Christian Educators Journal: February 2024

Christian Educators Journal February 2024 Vol. 63 No. 3

Inclusive Education

Changing Our Practices to Practice Our Faith One Christian School’s Journey Equipping, Empowering, and Encouraging Paraeducators A Biblical Case for Inclusive Christian Schools To Know You’re Not Alone Collaborative Self-­Care for Teachers and Students

Future Issues April 2024—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). Articles may focus on one text or may be written in a list style featuring multiple texts around a particular theme. This issue is no longer accepting submissions.

Stay tuned to this space in our April issue where we’ll announce the issue themes for 2024–2025!

Contents

3 Editorial 5 Changing Our Practices to Practice Our Faith: The Journey of Inclusive Education ELIZABETH LUCAS DOMBROWSKI

9 Inclusive Education: One Christian School’s Journey CAROLYN BEALL

13 Equipping, Empowering, and Encouraging Paraeducators TYLER HARMS

17 A Biblical Case for Inclusive Christian Schools: Ten Pillars to Build On THOMAS L. BOEHM

28 To Know You’re Not Alone:

Promoting Mental Wellness through Shared Experience and Empathetic Storytelling HAYDEN MacKINNON

34 Collaborative Self-­Care for Teachers and Students CHRISTINE SCHOLMA

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Christian Educators Journal Vol. 63 No. 3, February 2024 cejonline.com Editor 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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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.

Editor Abby Zwart Copyeditor Bethany Murphy Design Editor Klaas Wolterstorff Business Manager Klaas Wolterstorff Web Shepherd Heather Altena Board of Trustees Dr. Henry Algera Heather Birch Justin Cook Sara Leo Albert Kok (Chair) Gayle Monsma Ed Noot Jim Rooks Sean Schat Christine Scholma (Secretary) Tricia Stobbe Edith van der Boom Heather VanDyke Christine Webb Supporting Institutions Calvin University Edvance Christian Schools Association 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.

Cover image by rawpixel.com on Freepik

Editorial

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ne of my best friends in elementary and middle school was a girl named Rachel. We spent hours on the playground with our imaginary dogs, enjoyed several weekly rounds of Oregon Trail on the desktop computer in the back of the classroom, and swam happily all spring and summer in her backyard pool. I was thrilled to be pulled from our regular classroom every month or so during the school year to meet with the school’s inclusive education coordinator, Rachel, and a handful of other students who were close to her. Rachel had Down Syndrome, and we spent those meetings talking about what she was good at, what she could work on, and how we as her peers could support her in the classroom and on the playground.

These meetings, while normal to me, turned out to be a revolutionary act for the early 1990s. Though I didn’t know it, my local Christian school was in the epicenter of a movement in West Michigan whose aim was to make students with disabilities feel included and supported in Christian schools.

Those educators were actually turning me, a fairly shy and retiring wallflower, into an agent for inclusion and, eventually, a far more empathetic and competent teacher in my own right.

I continued on to high school in the same district, and I now actually teach there as well. For my entire educational and professional career, I have seen students with disabilities participate fully and richly in classrooms. When I chose this theme for our February issue, I expected stories from teachers with similar experiences. I found it surprising that CEJ hadn’t covered the topic in more than ten years, so I wrote the call for submissions and started with “Christian schools have long been known as welcoming and supportive communities for students with a variety of learning needs.”

It turns out that my experience wasn’t as universal as I expected. I met several months ago with Elizabeth Lucas Dombrowski, the CEO of All Belong Center for Inclusive Education (the organization that pioneered the program I participated in with Rachel as a kid) to talk about some of the existing scholarship on inclusion and gather ideas for this issue. She commented right off the bat that my opening line in the call for submissions (“Christian schools have long been known . . .”) gave her pause. “Unfortunately, that hasn’t always been true,” she said. I just happened to attend school at the exact time and place where inclusion was becoming a focus.

I’m incredibly grateful for that experience, and I’m indebted to All ­Belong for their help with this issue and their leadership in inclusive education. In this issue, you’ll find stories from schools and teachers at many different points in their inclusion journey. Elizabeth starts us off with an orientation to inclusion, and then Carolyn Beall tells about her Maryland Christian Educators Journal

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school’s experience with All Belong. To round out All Belong’s content, Tyler Harms discusses the ways the organization helps train paraeducators.

At the center of this issue, you’ll find a treatise by Wheaton professor of education Thomas Boehm about the biblical foundation for inclusive education. If you or your school are looking for a place to start, this examination of our call as Christians toward inclusivity is a fantastic launchpad.

The issue concludes with two pieces focused on what teachers can do each day in their classrooms to create inclusive education spaces. Hayden MacKinnon writes about the ways his own disability has impacted his teaching, and Christine Scholma considers ways that teachers can incorporate self-­care (for themselves and students) into their school days in a way that’s approachable for all students.

I hope something in this issue speaks to you or your school’s current state of affairs regarding inclusive education—whatever that may be.

Whether you’re just starting to think about what a diverse learning environment might look like or you’ve had years of experience and a robust group of students receiving inclusion services, your work matters to God and to the families you serve. And if you’d like a partner as you do this work, All Belong is there for you—they work with over a hundred schools in the United States and internationally. Find out more at allbelong.org.

— Abby Zwart

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Changing Our Practices to Practice Our Faith: The Journey of Inclusive Education ELIZABETH LUCAS DOMBROWSKI

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hen I hear the dreams of parents who have a child with a disability, they often share a hope for belonging for their son or daughter. They have a desire for their child to belong to a community, marked by genuine friendships, after-­school activities, valuable classroom learning, and ultimately, an encounter with God’s love. Their dreams are not any different than any parent’s dreams for their child.

In Christian schools especially, we have the opportunity—the joy—of celebrating with these parents that their children belong to God! And because we all belong to God, we belong to each other, regardless of perceived ability. As we are reminded in 1 Corinthians 12:4–6, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone” (ESV).

However, we know that fear can get in the way of belonging. When I talk with administrators, they often have questions about how a student will be supported academically or behaviorally, how to fund additional staffing, how other parents or peers will respond, or how the student will impact their school’s high achievement rankings. These are valid questions, and it can be tempting to completely avoid these potential issues by not enrolling the student.

However, we cannot let the challenges of inclusive education keep us from pursuing the gifts of inclusive education. The new questions that inclusive education will raise in our programs, systems, and fundings create challenges that never entirely disappear. Rather than pursuing a perfect solution that provides all the answers, we must commit together to work in the space between our practices and our faith.

Fear can get in the way of belonging.

Foundations While inclusive education is now well supported by research, the research lagged far behind the actual practice. The organization I help lead, All Belong (previously called the Christian Learning Center), launched one of the first inclusive education initiatives in a nonpublic school in 1989, at Zeeland Christian in West Michigan. At the time, this was a little known and barely tried educational approach for students with disabilities. But the leaders’ faithful conviction that students with disabilities deserved more than segregated environments led them to take action and risk.

For those Christian school leaders, their faith compelled them to pursue the calling to serve all students. Today we might consider them “early Christian Educators Journal

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The leaders’ faithful conviction that students with disabilities deserved more than segregated environments led them to take action and risk.

adopters” of a new educational movement. Perhaps, instead, they were Christians of action, living out their faith through a tangible opportunity to demonstrate God’s love. My prayer for all Christian educators today is for us to bravely, boldly, and urgently adopt opportunities to show God’s love to all students who come to our doors.

In a Christian school environment, too many leaders still consider inclusive education unproven, and they might perceive public schools as better equipped to provide inclusive education. Although that may be the case in some respects, evidence from qualitative stories and national legislation shows that students with disabilities are at best served inconsistently in public schools. Only as recently as 2016 did the Supreme Court mandate that students with individualized education plans (IEPs) must make “meaningful progress” instead of “progress” toward their goals to be considered adequately served (Endrew F. et al. v. Douglas County School District). And for most students, inclusion in the general education classroom and broader community will vary significantly by their zip code, their school district, and the leader of their school.

The calling for Christian educators today mirrors the calling of those leaders thirty-­five years ago who launched Christian inclusive education.

The implications of our faith today must inform our reactions to the needs of students with disabilities.

Knowing Students

Knowing students with disabilities in our Christian schools means seeing them as God sees them—as an essential part of our community.

To belong to each other as we are called, we must move forward with courage and integrity. It can be tempting to get caught up in designing such a complete system that we lose track of the beautiful diversity of every student! At All Belong, we consider a high-­quality inclusive education initiative to be founded on knowing students deeply.

Knowing students with disabilities in our Christian schools means seeing them as God sees them—as an essential part of our community, as a child of God, as a friend, and as a faithful follower with much to contribute. This goes much deeper than a disability label or a set of accommodations to which a student is entitled. We know that categorization can be a helpful shorthand, but not when it leads to bias or assumptions.

For students in our classrooms, a disability label can help alert teachers to potential struggles or challenges. However, too often, disability labels are used to create or dictate a set of supports for any student with such a label.

In doing so, educators skip an important step to ensure success: uncovering what the disability label might mean for a particular student and uncovering the gifts that a student can bring to their own learning and community.

I like to compare this process to a box of supports that our schools might be able to provide. If we build the box first, we must go find the students that fit the exact contours of that box in order to make the most efficient use of the investment we have made in that box. But if we are willing to find new ways to shape the box, we can adjust it for the students who are in front of us right now.

My son recently built himself a cardboard robot costume. He managed to find a box big enough for his torso, but it was so big he couldn’t move his arms up or down. He had to cut the box down and rebuild it to fit his frame.

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In the end, he used his own creativity and a little duct tape to create a costume that would fit him snugly, that he could enjoy, and that inspired him to create his own pirate robot!

Think of the original cardboard box as your school’s multi-­tiered system of support: you have to be able to cut it down, rebuild it, and imagine something new based on the students in front of you right now. As the students who come through our doors continue to grow and change, we have to be willing to let our systems and supports grow and change in order to stay true to our foundational beliefs.

We have to be willing to let our systems and supports grow and change in order to stay true to our foundational beliefs.

Systems Change The flexibility and responsiveness required for inclusive education can be fragile until it becomes deeply embedded in a school’s culture and identity.

Cultural change requires deliberate conversation and collaboration with your community. We think of inclusive education as a journey—one that is iterative, corrective, flexible, and has an infinite number of entry points.

Our God is big enough to work through any opportunity to move us closer to the body of Christ!

All Belong seeks to shine light on that journey, encourage you in it, and invite you to consider your calling as Christian educators in response to students with disabilities in your school. In today’s post-­Covid world, that conversation may be more focused on students with social and emotional challenges than intellectual disabilities. As our students’ experiences change, so will their challenges. But we can continue to advance our commitment to inclusive education by reminding ourselves and one another of the journey we are on and its inherent correlation to our Christian faith.

Shining a light on the inclusive education journey allows us to discuss what is working for today’s students and what we might be struggling with.

In Becoming a Great Inclusive Educator, Scot Danforth shares this perspective on the journey of inclusive education: Successful inclusive educators do not ignore the gap between their ethical beliefs and their daily work in schools. They intentionally toil in the gap.

They enter into that uncomfortable space, explore their commitments and behavior, and figure out how to better enact their most cherished ideals. (18)

As Christians, we are taught that relationship and community are the way we live the truth of the gospel. We can continue to build that community within Christ-­centered schools who are pursuing the calling of inclusive education. All Belong connects such schools across the country to help move forward through those uncomfortable spaces.

Eventually, those ideals of inclusive education—justice, equity, and honoring the image of God in every student—can become embedded in our schools through systems, conversations, and practices. By prioritizing our beliefs and our calling over our existing systems, we can stay true to our values while accommodating the individuals that God brings before us.

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Relationship and community are the way we live the truth of the gospel.

Looking Forward All Belong’s vision is that every student with a disability is known and experiences belonging in their Christ-­centered school.

All Belong’s vision is that every student with a disability is known and experiences belonging in their Christ-­centered school. When this happens, the journey of inclusion is a beautiful one because we know that it changes the entire community in beautiful ways.

When thinking about the challenges we face in today’s classroom, we are called at times to take action before all the research is available. We can learn what is being tried, review the evidence, and weigh it against the biblical calling of our faith. We may never truly know where that journey will take us or what we will be called to do in the interest of faithful stewardship of our students, but we know are are called nonetheless.

I pray that all of our Christian schools and educators continue to grow in knowing every student deeply as a child of God. This knowledge will transform our practices and allow us to live out our faith. Let us all rejoice when we see that faith at work creating communities of belonging for students with disabilities!

Elizabeth Lucas Dombrowski is the chief executive officer of All Belong Center for Inclusive Education, which envisions a world where every student with a disability is known, needed, and finds belonging in their Christ-­centered school. All Belong partners with Christ-­centered schools across the country to support their students and welcomes conversations and questions about inclusion of students with disabilities. Learn more at allbelong.org.

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Inclusive Education: One Christian School’s Journey CAROLYN BEALL

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n my many years in education—as a teacher, inclusive educator, and edu­ cational support program director—I have spent hundreds of hours at back-­to-­school meetings with teachers, administrators, and support staff.

Each new school year comes with lots of questions, hopes, and fears: What will this class be like? What strengths and challenges will these students bring with them? How will I meet all those needs in one room? What will we accomplish together this year?

As an educational support provider, my role in these meetings is to orient teachers to the students with additional support needs who will be in their rooms. This often brings an extra level of anxiety for teachers. Typically, I hear the same sort of questions from teachers about students with extra needs: How will this student make it through all the academics I have to cover? Why isn’t that student at grade level yet—how did they make it to the next level? How am I supposed to meet all of these needs?

I’d like to tell you about one of these meetings that still stands out in my mind.

Changing Our Questions This was a transition meeting—one where our educational support team was sharing information about students with their new classroom teachers.

This group of teachers had some of the best questions that I’ve heard. Instead of asking, How will we ever manage all of these needs? they asked questions such as: • What makes that student feel safe and secure?

• What is the best thing about this student?

• How do I know when this student needs a break?

• How can I let the student know that I’m okay with him taking a break if he needs it?

• What’s the best way to build a relationship with her?

• How can we encourage his family as they go through this tough time?

• What’s the best way to communicate with her family?

Whenever a teacher had a concern, another one of the teachers would jump in and encourage everyone in the room. The teacher would say, “We’ve This article was originally published on the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) blog and has been lightly edited. Reprinted with permission.

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This group of teachers had some of the best questions that I’ve heard.

got this! God has placed this child in your class. The student is here for a purpose, and we’re really good at problem-­solving. We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry! We’ll do this as a team.”

A Foundation of Belonging

The students had learned over the years that they are part of the body and that they belong at this school.

This process reminded me of 1 Corinthians 12:4–6, which tells us, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”

One of my favorite parts of that teacher meeting was getting to share the stories about how several students with disabilities in the class knew that they belonged. The students had learned over the years that they are part of the body and that they belong at this school. This had happened as teachers became more comfortable using the language of inclusion. In their heart of hearts, all of the teachers loved students and wanted them to be successful, but it was so empowering for the students to hear a teacher say, “You are a part of my class and this school. We’re not going to give up on you or on this concept. We’re going to do it together because you are important and you belong. God loves you, and he has placed you here for a reason. We need you!”

Sharing Our Journey

We began consulting with All Belong Center for Inclusive Education, who helped us identify our school strengths as well as areas to grow.

Several years ago, the head of school made it very clear that our school (Annapolis Area Christian School [AACS]) was going to be a place where all students belong—a place where students can thrive in the body of Christ whether they are gifted academically or gifted in other ways. He made it clear that we want to serve our school families. We kept seeing that there were families who had most of their children at our school, but one or two or even three of their children were at a different school because we couldn’t meet their needs. We wanted to change that.

Our school mission says, “We engage students in an education of excellence enabling them to impact the world through a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.” In order to fulfill this mission, it became a priority for our school to learn more about students and about how they learn. We began consulting with All Belong Center for Inclusive Education, who helped us identify our school strengths as well as areas to grow.

There was definitely some fear as we began to change our thinking.

There were many questions about resources and about how students and parents would respond. There were questions about how one teacher could meet so many varied needs in his or her classroom. Even with all those questions, we were encouraged to take a step of faith.

Developing the Whole Child One of our core principles is “Developing the Whole Child.” Our school says that we believe that “God created each child in his own image with diverse 10

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gifts and talents,” but often that is difficult to live out practically during the school day. Even though there have been questions and some fear, we have seen God at work at AACS as we have begun to think more broadly about serving our school’s families—including families with students who have disabilities or who learn differently. It has been so exciting to see teachers brainstorm together to support a child’s unique journey. I often hear teachers treasure diversity by reminding each other that there’s not one path for learning but many paths. They are working hard to help each child see their unique gifts.

This journey is not over. We continue to have questions and fears, but God is good. He promises that he will be with us and that he will guide us each step of the way. We have seen over and over again the blessings of meeting students where they are, helping them to develop friendships within their community, and helping them to become co-­laborers for Christ.

Carolyn Beall came to Annapolis Area Christian Schools in 2015 after spending almost fifteen years in Anne Arundel County public schools. In her former jobs, she taught first and second grade and special education. She currently oversees the educational support program from kindergarten to twelfth grade at AACS. One of her great passions is helping to integrate all students, including those who learn differently, into the larger community. She’s thrilled to be part of a school where families and teachers walk alongside each other every day to encourage students to display God’s splendor to those around them. She can be reached via email at cbeall@aacsonline.org.

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Equipping, Empowering, and Encouraging Paraeducators TYLER HARMS

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he backbone of any successful inclusive school is its paraeducators. Paraeducators are dedicated, generous, and willing to do what it takes to support students. In order to give paraeducators the tools they need to excel in their roles, teachers and administrators need to continue to develop their team to support whatever students come into the classroom.

Schools that partner with All Belong Center for Inclusive Education receive, as part of their partnership, a world-­class paraeducator bootcamp that is designed to equip, empower, and encourage paraeducators in all aspects of their roles in the classroom. I have been with All Belong for three years as a teacher consultant. It has been a blessing to work with such a wonderful organization that empowers schools on their journey of inclusion for all students. All Belong envisions a world where every student with a disability is known, needed, and experiences belonging in their Christ-­centered school.

Here, we’ll take a glimpse into some of the topics of the bootcamp and share some resources to consider for developing paraeducators.

In order to give para­ educators the tools they need to excel in their roles, teachers and administrators need to continue to develop their team to support whatever students come into the classroom.

Communication One topic that we discuss at our paraeducator bootcamp is the importance of communication. It can seem like educators and paraeducators pass like ships in the night, barely seeing each other during the school day. This makes communication so important. If classroom teachers and paraeducators are unable to plan during the school day, a system should be in place to give updates on schedules, student progress or concerns, and upcoming classroom assignments and assessments.

One way to continue to have clear communication with all team members is to have a weekly meeting to discuss upcoming needs in the classrooms and address any student concerns. Paraeducators see students in a variety of settings and have a unique perspective that is very valuable in student-­success team meetings as well. For day-­to-­day communication, using email, text, and even sticky notes work great. Have a system where you know you can communicate with each other quickly and efficiently.

When working together for the first year, it is important to over-­ communicate. Having multiple educators in the classroom is like a marriage. The best marriages have strong communication. Over time, paraeducators and classroom teachers will begin to anticipate the other educator’s actions. Successful inclusive classrooms do not happen by accident. It takes intentional planning and communication every day!

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It can seem like educators and paraeducators pass like ships in the night, barely seeing each other during the school day.

Successful inclusive classrooms do not happen by accident.

Clear Expectations Clear expectations and communication go hand in hand. We all want to know what is expected of us to do our jobs well. The same is true for paraeducators. There are many paraeducators for whom this is their first exposure to working with students in a school. Most did not go to school to become a classroom teacher, but they have a heart for kids. As long as they have that, everything else can be taught! What comes naturally to the classroom teacher will need to be explicitly taught to the paraeducators.

Some areas to consider when discussing expectations with the paraeducators are the following:

We have our paraeducators complete a confidence inventory indicating which skills they feel comfortable doing in the classroom and which skills they feel they need more coaching with.

• Roles in the classroom • Small groups—making sure paraeducators are equipped to run these • Recess—how to supervise • Discipline—how it is handled in the classroom • Communication with students and their families • Confidentiality—the importance of protecting students’ privacy • Conflict—how to act professionally when conflict arises in the workplace • Other duties that paraeducators are expected to handle In the paraeducator bootcamp, we have our paraeducators complete a confidence inventory indicating which skills they feel comfortable doing in the classroom and which skills they feel they need more coaching with. This has been helpful for so many paraeducators and gives them some awareness of the skills they will need to excel in their position.

Learning New Content Remember when you started off as a new teacher? Each day was spent poring over content and creating new lesson plans and assessments. It can certainly be an overwhelming and daunting endeavor. This can also be true for paraeducators. Specifically, they may not be content experts in the subject areas that you are teaching. It will be important to communicate with the paraeducator about which subjects they feel confident in and which ones they may need more information on to build their knowledge.

When working with paraeducators, it is important to give them resources and knowledge on the content that you are teaching in the classroom. Sharing lesson plans is an easy way to give your paraeducator a head’s up on what is coming in the next few days so they can prepare themselves for assessments and classroom assignments. Also, get a copy of the teaching resources either digitally or in print for your paraeducator to look over.

These resources will increase their confidence in the content areas, and the paraeducators will be better equipped to answer students’ questions when they come up.

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Coaching Think back to when you were learning a new skill or playing a new sport.

You will always remember the coaches, teachers, or mentors that spoke words of encouragement to you, taught you new skills, and helped you overcome adversity. That is what your paraeducator needs as well.

As a good coach or mentor, you will need to know when to bring in a new skill when the paraeducator is ready to learn it. There will be times when paraeducators need to come to you to vent about a particular situation that did not go well. Sometimes we just need to listen and not give our advice.

Behavior management can be a challenge for paraeducators. Allow the paraeducator to visit other classrooms with veteran teachers who have solid behavior management techniques. They will walk away with many great tools to put in their toolboxes to support students with challenging behaviors.

Overall, paraeducators will need encouragement because their job is one of the toughest ones out there! Just like with our students, we need to be patient and supportive by giving paraeducators feedback to help them become better at their craft.

Allow the paraeducator to visit other classrooms with veteran teachers who have solid behavior management techniques.

Connection Finally, if we want to build up and encourage our paraeducators, we need to build rapport and connection with them. We all have seasons in our lives when things are going well, and times when it seems the trials keep coming.

Help your paraeducators feel belonging by getting to know them. Learn what they are passionate about, ask about their families and weekend plans, and listen to the struggles that they are having.

If possible, try and get together outside of work to do something fun!

This will build team camaraderie and shared experiences that help us to remind each other of the power of relationships.

Praying together is a powerful way to support each other, and I recommend doing this at least once a week. We all need prayer, and when two or more are gathered, God is with us as well!

Setting Up for Success Setting up paraeducators for success takes time and intentional planning.

Paraeducators, just like our students, need clear communication and expectations of their role in the classroom. We need to make sure we equip our paraeducators with the right resources and lesson plans so they can prepare for the work they are going to be engaged in with students of all abilities.

Paraeducators need to know that there is someone to turn to when things get hard. Good coaches know when to listen and when to instruct.

Classroom teachers and paraeducators need to find time to connect as well as collaborate on content. We all have a longing for relationship. When we begin the year with this mindset of supporting each other as well as our students, there is no telling what can be accomplished! Your students, too, will see how you treat each other in the classroom, which will impact how they Christian Educators Journal

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Praying together is a powerful way to support each other.

treat their peers as well. Lastly, let’s be sure to thank our paraeducators, as there is no way we could serve students in an inclusive school without them!

Tyler Harms is a teacher consultant for All Belong Center for Inclusive Education in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Tyler writes for many publications annually and is the author of Teaching for God’s Glory—Daily Wisdom and Inspiration for New Teachers (Elm Hill, 2020).

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A Biblical Case for Inclusive Christian Schools: Ten Pillars to Build On THOMAS L. BOEHM

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ince 1975, public schools in the United States have been mandated to serve students with disabilities through what is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA). Christian schools, however, are not under a legal mandate to serve students with disabilities. How then should Christian schools respond to the needs of students with disabilities? Should they avoid them as a burden too heavy to address in the midst of limited financial and personnel resources? While Christian schools may not be under a legal mandate to serve students with disabilities, they are under a higher mandate. I hope to frame this mandate to serve students with disabilities within a biblical context by presenting a concise theology of disability. Following a brief preamble below, I present ten pillars of scriptural wisdom from Genesis to Revelation that offer a solid rationale and foundation upon which to build your capacity to enroll and support students with disabilities. Each section begins with a brief biblical summary, followed by a concise application statement for inclusive Christian schools that is further developed in the remainder of the section.

Preamble Though disability affects every race/ethnicity, religion, age, sex, and socio-­ economic class, what is perceived as a disability and who gets labeled accordingly varies from culture to culture. When measured against some level of minimal or average performance or standing, we must acknowledge the arbitrariness of such standards. Given the prevalence of disability in society, even those whose loved ones have not yet been touched by disability (whether physical, intellectual, developmental, or neuro-­atypical), or by mental illness, will likely be impacted on some level eventually.

This article is a revised version of an article published by the Association of Christian Schools International (ASCI) in Leading Insights that applied nine pillars of disability theology to make a biblical case for inclusive Christian schooling. This updated version contains a new preamble, updated biblical summaries with biblical citations at the end of each, and an additional pillar addressing suffering. This biblical theology of disability, along with additional foundational resources, can be found on the Wheaton Center for Faith and Disability website: www.wheaton.edu/ faithanddisability.

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I hope to frame this mandate to serve students with disabilities within a biblical context by presenting a concise theology of disability.

Pillar 1: God’s Image Bearers—A Glorious Reflection We read in Genesis that as the pinnacle act of creation, all people are made in the image of God and are designed for intimate relationship with him and others. No matter our capacities, we each bear God’s image individually as integrated persons of body and soul/spirit. We also image God collectively. Our glorious purpose as image bearers is to reflect God’s character into the world individually, as families, and as communities (Gen. 1:26–27; 2 Cor. 3:18).

Application: Inclusive Christian schools are open to serving students with disabilities because they are fellow image bearers of God. All students, including those with disabilities, uniquely represent God in some way.

All people, including those with disabilities, are created in God’s image.

Thus, all students, including those with disabilities, uniquely represent God in some way. This creative act of God bestows a primary identity upon all people as glorious reflections of God. Christians fulfill—in Christ—this primary identity as God’s image bearers.

We reflect God’s image both individually and collectively. Each student with a disability bears God’s image and is worthy of consideration for enrollment and ongoing support in your school. Your school also bears an image collectively. The choices you make to include or exclude certain students will bear upon this image. Inclusive school communities are open to serving all students as image bearers and glorious reflections of God.

Pillar 2: God’s Image Bearers—A Distorted Reflection

While brokenness is now inherent to the human condition, disability often draws unique attention to our difficulties.

Since creation’s corruption, our ability to reflect God accurately has been fractured. Though as humans we still image our Creator, this reflection is now cast in distorted ways. We have all been alienated from God through rebellion. Our hearts have become bent toward our own wills, and our purposes have become focused on glorifying ourselves. We experience elements of brokenness in every aspect of our lives—in our bodies, minds, emotions, and relationships—as well as externally, as we live in a world that groans to be freed from the bondage of sin and decay. While brokenness is now inherent to the human condition, disability often draws unique attention to our difficulties. Disability is experienced both functionally, through bodies that do not work as some might expect, and socially, through relationships that do not respect, support, and affirm (Genesis 3; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 8:19–23).

Application: Inclusive Christian schools guard against reflecting the brokenness of the world by including students with disabilities and excluding unbiblical values.

The first pillar of disability theology calls Christian schools to strive for inclusionary practices that enroll and support students with disabilities.

The second pillar calls Christian schools to also strive for exclusionary practices—just not against students. Your particular school distinctives should reflect the beauty of God and the diversity of his people while guarding against reflecting the brokenness of the world. In other words, your school should strive to create an inclusive learning community that is in the world 18

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but not of the world. Christian schools offer families an alternative to public schooling. While schools should be responsive to the pain and brokenness of the world, they should not reflect nor perpetuate it by excluding students with disabilities. Embracing students with disabilities is a commitment that can help ground biblical values and guard against ungodly ones.

Pillar 3: God’s Promise to Remedy the Effects of the Fall God does not leave us without hope. Even in the garden after the fall, God proclaimed that a woman would bear a seed who would crush Satan’s head, overcoming all alienation that separates us from God and each other, and bringing restoration to the brokenness and difficulty experienced in this age. Building on this promise, Isaiah prophesied that when this seed came, he would have no beauty or majesty that we should desire him. He would be despised and rejected, a man of sorrows acquainted with the deepest grief. The one who would crush Satan’s head would himself be crushed to redeem us from our sin and to heal our brokenness. He would be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities (Gen. 3:15; Isaiah 53; Matt. 25:31; Rom. 16:20).

Application: Inclusive Christian schools should incubate and promote biblical faith that helps students know and trust God’s wisdom and his ways.

God’s plans will not be thwarted. His promises are sure. While disability presents challenges to families and schools, they are not tragedies to be avoided but opportunities to embrace. God’s ways are higher than our ability to fully understand. Proverbs 3:5–6 exhorts us to “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (ESV). God has a good purpose in mind when he brings students with disabilities to your school. The question is whether you will trust and obey in faith. Just as the fall has a remedy in God’s Righteous One coming to crush all enemies, so too is God trustworthy to provide and equip you for everything to which he has called you and your school. School leaders are seldom fully equipped in advance to do what they are called to pursue. Doing it anyway is a mark of strong leadership. When we take steps out in faith and work hard to make them successful, we often discover God has been working in advance to make those steps solid in his ways. Everyone in your school community— students, staff, and families—all need to learn to trust God with the faith of Abraham, who trusted and obeyed even though he did not have a full picture of where he was going. Like Abraham, we need to walk by faith in the good promises and pathways of God, even and especially when they are difficult.

Pillar 4: God’s Remedy Is Jesus The Gospels tell of Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension as the initial installment of God’s promise of full restoration in his future return. In the testimony of the apostles and prophets, we see Jesus as the Messianic Christian Educators Journal

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God has a good purpose in mind when he brings students with disabilities to your school. The question is whether you will trust and obey in faith.

Seed, a resurrected Jewish God-­man, who opened the door to both Jews and Gentiles, including the “poor, crippled, blind, and lame,” for salvation, adoption, and ultimately, the redemption of our earthly bodies (Job 19:25–27; Luke 14:12–23; Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 15).

Application: Inclusive Christian schools exercise their faith by using existing resources and looking for ways God is leading to grow and build the school as a unique expression of himself.

The testimony of Jesus disrupts the natural order of things in service of restoring all people.

The general education curriculum bears witness to various aspects of natural wisdom. God’s Word bears witness to a higher wisdom. The Messiah’s first coming decisively began restoring what was lost in the fall. While the fullness of this kingdom is still not yet, there is still something possible in the now. The testimony of Jesus disrupts the natural order of things in service of restoring all people, and all creation, to God’s holy purposes of bearing witness to his goodness and glory. Your curriculum may be more or less explicit about studying the Bible, but how you respond to the vulnerable members of your community will instruct and model the wisdom of your curriculum.

In your journey of becoming a more inclusive school, the best next step is to start with what you’ve already got—existing resources and staff—and identify areas where you want to grow. If you cannot yet afford new support staff, you can still provide additional training to existing staff. If you cannot yet enroll students with significant disabilities, you can still invest in strengthening individualized supports for instruction and assessment for current students who need them. Small steps can lead to bigger ones.

Trust God to provide in just the right time and in just the right ways for accomplishing everything to which he’s called your school.

Pillar 5: God’s Goodness and Sovereignty in the Face of Trials Through the story of Jesus’s encounter with a man born blind, we see Jesus addressing the societal ramifications of disability in addition to the functional ramifications. Jesus first corrects his disciples’ misconceptions that this man experienced disability because of personal sin (which would have created social barriers for the man born blind). Jesus instead declares, “[This happened] that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3). The man’s disability was recognized as purposeful in the hands of a good, loving, and sovereign God at work in the context of a broken world. Jesus then restores the man’s vision. This demonstration of God’s power and purpose offers us perspective into God’s work among and through us despite the brokenness of the fall. We see Jesus holding in tension human brokenness and difficulty with divine value and purpose. We must do the same (Job 2; 42:1–6; John 9).

Application: Inclusive Christian schools pursue beauty (in all people and creation) amid the brokenness that is common in this current age (i.e., before Jesus’s return and the age to come).

There is a tension between beauty and brokenness. All people are beautiful in that they represent God and his image in the world. Disability does not 20

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tarnish that image. Brokenness also characterizes all people—though we try to hide our own brokenness as much as possible. The gospel, however, allows us to rest in truth that God accepts us in Jesus, despite all our brokenness—and helps us accept others in all their brokenness. This acceptance of others includes students with disabilities. While certain students may challenge the limits of our ability to accept others, it is a holy challenge with important consequences. Having eyes of faith to pursue and see the beauty amid brokenness powerfully declares that God is both sovereign and good. Christian schools have a holy purpose to make these declarations by their culture of accepting and affirming the beauty of all students—even those with intense challenges or significant disabilities.

Having eyes of faith to pursue and see the beauty amid brokenness powerfully declares that God is both sovereign and good.

Pillar 6: God’s Economy In God’s economy, human value is not measured by what we can or cannot do, but instead by whose we are. When Moses hesitated to accept God’s commission to deliver his people by citing a self-­perceived limitation, God responds, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say” (Exod. 4:11–12).

God sees no barriers to using those with disabilities to accomplish his purposes. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul declares that the seemingly weaker members of the believing community are indispensable and to be given double honor. Furthermore, human weakness is actually portrayed as a platform to display God’s power. Those perceived as weak and less worthy of praise by human standards are not only suitable, but at times, they are uniquely gifted conduits of God’s grace, mercy, and love (Exod. 4:10–12; 1 Cor. 12:20–26; 2 Cor. 12:7–10).

Application: Inclusive Christian schools embrace and model God’s economy by making room for human weakness so God’s power can be more visible.

Schools offer a place for students to gain important knowledge and skills for a successful life. But success can be defined in different ways. A successful life according to the standards of the world is not the same as one lived by the standards of God and his kingdom. Consider your school’s mission statement and the priorities it reflects. Is your commitment to strong academics framed within a larger biblical context? Are athletic opportunities, including ones involving rigorous competition, part of your school’s extracurricular programming? Character matters, and God’s economy makes room for students to learn that their human strength of mind and body are not the only valued traits. For example, Jesus modeled and taught about the strength required to serve others. Furthermore, it takes strength to let your own weaknesses and needs be known by others. By acknowledging and embracing personal limitations—in those with and without disabilities—you make room for God to display his presence and power in and through your personal life and your collective school community. Investing your time, treasure, and talent in becoming a more inclusive Christian school can help everyone in your learning community recognize the inherent limitations of pursuing or boasting in academic prowess or athletic strength alone.

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By acknowledging and embracing personal limitations—in those with and without disabilities—you make room for God to display his presence and power in and through your personal life and your collective school community.

Welcoming and walking with students with differing abilities goes a long way toward embodying the economy of God and his kingdom more than the values of secular society. Valuing human weakness to make God’s strength more visible is an investment in God’s economy.

Pillar 7: God’s Law of Love

People with disabilities can lead others into loving well by demonstrating God’s love in unique ways.

God is love. When Jesus walked the earth, he said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). This sacrificial love necessarily makes demands on how we treat other people. As finite creatures, human beings are all limited in various ways. Additionally, none of us are autonomous or completely self-­sufficient—nor are we meant to be. Disability can enhance the visibility and tangibility of God’s love within a community by focusing love’s demands where they reflect God’s character best. Additionally, people with disabilities can lead others into loving well by demonstrating God’s love in unique ways (Lev. 19:18; John 13:34; 1 Corinthians 13; 1 John 3:16–20; 4:7–12).

Application: Inclusive Christian schools prioritize loving God and others well so God’s love can be more tangible and visible.

God’s economy also requires holy acts of human love. Jesus not only taught about God’s love and modeled it through word and deed, Jesus was and is love incarnate. Virtues such as love, however, need to be regularly taught, modeled, and practiced through curricular and extracurricular programming.

Furthermore, opportunities for students and staff to interact in holy, loving ways will go a long way to honor God and display something of his character.

Students need opportunities to learn about and practice loving others who are different. Students with disabilities represent one type of difference that cuts across other dimensions of diversity, such as race/­ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Inclusive Christian schools prioritize this simple, yet difficult, requirement to love God and others with our whole heart, mind, and strength.

We are called to preserve unity in diversity (including diverse abilities)— until we grow into the maturity and stature of Jesus.

Pillar 8: God’s People Respond As God’s people, what is our role in responding to disability? The church is to manifest God’s love to a watching world as we live in counter-­cultural ways that reflect the values of God’s kingdom on earth. With Jesus as our Head, we constitute his body. We are called to preserve unity in diversity (including diverse abilities)—until we grow into the maturity and stature of Jesus (Eph. 3:10–11; 4:13).

The unity of God’s people does not depend upon talent or intellect. It depends on our union with Jesus. This is a relational oneness in Messiah (who himself is one with the Father) and with one another. Furthermore, as God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted, so each has a divine purpose and gift that serves the body. Indeed, God has “put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern 22

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for each other. So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Cor. 12:24–26 CSB; see also 1 Cor. 12:12–23; Psalm 133; John 17; 1 Pet. 4:10).

Application: As an extension and expression of the body of Christ, inclusive Christian schools cultivate interdependent community among students (and staff) of all abilities to learn and grow together in knowing and following Jesus.

In American culture, we tend to overvalue independence and undervalue dependency. In contrast, the Bible presents a different recipe for human flourishing. Overvaluing personal achievement, autonomy, and self-­ reliance can undermine healthy dependence and relational intimacy with others. Rugged individualism may have helped build the United States, but unchecked, it can also create a corrosive, self-­oriented, and self-­indulgent culture rather than a culture of honoring and loving others in all their weaknesses and needs. God’s path of flourishing for individuals (with and without disabilities) and communities—including school communities—involves healthy and holy interdependence. This interdependence is described and depicted biblically as a relationally united community committed and submitted to God.

Pillar 9: God’s Presence and Purpose in Suffering Every one of us experiences suffering at some point in our lives. For some, disability itself—or society’s response to disability—may create a source of physical or emotional suffering. Where is God when it comes to suffering?

This question becomes especially poignant when disability is in view. While God does not promise to remove all sources of suffering in this age, our present trials need not be eternal! Because of Jesus’s own personal suffering on behalf of all people, his comfort, love, and actions now flow through us to help others in their distress (and vice-­versa!). His Word also reveals how he has used human suffering for his purposes—whether turning wayward hearts back to God, displaying God’s power and works, or sanctifying believers in holiness, we trust he works all things together for the good of his children. Amid even our deepest suffering, he has promised to be with us always—to eternally save, heal, and deliver us. (Ps. 34:18–19; Prov. 3:11–22; John 16:33; Rom. 8:18–28; 2 Cor. 1:3–5; Heb. 12:5–8).

Application: Inclusive Christian schools accelerate transformational disciple-­ making by providing an oasis of spiritual nurture amid the suffering and brokenness of the world.

No one likes to suffer. In fact, we typically dedicate massive resources and energy to avoid suffering. But Jesus tells us that just as suffering is normative before he returns to restore all things, so too are the greater comforts he provides now—directly through his Spirit and indirectly through his people. As a community of belonging for people with and without disabilities, Christian schools can be places where God’s people can learn to rightly respond to suffering. Rather than avoiding or pathologizing suffering, followers of Jesus should learn to respond to the suffering of others by offering Christian Educators Journal

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Rather than avoiding or pathologizing suffering, followers of Jesus should learn to respond to the suffering of others by offering compassion and comfort.

compassion and comfort. Furthermore, those who experience suffering should learn to receive support from others and grow in godly endurance.

The presence of students with disabilities within your school can help normalize suffering and create a culture in which God’s comfort is extended to others who suffer and God’s power to endure suffering is enhanced among the people of God.

Pillar 10: God’s Ultimate Restoration of All Things in the Age to Come The seed predicted in Genesis came into the world the first time to crush the serpent’s head and bring salvation to all who put their faith in him. Jesus, this king of the Jews and desire of all nations, will come again to subject the enemy to final judgment. In the days of Messiah’s reign there will be no more mourning, crying, pain, or death. As this glorious truth relates to disability, whatever brings us loss, sorrow, or discomfort in this life will no longer have the power to do so—whether that source be the functional impairment associated with disability, the socially induced aspects of disability, or some combination of both. Together, as the redeemed people of God, we look to the coming of the Messiah to earth. The Spirit and the bride say, Come! (Isa. 25:8; Hag. 2:7; Matt. 19:28–29; Acts 3:13–21; Rev. 21–22).

Application: Inclusive Christian schools distinguish between primary outcomes, such as maturing disciples, and secondary outcomes, such as smarter students.

Inclusive Christian schools recognize that students with disabilities are not problems to avoid nor people with needs too heavy to carry in a learning community with limited resources.

Schools support students to learn and grow. The metrics of growth for a Christian school, however, must be measured with God’s standards that have a different horizon line—a different plumb line. Supporting students to mature in godliness—that includes stewarding intellectual capacity—is a larger and more primary goal than merely helping students become smarter.

Being and making disciples who are followers of Jesus who know God and make him known is our primary mandate in the Great Commission that we fulfill through obeying the Great Commandment to love God and others.

Inclusive Christian schools recognize that students with disabilities are not problems to avoid nor people with needs too heavy to carry in a learning community with limited resources. Students with disabilities are people created in the image of God and in God’s economy are essential members with gifts to share. These gifts become more easily received and recognized when our ultimate goals in God frame and shape the penultimate ones that are prized in secular schools.

Building and Growing Your School Psalm 127:1 declares, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” Christian schools should build on the solid foundation of God’s Word with Jesus as the precious cornerstone. The ten pillars presented in this article offer solid biblical principles to guide your next steps toward serving students with disabilities. As you navigate the complexities of addressing the needs of individual students, it can be helpful to differentiate 24

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between potential needs by student age (e.g., elementary versus secondary) and intensity of support needs (e.g., more mild disabilities requiring less intensive supports versus more significant disabilities requiring more intensive supports). Planning to build your inclusive capacity in the elementary grades is often different from what is needed for secondary education programs. The figure below offers a simple four-­quadrant map to help you identify your current profile and at least one quadrant where you want to invest to build and grow. For example, consider, what students are currently enrolled in your school that have extra support needs? The two shaded areas under the cross-­beam represent the majority of students with disabilities in elementary and secondary schools. These students may have support needs related to behavioral challenges associated with ADHD or mood challenges associated with anxiety or depression. Use this graphic to assess current capacity and target at least one quadrant in which to build for measurable growth over one or more years. Progress may take time, but God delights in using our willingness—despite our weaknesses—to do mighty things!

Four Quadrants to Identify and Plan for Students with Disabilities

Thomas L. Boehm, MDiv, PhD, is the Founding Director of the Wheaton College Center for Faith and Disability focused on making disability engagement more biblical, normative, and transformative for all. His research and writing focus on building inclusive community within schools and congregations to improve family quality of life for people both with and without disability. He also serves at Wheaton College as the Ann Haskins Associate Professor of Special Education, Chair of the Department of Education, Coordinator of the Special Education Program, and is the founder of the nonprofit Faith for ALL. To learn more or connect with Dr. Boehm and his various initiatives, go to his personal website, www.tlboehm.com.

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To Know You’re Not Alone: Promoting Mental Wellness through Shared Experience and Empathetic Storytelling HAYDEN MacKINNON

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I have come to realize that simply being open to sharing my own personal experiences around mental health has been beneficial to helping my students cope with issues they themselves may be trying to work through.

eing a student is hard work—exhausting work, really. Being an adolescent means waking up each morning to the interminable, often unspoken, questions of “Who am I? Who do I want to be? Where do I fit in?” And on top of simply showing up to class each morning, students are asked to navigate the uncharted waters of their own social-­emotional makeup, learning what it means to be a properly functioning, competent, and—hopefully— empathetic human being in today’s world. In the midst of these ubiquitous challenges is the fact that the overall levels of stress and anxiety in our populations as a whole have seen an upward trend over the last number of years (Almeida et al. 511). What’s more is that when we look at school-­aged children, studies have shown that just over 20 percent—that’s 1 in 5—adolescents in Canada either have experienced or currently do experience a mental health issue of some sort (Northcott). That means that in a class of thirty, six students will face some form of anxiety, depression, or another type of mental illness.

As educators (who sometimes see our students for more hours on a weekly basis than members of their own family), we have an important role to play in helping our learners gain the resilience, competency, and emotional literacy necessary to thrive in the midst of the challenging, oftentimes scary, psychological landscapes that have become so typical for youth today. I have come to realize that simply being open to sharing my own personal experiences around mental health has been beneficial to helping my students cope with issues they themselves may be trying to work through.

Engaging in these sorts of meaningful conversations in the classroom can specifically help our learners see the truth that they are not alone, that things do indeed get better, and that there are people around them who are willing to listen, empathize, and walk with them in their journey to mental wellness.

My Own Story I first realized there was something different about me as I sat quietly on the rainbow-­colored carpet of my kindergarten class during storytime some thirty years ago. I was listening intently to the teacher as she read from a picture book and found myself jerking my head back and forth until it felt “just right.” This was a habit I had started not too long before but never really gave much thought to until I looked around and saw that no one else was moving in the same way. What’s more was that I found it very difficult, if 28

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not impossible, to stop the motion. I was worried about what others would think but felt powerless to do anything but continue periodically jerking my head back and forth. And indeed, there were comments and questions from my classmates, to which I never really had an answer other than “I just need to do it.”

Over the years these compulsive movements morphed from one expression to another and included throat clearing, vocal grunts, repetitive eye blinking, and sniffing. I also found myself filled with repetitive anxious thoughts, specifically about whether or not my mother would come home safe whenever she went out. I felt that if I failed to repeat a certain phrase in my head or didn’t touch a doorknob enough times, something terrible would happen to her, and I’d never see her again.

These tendencies waxed and waned throughout my time in school, but I was never properly diagnosed or given an explanation. I was simply told to “try harder” and to “stop worrying,” among many other unhelpful pieces of advice. It wasn’t until I was in my late twenties, when my anxiety had become clinical and I was nearly unable to function in my daily life, that I finally received an explanation for why my mind worked the way it did: I had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as well as Tourette’s Disorder. It became clear to me that I had been dealing with these mental illnesses since my time on that rainbow carpet in kindergarten.

My journey to finding this out was circuitous, to say the least, and even as I sought help and support in my twenties, it was still a process of meeting with multiple counselors, doctors, and other professionals before I was able to truly start making progress. Mental health issues were also never talked about in any of the classrooms I was a part of growing up, so I accepted as normal the ways my brain functioned and never sought the help I needed. I assumed that everyone lived with a similar amount of stress and anxiety in their life, but they were somehow able to keep it together, so I adopted the mentality of just bearing down and struggling my way through to wellness.

After years of hard work, research, counseling, and medication, I’ve arrived at a healthier outlook on my own personal state of mind and am now functioning more fully than I ever have before. I’ll never be “cured” of OCD, but I am learning to coexist with the disorder and live a full life in spite of my struggles.

Shared Experience and Empathetic Storytelling Over the last fourteen years, I’ve worked as an educator in both the public and private school systems, teaching K–12 in a variety of educational settings. I have come to learn that by sharing my own story and engaging in authentic conversations about mental wellness, I have a chance to play an important role in my students’ journey to understanding the basic truths that they are not alone in their struggles, that there are people around them who care and are equipped to help, and that things can and will eventually get better.

I believe that every educator has an opportunity and responsibility to open the door to these sorts of conversations in their practice. Everyone has a story to share; everyone has experienced anxiety, stress, feelings of Christian Educators Journal

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Over the years these compulsive movements morphed from one expression to another and included throat clearing, vocal grunts, repetitive eye blinking, and sniffing.

It became clear to me that I had been dealing with these mental illnesses since my time on that rainbow carpet in kindergarten.

Never underestimate the power of shared experience; the simple words of your story could be a small flicker of light in the otherwise overwhelming darkness some of our students face on a daily basis.

As I tell my story to students, I take care to focus on the truth that through all the hardship I’ve faced, in the midst of so much darkness, Jesus is always there to guide me and to hold me close in my suffering.

loneliness, isolation, or hopelessness at one point or another. Sometimes all a student needs to hear is someone expressing that they, too, have felt these things. Never underestimate the power of shared experience; the simple words of your story could be a small flicker of light in the otherwise overwhelming darkness some of our students face on a daily basis. How and when you engage in these conversations is somewhat of an art—a form of empathetic storytelling—but if we begin to look for ways in which to weave our own experiences in our day-­to-­day interactions with students, the opportunities to do so will likely become more apparent than we had initially thought.

I currently work at Langley Christian Middle School, teaching grade 7 humanities courses. When I first started working at the school, each teacher was responsible for either speaking at a chapel service or finding a speaker at some point throughout the year. As I thought about what I would do for my allotted time, I began to think about sharing my own story and journey on the path to mental wellness. I resisted this at first, thinking it was too personal and not something I wanted everyone at my school to know, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt the voice of Jesus gently prompting me to share.

The day came for me to present, and I felt incredibly nervous but also had a sense of peace that lay beneath my anticipatory anxiety and helped guide me to deliver my message clearly and in a way that made some kind of sense to the student body. Since then, I have shared a number of times, trying to do so every two to three years when there is a new group of students in the middle school who have not heard the message before. When I share, there are a few key points I reiterate that I have learned are important as we communicate about something as sensitive as mental health to students.

First, it is essential to always leave students with a sense of hope. My struggle with OCD has been difficult and debilitating to the extreme at some points, but as I tell my story to students, I take care to focus on the truth that through all the hardship I’ve faced, in the midst of so much darkness, Jesus is always there to guide me and to hold me close in my suffering. I use a classical painting by Peter Paul Ruebens titled Daniel in the Lion’s Den to illustrate what mental illness can feel like, drawing attention to the fact that in the story Daniel was always safe, even though he felt the fear and terror of being surrounded by hungry beasts.

Another image I use to communicate hope is one of my favorite paintings—it’s one by Rembrandt Van Rijn titled The Return of the Prodigal Son (see p. 33). This painting shows the quintessential moment of the story, as the father embraces the filthy, raggedly clothed wandering son in his arms.

I speak of the struggle, yes, but more than that, I emphasize the truth that in our suffering, in our darkness, in our own wandering attempts to try to figure things out on our own, there is always the hope of return; the arms of our Heavenly Father are open and waiting to embrace us.

The second point I try to leave my students with is the fact that they are not alone in what they are feeling. One of the most difficult things about facing a mental illness is the feeling that you are unique in your struggle, that no one else has experienced what you are experiencing, and that for some reason, you are beyond hope because of the nature or content of your struggle. The act of naming this misconception and emphasizing that no one needs to suffer alone is a way to empower students to seek out the help 30

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Peter Paul Reubens, Daniel in the Lion’s Den (Google Art Project)

they need and to encourage them to stop seeing themselves as beyond the realm of ever improving.

The third and final point I emphasize is the idea that things will eventually get better. When I share, I take time to explain that my story is one of hope and of seeing the ways that Jesus has led me to wellness every step of the way. I explicitly tell my students that no matter how difficult and dark the night may seem, there is always hope for things to get better as long as we orient ourselves toward our loving Father.

All of the above is just one way to open authentic conversations about mental health with students. The means and venues by which you do so are highly dependent on your role in the school community and will be different on an individual basis. The important thing is that we are willing to try— willing to engage and dive into these topics with students, whether through an informal conversation or as the topic of a carefully planned lesson. What students will remember is that we cared enough to bring attention to their reality and recognized the difficulty of living with the stress and anxiety that is so common today.

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There is always hope for things to get better as long as we orient ourselves toward our loving Father.

Strength in Weakness

In my weakness, in the dark nights of my soul, God is working to strengthen and uplift those who face similar challenges.

My journey through mental illness has been incredibly difficult, and living with OCD has tested me to my absolute limits. However, being able to share my story with the hope that even one student would feel encouraged and less alone in their struggles makes me feel that my suffering has a purpose; in my weakness, in the dark nights of my soul, God is working to strengthen and uplift those who face similar challenges.

Through the experience of sharing, I have come to appreciate the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians, where he quotes the words the Lord has spoken to him: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (12:9). Throughout the Bible, God is clear that our suffering is never without purpose if we allow our hearts to look to him in times of difficulty.

Sharing and being open with our students about our own experiences of mental health is just one way to use our suffering to bring glory to the name of Christ and to build up those who have been entrusted to our care.

Works Cited Almeida, David M., et al. “Charting Adult Development through (Historically Changing) Daily Stress Processes.” American Psychologist, vol. 75, no. 4, May 2020, pp. 511–24. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000597.

Northcott, Alison. “Canadian Teens Still Struggling with Mental Health Even as Pandemic Wanes.” CBC, 26 February 2023, www.cbc.ca/news/health/ canadian-­teens-­mental-­health-­1.6759486.

Hayden MacKinnon has taught across British Columbia for the last fourteen years in both the public and private school systems. He currently lives in Langley with his wife, Jennie, and his daughter, Sophia-­Belle.

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Rembrant van Rijn, The Return of the Prodigal Son (Wikimedia Commons)

Collaborative Self-­Care for Teachers and Students CHRISTINE SCHOLMA

T

With many teachers reporting high levels of daily stress while teaching and each teacher stepping into the classroom with additional personal fears or stresses, the need for self-­care is highly important.

Modeling self-­care practices can be particularly helpful for students with disabilities who may be experiencing additional stress within the classroom environment.

eachers are often told that in order to maintain the mental and emotional wellbeing that leads to longevity within their career, they should engage in self-­care. However, although teachers recognize the challenges and stresses of teaching, many are unsure of how to approach this seemingly ambiguous task. Many teachers don’t feel that they have time to add practices to their currently overloaded schedules or the money, for example, for weekly massages. The recently published text Self-­Care for Educators: Soul-­Nourishing Practices to Promote Wellbeing (Freytag et al.) addresses these concerns by providing practical solutions for educators seeking to take on self-­care practices that lead to wellness. This article will look specifically at chapter 8, “Creating Space for Self-­Care for K–12 Educators” (Bryant et al.), and consider how teachers can adapt the chapter’s principles to provide an inclusive framework of self-­regulation for all students, regardless of their learning styles.

Bryant, Eddington-­Sinicki, and Woodard explain that with many teachers reporting high levels of daily stress while teaching and each teacher stepping into the classroom with additional personal fears or stresses, the need for self-­care is highly important (139–40). The authors urge the reader to think about how high levels of stress on the teacher can have a direct effect on others as well, noting that if teachers learn successful self-­care techniques, they have the potential to positively influence the school community (140).

Students may also be entering the classroom experiencing stress, both school related and from other areas in their lives. Because of this, using the strategies in the text recommended for educators could also be helpful for students. Taking time during the school day to practice moments of self-­ care can help instill healthy practices for both the teacher and the students.

Modeling self-­care practices can be particularly helpful for students with disabilities who may be experiencing additional stress within the classroom environment and struggles with self-­regulation. When self-­care is embedded into the school day with consistency rather than sporadic implementation, students with disabilities can experience the repetition needed for effective learning of the skill.

One recommended practice involves setting an alarm to create specific times within the day for self-­care (141–42), allowing for a dependable rhythm in which the teacher and the students can experience wellness. Within inclusive classrooms, students with disabilities may be struggling with self-­ regulation and may not be in a physical or emotional state of being ready to learn. Students may be feeling energetic and hyper or sluggish and tired.

Neither of these physical and emotional states are conducive to learning.

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Everyone experiences dysregulation from time to time, but often people without disabilities develop strategies for moving toward a more regulated space. For instance, if a person is driving a car and finds themselves getting tired, they may use a variety of strategies to increase alertness. Some may turn the music up louder and sing while others may open a window for a blast of cool air. Similarly, students without disabilities may have developed strategies for when they are feeling dysregulated during class, such as taking notes or sitting in the front of the classroom. Students with disabilities, however, may need to be explicitly taught these skills so that they can more fully understand what they are feeling and how to get back to a physical and emotional state of being ready to learn.

One way that a teacher can help their students understand what they are feeling and how it can affect their ability to learn is through the imagery of a thermometer. In class, a 98.6 degree temperature means that students feel calm and alert, which is conducive to learning. However, the teacher can explain that some students may be feeling like they have a higher temperature (hyper, excited) or a lower temperature (tired, sluggish). It is important for the students to understand that none of those feelings are bad.

It is normal to feel a variety of emotions at different times during the day; however, it is helpful for learning if students are calm and alert. As such, teachers can model strategies that can help students get from high or low temperatures to a ready-­to-­learn temperature.

Teachers can start by prompting students to take their temperature by identifying how they are feeling. This can be done as a whole class or individually. In younger grades, students may each have an image of a thermometer at their desk to help them identify their feelings. In upper grades, teachers may take the temperature of a class differently by asking each student to describe how they are feeling by using one adjective. Both of these exercises will help the teacher understand if the class as a whole is more active or sluggish, guiding the practices the teacher can implement. Engaging in a whole class self-­care activity can help everyone, students and teacher, get closer to a ready-­to-­learn posture and help with stress reduction.

If students are feeling like their temperature is low, there are several strategies that teachers can model, leading to alertness. In younger grades, teachers can incorporate movement breaks, which can be completed in a variety of ways. Any type of activity that gets students out of their chairs and moving around the classroom can help with alertness. Teachers can simply ask students to get up, find a friend, and model their movements for one minute before switching to the other partner. Other teachers may opt for technology that offers video movement breaks such as GoNoodle.com. In upper grades, educators may choose to have students stand up and engage in guided stretching to increase alertness.

Conversely, if students are feeling like their temperature is high and they have too much energy for learning, “Creating Space for Self-­Care for K–12 Educators” provides several options for calming self-­care activities intended for teachers that can also help students prepare for learning. The first example includes centering activities such as meditation and deep breathing (144). Some students in younger grades and students with disabilities may find guided meditation challenging to focus on. In these cases, the teacher may choose to modify the activity by using a video of waves crashing on a beach or a light drizzle in a rainforest. Using this visual, teachers can Christian Educators Journal

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One way that a teacher can help their students understand what they are feeling and how it can affect their ability to learn is through the imagery of a thermometer.

Engaging in a whole class self-­care activity can help everyone, students and teacher, get closer to a ready-­to-­learn posture and help with stress reduction.

Some students with disabilities may find writing a list or a narrative challenging and frustrating and prefer to draw what they are grateful for instead.

guide their students in thinking about what they might be doing on the beach, what the sand feels like, or what they might see beyond the trees in the forest.

Another self-­care strategy mentioned in the text includes the use of gratitude journals (144). Because journaling can help with processing of emotions (143), the use of a gratitude journal can help students see positive aspects of their day, while also providing a calming moment prior to learning. It is helpful to keep this activity as free form as possible, providing opportunities for both writing and drawing. Some students with disabilities may find writing a list or a narrative challenging and frustrating and prefer to draw what they are grateful for instead. For students who may find academics challenging or who have experienced behavioral challenges earlier in the day, taking a moment to focus on things they are grateful for could help them transition into a posture of learning.

As educators continue to strive toward a place of wellbeing personally, it is important to recognize the benefits of collaborative self-­care practices and the effect that they can have on the classroom environment. As teachers and students work together toward wellness, teachers may find that their students begin to self-­advocate for what they need even during unscheduled times during the day. Once students understand how they are feeling and have a toolbox of strategies to help them self-­regulate, they can begin to utilize those strategies throughout the day and when they exit the school building. If teachers and students can enter and leave the school environment with tools for wellbeing and self-­care, everyone benefits.

Works Cited Bryant, D., S. Eddington-­Sinicki, and C.-­M. Woodard. “Creating Space for Self-­Care for K–12 Educators.” Freytag and Shotsberger, pp. 139–56.

Freytag, C. E., and P. Shotsberger, editors. Self-­Care for Educators: Soul-­ Nourishing Practices to Promote Wellbeing. Freedom’s Hill Press, an imprint of the Carolina Institute for Faith and Culture, 2022.

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