to improve their own collaboration skills.

Practicing stewardship in a community setting requires individuals to consider the priorities of the community alongside their own intentions and values. Discussing stewardship explicitly draws attention to how each student’s behavior and preparedness for learning impacts the learning community as a whole. It may take time before a class is able to have productive conversations and activity around the practice of stewardship, so it is good to introduce this practice later in your time of learning together. Once a community learns to engage in the practice of stewardship together, they can make wise use of their resources by asking “are we doing the best that we can as a community with the time, money, people, ideas, and opportunities we have in front of us?” This question orients team members toward interdependence (and away from independence), enhancing productivity, community thriving, and team member well-being.

A Different Vision for Faith and Science When we help students create a more complex vision of practicing science in teams, we cultivate opportunities to deepen our shared exploration of faith and science. The practices help create efficiencies in learning and foster an environment where students see their peers as people with valuable ideas and insights. Together, these elements create space for richer conversations about faith and science. We also elevate the perceived value of these practices for our students as we engage and discuss them together. In a reflection at the end of a semester science course, one student noted that “the practices felt significant and meaningful because they actually influenced my learning and experience in the course. I could see why they were important and how they worked.” Using Christian practices in class invites Christian Educators Journal

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Discussing stewardship explicitly draws attention to how each student’s behavior and preparedness for learning impacts the learning community as a whole.

students to participate in building a thriving community of learning, which can shape their vision for who can be a scientist and what it looks like to practice science. The practices also point to distinct ways in which faith is a resource that makes us better team members and better scientists. We have given students a tangible example of how our faith gives us tools that let us live more fully into being the people God has called us to be. This is a unique avenue to help students envision what it would be like to bring their whole selves, with their values and unique strengths, to work in the sciences.

Works Cited Calhoun, Adele. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices that Transform Us. InterVarsity, 2015.

Cooke, Nancy J., and Hilton, Margaret L., eds. Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science. National Academies Press, 2015.

Eberlein, Thomas, et al. “Pedagogies of Engagement in Science: A Comparison of PBL, POGIL, and PLTL.” Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, vol. 36, August (2008): 262–73.

Freeman, Tierra, et al. “Sense of Belonging in College Freshmen at the Classroom and Campus Levels.” The Journal of Experimental Education, vol. 75, no. 3, Spring (2007): 203–20.

McLaren, Brian. Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices.

Thomas Nelson, 2008.

Smith, David. On Christian Teaching: Practicing Faith in the Classroom. Eerdmans, 2018.

Rachael Baker is a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Calvin University.

Her scientific research in the highly interdisciplinary rare disease field led her to focus on how to prepare students to be effective collaborators and team members in the classroom and in their future careers.

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Could Humility Be the Heart of Our Classroom Communities?

JULIE E. YONKER

I

f we desire humility to be an important value in our life together in community, especially in the classroom or science labs, we need to understand what we mean by humility. Within the Christian context, humility is often one of those “Christian-­ese” words, like “grace” or “righteousness” or “sanctification.” We sort of know what it means, but we can be hard pressed to explain it to someone who doesn’t speak the “Christian language.” For us, for our students, and for others to deeply value the practice of humility, we need to be explicit about what humility is and is not.

Let’s start at the beginning: the Bible. Humility is a frequent theme in the New Testament, second only to the number of teachings on love (Bridges 3). Although there is an entire chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 devoted to helpful examples about love, there are no such chapters devoted to humility. Humility is encouraged within relationship with God and others; therefore, humility is important within our community. We learn from the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:1–12) and Paul’s description of the fruit of the spirit (Gal. 5:22–24) about the importance of connecting our lives of dependence on God with others through thriving relationships. In Romans 12, we are challenged to approach God with respect tinged with awe. We are also challenged to offer gratitude to God for who he is. Fulfilling these challenges results in an outcome of godly appreciation exemplified through humble relationships with others as God’s image bearers. Humility is not humiliation, shame, or embarrassment. These negative perspectives on humility are a distortion of our self-­worth as God’s image bearers (Roberts 101). Given this very brief synopsis of why humility is important to God, to relationships, and to us, we understand more from a Christian perspective, yet we still require a precise definition.

As a psychologist, I can definitively state that the field of psychology is a discipline that adores definitions. Within the subfield of positive psychology—the study of contributors to human thriving—research has focused on some of the key features of humility, namely, an accurate estimation of one’s abilities and appreciation of the attributes and abilities of others (Peterson and Seligman). Therefore, the definition of humility that we land on is this: an accurate intra- and interpersonal awareness and appreciation of who we are in relation to others. If you dissect this definition, you will see that there are other relational Christian practices embedded in humility’s definition, specifically, empathy and gratitude.

When we practice empathy, we take the perspective of another person.

When we practice gratitude, we recognize our limitations and our indebtedness to others. Therefore, humility, encompassing empathy and gratitude, has the power to enrich our relationships with others and thereby Christian Educators Journal

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Humility is an accurate intra- and interpersonal awareness and appreciation of who we are in relation to others.

This humble community environment should empower students to be brave rather than anxious when seeking assistance because they understand themselves better and understand who and how others could be supportive to their learning.

our community. Humility could be considered a strength of a thriving community.

Now that we understand that humility is succinctly defined as an accurate self-­evaluation and appreciation of others, we can consider what this means for the study and practice of science. A community that practices humility may be able to ease the all-­too-­common science anxiety—that is, the negative attitude with which some students approach science courses and the fear of failure that accompanies that negative attitude (Mallow 862).

For example, if a classroom community is built on the practice of humility, the environment is supportive of students learning to understand their individual strengths and challenges, as well as to appreciate that God has differently enabled us for the benefit of everyone. This humble community environment should empower students to be brave rather than anxious when seeking assistance because they understand themselves better and understand who and how others could be supportive to their learning. ­Rachael Baker, in her article in this issue, has provided a beneficial connection to how a humble community can support the practice of study.

You may be wondering how we teach humility in our classrooms or research labs. You may also be concerned about taking time away from necessary science content. Teaching these Christian practices takes a short time for introduction of the practices, occasional reminders of their importance, and as much time as you allow at the end of the week for reflection/ discussion. Of course, we begin our teaching with a definition that provides the foundational framework for our humility practice, an accurate self-­ evaluation, and appreciation of others. We teach the practice of humility by acknowledging that humility could be encompassed by the importance of being honest and realistic about who we are as individuals (possessing both strengths and weaknesses, accurate understandings and misconceptions) and who we are in relation to others within a community (open-­mindedness that respects and honors the cognitive stance of others). We impress upon students that in order to be successful in the interdisciplinary team settings integral to scientific and class work, we must be willing to admit that we do not possess expertise in all areas and recognize that the success of the team (as well as our own success) depends upon a willingness to share knowledge and learn from others. We must be willing to practice humility.

Once we have defined what we mean by humility and how it impacts the individual and community, we issue a weekly humility challenge for students and teachers to practice. For example, our challenge consists of choosing one or more of the following humility practices for the week: • At least once a week during class (either as part of the whole class or during a small group discussion), ask a question to the professor or a peer about something you don’t understand.

• Admit when you do not know something, do not understand something, or do not know how to do something. Do not pretend to have knowledge or abilities that you lack.

• Admit mistakes when they occur rather than hide or ignore them.

• Ask for help when you need it.

• Display patience when others ask for help, admit they do not understand something, or tell you that they have made a mistake, recognizing that these acts require humility (and courage).

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After the week of humility practice, we discuss in class the humility activities we chose to practice. We encourage everyone to describe the impact of implementing the practice.

• Was this practice comfortable or uncomfortable for you? How did it change your experience in the classroom?

• Why is humility important in community?

• Is humility a virtue that is valuable in leaders? Discuss the importance for modeling admission of mistakes, forgiveness, position as learner (lack of knowledge), etc.

• Are there limits to the value of admitting mistakes or acknowledging lack of knowledge? This would be a good opportunity to discuss the relationship between study (a commitment to learning and being prepared) and humility.

• Consider this question together: Does humility have a place in competitive settings? If so, what does humility look like in an environment where prestige and recognition matter?

As teachers, we value sound pedagogical interventions to help our students learn and improve on their attitudes and behaviors. As scientists, we value experimentation to prove that an intervention accomplishes what we hope for it to accomplish. To illustrate, we will share the results of our intervention with Calvin summer science research students. Our outcome for students who participated in a team science community and intentionally engaged in Christian practices was a measurable positive change in attitudes and behaviors related to community and Christian practices. Our preliminary study used a within- and between-­subjects design; in research design jargon this means that we examined changes within the participant (from Time 1 to Time 2) and changes between participant groups (intervention group vs. control group). Thirty-­two students completed a survey at the beginning of the summer and repeated the survey in early September. The survey consisted of assessments of gratitude, prosocial attitudes and tendencies, spiritual well-­being, intellectual humility, and empathy. In our statistical analysis, we found a significant difference between the control group and the intervention group: the intervention group scored significantly higher on intellectual humility—a subcategory of humility. Intellectual humility is defined as being humble in the way one acquires and applies knowledge, tolerant of others’ ideas, and open to discussion and collaboration (Krumrei-­Mancuso and Rouse 209). We chose the assessment of intellectual humility as it more accurately measured what the students were engaging in over this research summer. Although we were pleased to find that our students were demonstrating more intellectual humility after their summer practices, this was a very small, preliminary study. We hope to gather more data in the future.

If we have not yet convinced you that the practice of humility is a beneficial practice for the individual and community, we will conclude with this information. Based on the definition of humility (an accurate self-­evaluation and appreciation of others), there are several attributes of humble people that allow communities to function better and more efficiently. Humble individuals are more teachable, less defensive, less entitled, better at self-­ regulation, more accepting of both positive and negative feedback, more Christian Educators Journal

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What does humility look like in an environment where prestige and recognition matter?

We were pleased to find that our students were demonstrating more intellectual humility after their summer practices.

As you can imagine, a classroom or lab of humble individuals has benefits for the educator; they are a joy to teach.

able to delight in the success of others, better at revealing vulnerabilities, more likely to ask for help when needed, more prone to encourage others, and more likely to forgive. As you can imagine, a classroom or lab of humble individuals has benefits for the educator; they are a joy to teach. A classroom of humble individuals also creates efficiencies in how a classroom or team functions; namely, students are more willing to ask questions and be vulnerable in their learning, which makes it easier for the teacher to address areas of confusion, thereby saving time. Here are some student quotes when reflecting on practicing humility: “When looking back at my experience in the classroom, humility changed my orientation from me focused to group focused”; “I . . . noticed that I was a happier person while intentionally practicing humility. The prideful mentality is a heavy load to carry while being a college student.”

This “accurate view of ourselves” notion is a key element of contemporary definitions of humility and one that aligns with the meaning of the Greek word—tapeinos—that Jesus and the apostles used when calling followers to humble themselves. This word “conveys the idea of having a right view of ourselves before God and others.” It suggests the importance of being honest and realistic about who we are as individuals and in relation to others as members of a community (Tarrants). Humility is the heart of our community!

Works Cited Bridges, Jerry. The Blessing of Humility: Walk within Your Calling. NavPress, 2016.

Tarrants, Thomas A. “C.S. Lewis on Pride and Humility.” C.S. Lewis Institute, July 7, 2008, https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources​ /c-s-lewis-on-pride-and-humility/.

Krumrei-­Mancuso, Elizabeth J., and Steven V. Rouse. “The Development and Validation of the Comprehensive Intellectual Humility Scale.” Journal of Personality Assessment, vol. 98, no. 2, Mar. (2016): 209–21.

Mallow, Jeffry V. “A Science Anxiety Program.” American Journal of Physics, vol. 46, no. 8, Aug. (1978): 862.

Peterson, Christopher, and Martin E. P. Seligman. Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. 1st ed. American Psychological Association/Oxford University Press, 2004.

Roberts, Robert C. Spirituality and Human Emotion. Eerdmans, 1983.

Julie E. Yonker is a professor of psychology and the director of the undergraduate public health program at Calvin University. Her research interests center on the impact of religion on physical and mental health and the importance of community relationships. Her research publications have traversed the lifespan from the prenatal period to older adulthood.

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Integrating Christian Virtues into the Science Classroom FAITH STULTS

I

used to tell my physics students that I would know I had done my job well if they left my class not only knowing how to calculate an object’s kinetic energy but also with a sense of wonder at the way the universe works and a deepening love for the God who created it. Science, after all, is about so much more than mere facts and equations. It’s also about how we view and respond to the world around us.

As Christian educators, we strive to develop the hearts of our students along with their minds. Faith integration in the science classroom, however, can feel forced or superficial when it is limited to out-­of-­context Bible verses or thinly stretched spiritual metaphors. But while there may not be a Christian version of electrostatics that we can teach our students, that doesn’t mean our science education can’t be distinctly Christian in nature.

BioLogos, a Christian nonprofit that explores God’s Word and God’s world to inspire authentic faith for today, has created a science and faith curriculum supplement called Integrate designed for high school biology and Bible teachers. Integrate not only allows students to consider the theological and ethical questions raised by modern science, it also explores and cultivates Christian virtues such as humility, wisdom, and wonder in the unique context of scientific inquiry.

Curriculum Structure The Integrate curriculum includes fifteen units covering a variety of topics that are covered in a general biology course, ranging from cells and genetics to fossils and ecology. Each unit consists of a series of five different types of modules: • Meet: A short video introduction to a Christian role model in an academic field that relates to the unit’s topic. Discussion questions are provided to help students personally connect with the content of the video and get them thinking about some of the essential questions the unit will explore.

• Grow: A devotional on a Christian virtue that includes guided Scripture reading and reflection questions.

• Engage: An activity that invites students to explore a topic related to the intersection of science and faith and respond in a meaningful way.

• Experience: A hands-­on activity that interacts with specific (often scientific) content that is important for students to understand and address from a Christian perspective.

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Science, after all, is about so much more than mere facts and equations. It’s also about how we view and respond to the world around us.

• Integrate: A final, reflection-­based activity that invites students to assess and apply what they have learned in the unit as a whole.

The Grow module in this unit focuses on hope and asks students to consider how our Christian hope inspires us to work for change even as some people predict a bleak future.

Each Grow module highlights a different Christian virtue that is relevant to the scientific topic of its particular unit. For example, one unit explores the topic of climate change and humanity’s role in the changing composition of our atmosphere. The Grow module in this unit focuses on hope and asks students to consider how our Christian hope inspires us to work for change even as some people predict a bleak future.

While the highlighted virtues are rooted in Scripture and Christian tradition, many of them also play important roles in the collaborative practice of science itself. From small research labs at universities to international collaborations like the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists must work together to bring about new insights into the natural world. These collaborations would be severely hamstrung in their scientific efficacy without practicing virtues like integrity and perseverance.

Below are summaries of three Integrate units and their respective virtues to help us further explore how Christian virtues contribute to the effective practice of science.

Faith and Science Foundations (Humility) Students explore the “two books” metaphor for Scripture and nature, interview multiple adults to see the various ways people understand the relationship between science and faith, and consider ways in which science and Christian faith can complement each other.

In this introductory unit, students become familiar with the richness of the intersection of science and faith. Students explore the “two books” metaphor for Scripture and nature, interview multiple adults to see the various ways people understand the relationship between science and faith, and consider ways in which science and Christian faith can complement each other. In the unit’s Grow module, students reflect on how Christlike humility equips us to learn from God and others.

This relationship between humility and learning could easily be reframed to apply to a collaborative scientific setting as well: how does humility equip scientists to learn from each other? Gone are the days of the solitary scientific genius who makes groundbreaking discoveries in singular “Eureka!” moments. Science today is almost exclusively done in group collaborations with members proposing ideas and evaluating them collectively.

But what happens when, for example, the principal investigator of a research group is convinced that her insights are more valuable or accurate than those of the rest of the team? This lack of humility may cause her to overlook a valuable contribution from another member and so undermine the efficacy of the team. On the other hand, a research group that is characterized by individual and group humility will be more free to explore a wider variety of ideas, learning from each other and from other groups in the process, and thereby produce deeper and more robust scientific insights.

DNA Technologies and Ethics (Wisdom) The unit on DNA technologies and ethics delves into genetic testing, genetically modified organisms, and CRISPR-­Cas9 gene editing, and considers how Christian ethics should inform our acceptance of these new tools. Students 26

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are introduced to Christian geneticist Francis Collins, learn about eight different uses of genetic testing, and discuss the ethical value of human genetic enhancement. In the unit’s Grow module, students consider how wisdom helps us to make decisions in modern situations that the Bible does not directly address.

It does not take much of a leap to see the critical importance of wisdom in the search for and application of scientific knowledge. Perhaps the most vivid example of this vital scientific virtue in history is encapsulated in a single conversation between Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg in September of 1941. These two giants of quantum physics, a Dane of Jewish heritage and a German nationalist, respectively, met in Copenhagen to surreptitiously discuss the moral implications of continuing to study atomic physics, knowing that their work could ultimately be used to develop a devastating weapon on either side of the war. It can be tempting to think that science takes place in a vacuum. The reality, however, is that scientific knowledge can be utilized in both worthy and harmful ways. Scientists must bring wisdom to bear on what research they pursue and how they go about pursuing it.

Scientific knowledge can be utilized in both worthy and harmful ways.

Seeing God in Creation (Wonder) This unit encourages students to approach the study of creation through a lens of wonder and to respond to what they learn with worship for God the Creator. Students explore the ways that God sustains creation through natural processes, are guided through a contemplative nature walk, and consider whether believing in miracles is compatible with accepting the findings of science. In the unit’s Grow module, students reflect on the attributes of God that inspired awe and wonder in both Old and New Testament authors.

Wonder may not be strictly necessary for the practice of science, but it is nearly impossible to imagine any scientist going about their work without experiencing wonder, awe, or curiosity at least occasionally. Wonder is a natural response to the beauty, complexity, and vastness of the natural world. Although not all scientists will move from wonder at creation to worship of the Creator, the experience of wonder and the curiosity it engenders is the lifeblood of most scientists, spurring them on to ask new questions and work toward deeper understanding.

Wonder may not be strictly necessary for the practice of science, but it is nearly impossible to imagine any scientist going about their work without experiencing wonder, awe, or curiosity at least occasionally.

Conclusion Part of our work as Christian educators is to help our students grow to be more and more Christlike. And part of our work as science educators is to equip our students to investigate the world around them to the highest standards of scientific rigor. What a gift it is, then, that we can accomplish both of these things at once when we explore with our students the ways in which many Christian virtues are also vital to the practice of science!

There is so much more to the Integrate curriculum in addition to the Grow modules’ focus on Christian virtues. At BioLogos, we want Christian students to lean into hard questions with humility and curiosity. We want them to value both science and theology as important and complementary Christian Educators Journal

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We want Christian students to lean into hard questions with humility and curiosity.

ways of knowing. And we want them to see science as a worthy Christian vocation. Add to that a desire for them to have informed, biblically based perspectives on particular topics, such as the ethics of genome editing, how creation and evolution can fit together, and why creation care matters, and you have a pretty good list of our overall objectives for Integrate. If these sound like hopes you also have for your students, you can learn more about the curriculum and our professional development resources on our website, www.biologos.org/integrate.

Faith Stults is Program Manager at BioLogos where she supports K–12 educators through resources development and training opportunities and is leading the ­Integrate curriculum program. Faith has attended Whitman College (double-­ major in astronomy and religion), Stanford University (MS in science education), and Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia (MS in astronomy). She also worked as the Project Coordinator for the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s program on the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion and spent seven years teaching high school physics and astronomy at a Christian high school in the San Francisco Bay area.

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