Transformational By Design, The Big Picture.

Transformation

by Design The Big Picture A CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE FOR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS

A CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE FOR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS

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Acknowledgements This work is by no means original. It brings together the contributions of many authors and teachers who have all been a part of building a bank of curriculum development insight.

The genesis of Transformation by Design was the need to respond to the requirements of the Australian Curriculum. In building this resource, and other resources that are a part of this curriculum project, the National Institute for Christian Education has brought together many curriculum leaders from across Australia to help shape these resources. This resource focuses on curriculum development and fits within a suite of resources developed by the National Institute for Christian Education.

Copyright © 2017 National Institute for Christian Education National Institute for Christian Education PO Box 1892 PENRITH NSW 2751 www.nice.edu.au All content in this resource is copyright. However, it may be reproduced in part for curriculum preparation and training purposes. If reproducing for training purposes, please acknowledge source. Templates for curriculum preparation are also available as a downloadable resource.

National Library of Australia Catalogue-in-Publication data Title: Transformation by design : the big picture : a curriculum development resource for Christian ISBN: 9780648064305 (paperback) Subjects: Christian education--Australia--Curricula. Curriculum enrichment. Curriculum planning.

Writing team: Dr Ken Dickens, Martin Hanscamp, Alice Mustin, Chris Parker, Jacqui Stok, Tim White.

Reference group: Yvonne Bradley, Michelle Dempsey, Di Emery, Kathleen Flentje, Dr Jill Ireland, David Lepileo, Bonny Moroni, Peter Muddle, Dr Fiona Partridge, Dr Andrew Schmidt.

Curriculum Design Workshop This resource also serves as the participant workbook for a curriculum design training workshop (and online course) offered by the National Institute for Christian Education. For more information, contact admin@nice.edu.au.

Artwork Design: Taninka Visuals tanya@taninka.com.au Images: Shutterstock Printing: Lighthouse Print Group

Lend Lease ANNUAL REPORT 2014

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Contents INTRODUCTION

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A TRACK TO FOLLOW

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A BIG PICTURE MODEL TO USE

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THE BIG PICTURE EXPLAINED

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Capturing the overall task and purpose of Christian education A process for curriculum development

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THE MAIN IDEA

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BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

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THREADS

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ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

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ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

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KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

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PRESCRIBED CURRICULUM

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CURRICULUM EXAMPLES

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STEPS AFTER THE BIG PICTURE

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A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE TO UNDERSTAND

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A SELECTION OF THREADS

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Understanding the unit in the light of the biblical story Expressions of responsive discipleship

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n o i t c u d o r Int

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A TRANSFORMATIONAL CURRICULUM 0rigins and context

The community of schools that birthed the National Institute for Christian Education has a rich tradition of developing Christ-centred, Bible-based, worldview-shaped approaches to Christian education—this includes approaches to curriculum design. Since the early 1960s in Australia, Christian schools have developed from church and parent communities that wanted to see schools work in harmony with what was happening in the Christian home. This movement of Christian schools has grown significantly over the decades and includes a wide range of Christian parents.

These school communities have sought to develop a schooling practice that is faithful to biblical guidelines for education and for life. In the context of the Australian Curriculum, it is necessary for Christian schools to have a framework for understanding how to interact with a prescribed curriculum, and a possible model that ensures that a worldview shaped by the Bible is the foremost driver of that curriculum. This curriculum model seeks to do that whilst at the same time incorporating best practise in curriculum development.

How to use this resource This resource provides a framework which outlines the overall transformational direction and a model for Christcentred transformational curriculum. The model presented provides a guide to developing the big picture for a curriculum unit—as such it acts as a starter guide. A full teaching and learning plan will have additional details including assessment and learning activities.

Within Transformation by Design there are four parts that provide direction:

A TRACK that provides a directional pathway for understanding the task and purpose of Christian education.

A BIG PICTURE MODEL for curriculum development. The model consists of 7 elements that join together (like a jigsaw) to shape a ‘curriculum big picture’.

A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE in the form of a set of explanations and tools that assists teachers to understand the unit in the light of the biblical story.

A selection of THREADS, which are biblically-guided responses to the area being studied.

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A TRACK TO FOLLOW

Capturing the overall task and purpose of Christian education We invite you to join the journey of developing Christ-centred transformational curricula. Before heading out, we need to set the scene for this journey by exploring the overall task and purpose of Christian education. To do this we present to you the acrostic TRACK which provides guidance and a tool for checking whether you are on track.

Every approach to developing curriculum has its own language. This language provides the philosophical undergirding, gives it an overall framework, and explains the direction of the model. It is important that these key common and identifying terms are clearly explained to reflect a shared understanding and identity. It is important that these key terms do not become unhelpful jargon. The TRACK language is used deliberately and frequently throughout Transformation

by Design.

The key concepts covered in TRACK can be expressed in a great variety of ways. Terms like ‘Christ-centred’ or ‘biblically-directed’ or ‘holistic’ are examples of key phrases that have been used in the past. Each of the five TRACK terms captures a distinctive focus that assists to frame and shape the overall curriculum/ educational direction. Even with the distinctive focus of each term, some overlap between them is inevitable.

The TRACK understanding is that our educational practice is guided by a Transforming vision; it leads to Responsive discipleship; it centres ‘All things’ in Christ; it Crafts its teaching for effective learning; and it seeks to build God’s Kingdom.

We spell out TRACK because any useful model explains its key terms and direction.

• T ransforming vision R esponsive discipleship All things in Christ C rafted teaching K ingdom building • TRACK helps teachers and students see that the entire curriculum can be linked through a common vision and purpose.

• TRACK aims to have each child to be a transformative Kingdom builder as they become immersed in biblically directed thinking and doing.

• TRACK offers a common language around which teachers can plan and prepare their collaborative curriculum work.

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TRANSFORMATIONAL VISION A comprehensive outlook for viewing the world and seeking its transformation “See then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” Col 2:6-7 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

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resurrection and victory over death, Christ offers the opportunity for transformation and establishes His Kingdom—His rule on earth and in heaven. The invitation has been given to become followers of Jesus and to join in being transforming agents of the Kingdom.

These broad themes of Scripture explain why Christian education is transformational—from its basis in the cross, to its shaping of its teaching and learning, through its impact on curriculum, and then to the impact on the lives of students.

WORLDVIEW

The term ‘transformational vision’ is loaded with meaning and it can be explained in a host of ways. We’ll be focusing on using it to capture the vision for Christian education. The two passages above challenge Christians to hone their discernment and not be blinded by their cultural and personal context, or led by every sweep of doctrine that swings their way. Being transformed by the renewing of your mind, a mind that is captive to Christ, is at the heart of a ‘transformational vision’ for education.

The word ‘worldview’ refers to the idea that everyone views life through a different set of glasses. These glasses affect how we interpret and interact with the world around us. Everyone teaches with a set of specs on, or out of a worldview understanding. Learning is not neutral or value-free. Behind all approaches to education lies a particular view about life—a view that is undergirded by religious roots. Our worldview profoundly impacts our vision, our practice, our way of operating and our school culture.

A scripturally-based approach to education will introduce students to the goodness of God’s creation; the radical distortion in every dimension of life caused by human rebellion; and the renewal of all of life in the birth, life, death, resurrection, and coming again of Jesus. In His

As followers of Christ, Christian teachers are called to be transformers of everything that is broken in this world— in students’ lives and their own. This understanding is often referred to as the ‘transformational vision’ or ‘transformational worldview’.

A CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE FOR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS

Whilst it might be difficult to recognise one’s own worldview, or the worldview behind a particular curriculum, engaging with this process of discernment is the first step towards understanding the worldview that is shaping life and education.

Many teachers struggle with this challenge. For most, their secular training, which is equally immersed in worldview voices that are rarely acknowledged, has not equipped them to discern the many influences of secularism that populate the curricula, text books, and online resources. Therefore, as Christian schools we need to carefully critique and discern where and how the Australian Curriculum is congruent with, and where it presents challenges to, a biblically informed approach to curriculum. When Christian educators engage in this necessary but difficult activity, they are able to critique and shape the curriculum from a basis that is in harmony with their beliefs.

Another reason why this is a difficult process is that we can’t simply define or identify one worldview that stands in opposition to the biblical worldview. There is a multiplicity of worldview shaping influences and voices in the Australian Curriculum. Evidence of the voices is clear enough, largely reflecting the individualistic, secular, pluralistic, and economic rationalistic (to name a few) worldviews of our modern western society. These and others are explored further in an accompanying question and answer resource published by the National Institute for Christian Education.

For example, a school that sees its role primarily as needing to deliver or transfer the content and skills outlined in the Australian Curriculum so that students will gain great grades (a fill-them-up-and-prepare-themto-be-winners-in-life view) will focus its energies around driving teachers and students to achieve results that look

good within that framework. On the other hand, a school that sees its purpose as guiding each student to discover and understand the God-given meaning and structure of the world, and their place and purpose within it, will have a different focus and learning culture. Such a school will move students to a real and thoughtful response as to how they can serve God as life-long learners and responsive disciples. Good academic results may be an outcome of both schools, but the second will have a much more profound and biblically-directed affect on the life of its students and its teachers.

There are a variety of tools for discovering or unpacking worldviews. Walsh and Middleton (1984) in The Transforming Vision use four basic questions to unearth core worldviews. These questions are: Who am I? Where am I? What’s the problem? What’s the solution? (See the Biblical Perspective section for ways of using this tool).

“If we don’t discern these voices in the static of the educational conversation around us, we end up dismantling our vision, confusing our students and gutting the gospel. For students forced into this scenario, we remove their moorings and set them adrift in an ocean of meaninglessness.” Bob Johnston

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RESPONSIVE DISCIPLESHIP The responses to learning that we are looking for “If I have… all knowledge… but have not love, I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2

DISCIPLESHIP Christian schools are about the transformation of students and teachers so that they might have the mind, heart, and life of Christ—that is, to be Responsive Disciples.

At the heart of discipleship is faith, a humble, trusting, believing submission to Christ and His rule. Faith is a gift from God, nurtured primarily by agencies such as the home and church, though they are not the only contexts for faith-formation. The school shares in this task by providing experiences for faith challenge and growth. It is the school’s hope that students will develop a thinking faith, a biblical faith, a relevant faith, a respectful faith, a serving faith.

Christian schools will both invite and challenge students to a life of discipleship and point out what this means.

The phrase ‘a call to discipleship’ does not mean the sole purpose of Christian education is to be evangelistic (i.e. make disciples). Every student needs to explore, and choose, whom they are going to serve.

For most western young people the overwhelming response to the question, ‘Whom will I serve?’ (whether consciously or often-times unconsciously) is, “I will serve myself.” Self-service, or what can go by the label ‘individualistic secular humanism’, is the predominant religious disposition of the western world. The secular label is telling, as it removes God or any greater transcendental being from consideration, and reduces learning to a religiously neutral matter. From this viewpoint, learning and knowledge can make sense from within its own natural logic/laws, or in the way that it assists in equipping students in meeting their own needs or desires. Christian schools have quite a contrary view, as they call their students to a completely different form of service – Responsive Discipleship.

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RESPONSIVE The adjective responsive qualifies the label we give to those who love and serve Jesus Christ, namely ‘disciples’.

Disciples cannot help but be responsive because they are called to serve God and their neighbour.

The Scriptures understand knowledge as being always embedded in action and engagement. James tells us that with knowledge comes responsibility (James 3:1).

The Scriptures call students to engage and respond with God’s world and Word with wisdom and knowledge, with discernment and creativity, with playfulness and perseverance, with love and compassion.

Responsive Discipleship means students will understand that they are invited to participate in; the great mandate to develop and be stewards of God’s world; the great commission to be witnesses to God’s coming Kingdom; the great commandment to love as Jesus loves and the great communion to participate in the covenant community of God’s people. They learn to be God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule.

THE PURPOSE OF LEARNING Learning in Christian schools should have a clear intention or core purpose. Within mainstream western education (the model of education Christian schools largely follow), the core purposes are significantly out of step with the Christian goal of Responsive Discipleship. The most prominent view of knowledge within mainstream western education (its epistemology) is that learning is for ‘mastery’ and for ‘future preparation’. Both of these viewpoints have validity but when they are placed over and above other goals—as they so frequently are—broader educational balance and a healthy understanding of the purposes of learning, are distorted.

Learning for mastery is a legitimate purpose for learning in that learning increases the power of human mastery.

However, when mastery is given primacy, distortions occur—like learning for its own sake or testing for mastery (largely seen as retention) reflecting a deeper understanding or that assessing mastery provides the opportunity to rank students or schools one over the other.

When we treat schooling as a preparatory exercise for the life beyond schooling, we cause a distorted understanding about life and the purpose of schooling.

The task of modelling and engaging students in the enterprise of active responding begins from the first day of school. This isn’t a taught concept for later application, but an active pursuit from the outset. As Nicholas Wolterstorff (1969) says, “It is nothing but a pious wish and a grossly unwarranted hope that students trained to be passive and non-creative in school will suddenly, upon graduation, actively contribute to the formation of Christian culture.” (p. 16) When we express the purposes of learning, it is best to see that learning in God’s world is designed to lead students to understand themselves, their fellow humans and the world—all in relation to God. This is far better expressed as being purposed in understanding, appreciation and responsible action (Burggraaf, 2014, pp.147-150). Mastery and preparation readily sit within these.

Learning for understanding involves equipping students to identify, test, and critique the underlying meanings and assumptions implicit in all the material they explore. It involves structuring learning to provide a gradual broadening of experience and incremental building of understanding, as new experiences and discoveries are incorporated.

Learning for appreciation focuses on the enjoyment of creation and valuing the diverse riches of the experienced world as God’s gift and not treating the world simply as a commodity to use (as mastery tends to do). It recognises that all we do in life is a response to God’s goodness and evokes thankfulness and gratitude.

Learning for responsible action and service acknowledges that the mastery and power of dominion that learning provides must occur as a loving and serving response. God placed us in His world to rule over it in loving service to Him (what is frequently refered to as the ‘cultural mandate’). Service requires action in love for God and our neighbour. Learning is always embedded in action and engagement.

HEAD, HEART, AND HAND Many educational approaches see the student primarily as a thinker and learning is focused on cognitive things or on the ‘head’. Biblically, it is the metaphorical heart (kardia) which is the seat of learning and formation. The ‘heart’ reflects the fabric of a person’s life and shapes the formation of their character. Whilst the heart is at the core, Christian education doesn’t stop at the heart. It aims to instruct the mind, shape the heart and equip the hand. The phrase “head, heart, hand” captures well this understanding of holistic formation. We note that the formation of head and heart, when allowed the freedom to respond, cannot help but be demonstrated in the actions of the hand.

Growing in wisdom and character requires well-rounded, whole-of-life formation—growth that’s intellectual, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual.

Christian education, therefore, recognises the critical importance of the desires of the heart that shape the purpose of learning and one’s worldview, life direction, and faith.

WITHIN THE CURRICULUM Because holistic learning involves the head, heart, and hand, outcomes are not primarily measured in terms of students knowing more, but also being more—exercising wisdom and serving more faithfully. Therefore, multiple and diverse opportunities for students to develop their gifts and skills for service and response need to be woven into the fabric of the curriculum whenever possible and appropriate. Learning strategies in the school should provide practical and explicit action responses— discovering, experiencing, acting, and serving.

Sometimes refered to as “service learning” which, if it’s integral to the learning task, is a helpful curriculum approach. However, at times these exercises are incidental or ‘added-on’ as an after-thought. The Threads section of the model presented in this resource details a number of specific integral responses that can be woven into your curriculum.

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ALL THINGS IN AND THROUGH CHRIST The central core and cohesive force around which all things move “Jesus was supreme in the beginning and, leading the resurrection parade, he is supreme in the end... everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe, people and things, animals and atoms, get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.” Colossians 1:15ff The Message This passge from Colossians highlights two core truths about Christ. Firstly, all things in the world belong to, and are upheld by, Christ. Secondly, at the centre of all things—at the heart of Christian education—is Christ.

These biblical truths should resound in our Christian curriculum.

OUR WORLD AND ALL THINGS BELONG TO GOD The Christian school teacher is called to help reveal God’s fingerprints in all things by teaching within an understanding of all things. To unfold this understanding, we begin with the truth that God created all things.

He’s not a distant God who made the cosmos and then stepped back to let it run it’s course—His hand remains in all things. His dominion isn’t limited to ‘religious’ bits.

It reaches into every nook and cranny of the school yard and throughout His creation. Even after the fall, which indeed affects and infects all things, creation remains good. Redemption impacts all things, erecting signposts that can be redirecting all things to their God-designated purposes. Someday, all things will be fully renewed. However, the biblical worldview suggests that the renewal just doesn’t come at the end of things.

It has begun with Jesus’ resurrection and is continuing in the here and now. We are then to be seen as privileged

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co-workers with God, seeking to participate in the redeeming and renewing of all things.

An outworking of the truth that all things belong to God is that for the Christian school, faith is not an add on and neither is the study of the Bible. Simply adding faith to the learning mix denies the fundamental and integral nature of the faith and learning relationship.

ALL THINGS are founded in Christ ALL THINGS find their cohesion in Christ A sacred-secular dualistic view implies that what we study in school is not God-created and owned but separate from Him—something that is secular. The problem with this view is that it is thoroughly unbiblical.

On the contrary, the Scriptures teach that the world, in every way, belongs to God. Christian schools need to simply acknowledge what’s already there, that God is in all things, ever present, and interested.

When teachers reflect on learning through the perspective of all things, they guide students to understand that there is no area outside of God’s dominion and plan of redemption. Christian education then, does not simply direct students towards outcomes for their own benefit—towards comfortable living or employment prospects or a highly paid career. Whilst these can be blessings, the core focus of Christian education is to cultivate and develop every potential God has given each student so they can respond to the call to be a member of God’s team to bring transformed renewal to His world and thereby to reveal God in all things.

God invites us to be agents of renewal in everything we do

CHRIST AT THE CENTRE OF ALL THINGS As Christian educators we see all learning as a response to the revelation of God, in Jesus Christ, the Scriptures and all of creation. We explore all aspects of the creation in terms of their proper relationship to God. The principle of all things expressed in terms of the key biblical themes highlights the relationship that all aspects of creation have with Christ. We see this in: • creation: God in Christ has created all things – He’s the sovereign creator, setting up mankind for a loving, responsive relationship with Himself • fall: All things have fallen as a result of sin – there’s distance and fracture • redemption: Christ came to earth to redeem all things – the relationship can be re-established • renewal: In response to Christ’s act we are called to work in partnership with God as all things are renewed – we can be a part of the renewed relationship

This commitment, that Jesus is Lord of every facet and dimension of life, means that the Christian school cannot help but develop a faithful and meaningful learning response that will be different from other learning communities where education is considered neutral and value-free. The Word of God makes it clear that what is in the heart, one’s faith commitment and worldview, will shape the way that education is practised.

A slightly different way to refer to the understanding of all things is to use the label ‘holistic’. Our approach to Christian education is about all of the child, embracing an all-round education, across all the subjects and fields, in conjunction with all of the community, for all of life, and all to the glory of God.

“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” Abraham Kuyper

The creation, fall, redemption, renewal (CFRR) schema helps us to understand the place and role that Jesus Christ has within the whole scriptural story and, importantly, that He is the central pivot point of the Scriptures. Jesus is hovering over the creation, promised after the fall, the central character within the redemption, and is continuing to advocate on our behalf before his Father as we live between His first and second coming.

Therefore, with Paul in Colossians we say that all things are held together in Christ.

Every thought captive; every thought Christ’s

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CRAFTED TEACHING The way we go about teaching and learning; our pedagogical practice DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE WAY IT’S DONE

THE IMPACT OF CRAFTED TEACHING

Faith applies to all areas of the educational enterprise, as much to pedagogy (or what we could call the ‘craft of teaching’) as it does to curriculum. Many Christian educators may be guilty of focussing primarily on worldview and content (what information and skills are of greatest worth—the what?), all of which are important, but can ignore the way we go about teaching—the how? There have been countless “debates about the dynamics of worldviews, presuppositions, perspectives, science and religion - and, various ‘isms’ have made space for … understandings of the relationship of faith to scholarly work [but little has been devoted to looking at] how teaching and learning are supposed to work in a Christian setting.” (Smith and Smith, 2011, p. 3).

Crafted teaching will reflect an expansive, varied, reflective, playful, and engaging approach to learning.

It can be described as being holistic and well rounded.

Crafted teaching is marked by a number of characteristics. It gives creative attention to the best means of grabbing students’ attention (‘hooking’ them) and setting the scene for adventurous learning. It gives particular attention to being creative and adventurous in its methodology and ensuring that learners are actively engaged. It facilitates creative and dynamic learning strategies that involve curiosity, imagination, exploration, inquiry, experiential activities, and a wide repertoire of methods by which students and teachers can explore and appreciate God’s world and Word. Crafted teaching also gives attention to the varied needs and interests of each student, catering for a wide range of learning styles.

Smith and Smith encourage and challenge Christian teachers to develop teaching strategies that transform their pedagogical habits so as to create classrooms that are vital arenas for faith and life growth.

Many within mainstream education give little thought to this challenge. Options of the blind adoption of standard state-provided curriculum packages (that create weak and ‘soulless’ education), or consumerist and instrumentalist packages (which are thought to work in the competitive educational marketplace with the teachers as the mere transmitters) for teaching and learning create “houses of detention, not attention” (Postman, 1996, p. 7).

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“Practices are not mere techniques for eliciting student engagement and participation … Instead, practices help to create social spaces that have certain character, spaces graced by regard for human beings as embodied, imaginative members of God’s beloved creation.” (Dykstra and Bass, 2011, p. viii)

KINGDOM BUILDING The biblically-directed goal for all we do “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness” Matt 6:33

WE NEED A BIG STORY Education will be shaped by an overarching story that informs everything that happens in the school. What story does your school live in? Without a story—the ‘metaphysics’ of education—the concerns of the school will be dominated by technique (the transference-of-thecontent methods, or the ‘how to’). The idea of a big story, or meta-narrative, that we live out of is a helpful way of providing a story that makes sense. Postman (1996) says, “Without a narrative, life has no meaning. Without meaning learning has no purpose. Without purpose schools are houses of detention, not attention.” (p. 7).

Christians ought to live out of the biblical story. Christian education should also live out of the biblical story.

The biblical narrative of redemption and the coming of God’s kingdom is the big story that should inform and shape every aspect of life in a Christian school. It is into this story that teachers are called to invite each student. When teachers reflect on learning through this perspective, they reveal God in all things and help our students to develop the understanding that there is not an area where God’s dominion does not reach.

“The whole point of Christianity is that it offers a story which is the story of the whole world.” (Wright, 1992, p. 41) There are three layers of story that will shape and inform our educational practice: • God’s story - the meta-narrative of God’s redeeming and renewing activity from the beginning to the end of time as revealed in the Scriptures.

• Our story - the distinctive way that your school understands education and the relationship of students, parents and teachers; its heritage.

• My story - the uniqueness of each student and staff member; their gifts and abilities, needs and interests, hopes and aspirations.

God’s story is the story of salvation—from creation to crisis, to the old covenant community to the climax in Christ, to the new covenant community, to the final consummation. It reveals to us the true nature of God, man, and the world—and the whole pattern of relationships between. It tells us the story of history and ultimate outcomes. It tells how mankind can respond to God in living a life that builds the Kingdom.

The teacher’s task is one of Christian-story telling, of seeking out and helping students to see the Story in all.

We need to see God’s story as the overarching narrative that informs and shapes all our practice and by which all practice is tested. It provides the framework or tool by which students and teachers understand life and the world.

KINGDOM BUILDING Kingdom building is one of those great terms that captures what God’s people are about—the very heart of their core task. Kingdom building is rooted in the Bible as the story of the Kingdom of God. It is the story of God’s people, in God’s place, under God’s rule. It is the story of redemption from the beginning to the end of time. It is the story that reveals the nature of God, the world, and human life. It is the story that reveals what is wrong with the world and how wrong relationships are put right in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

This big story is God’s Word in human words and it presents as a collection of stories, instructions, insights, revelations, authors, and writing genres. It does this as an authoritative, unified, complex, majestic whole.

Because it tells us how the world really is, it is essential for students and teachers to have a growing knowledge of this story and a deepening submission to its authority. It is also essential that the Christian school understands the place of the big story and the relationship between the Scriptures and curriculum. This matter is more specifically addressed in the Biblical Perspective section that follows.

In summary, this story needs to infuse all aspects of the learning and teaching task within Christian schools.

See the Story; live the Story

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A Big Picture model to use

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THE BIG PICTURE A model for curriculum development

INTRODUCTION In order to build on the TRACK understanding it is necessary to have a tool that can capture and summarise all the key elements of curriculum design.

Here we bring together all the bits and pieces of information into one curriculum development template called the Big Picture Curriculum Development Model.

Frequently teachers simply follow a prescribed curriculum or a list of content as their ‘model’ for choosing curriculum. They then hope that direction and purpose for learning emerges along the way. Wiggins and McTighe (2011) suggest that many curriculum design models commit the twin sins of “activityfocused teaching” and “coverage-focused teaching”.

Neither of these flaws to approaching instructional design provide an adequate answer to the key questions at the heart of effective learning, namely “what is the point?” and “what is of most importance here?”

The problem with the twin sins is that there are no big ideas guiding the teaching and no plan for ensuring the learning. The Big Picture Model captures the Main Idea and constructs a plan to provide one clear learning picture.

The Big Picture Model: • provides a curriculum devlopment model and a set of tools for developing a faithful Christian curriculum practice that is grounded in the core truths expressed in TRACK • offers assistance to schools and teachers where there is a desire to develop an authentic, faithful, biblically-shaped, Christian worldview framed approach to teaching and learning designed for Christian schools • provides a common model and language so that teachers can build their understanding and have a ready mechanism to facilitate their active involvement • offers a greater opportunity for the sharing of resources across Christian schools, thereby building on our strengths and our resource base.

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CONSTRUCTING A JIGSAW

BEGIN WITH THE BIG PICTURE

It would be great if curriculum development was logical and sequential, where you could simply outline the steps.

The reality is that it is more organic and developmental in character. It emerges as teachers brainstorm and immerse themselves in the process.

Developing Christian curriculum is a wonderfully exciting thing and it needs to begin with a Big Picture. This Big Picture can only be established when there’s a clear understanding of ‘why’ and ‘what’ you’re doing. The Big Picture needs to be developed before all else because it shapes the purpose and character of your curriculum.

The Big Picture provides an overall map that guides and directs the development of a biblically inspired, and Christian worldview shaped, curriculum—a plan for learning. Putting the jigsaw pieces together in the Big Picture in this model is akin to drawing up plans for construction. Teachers who understand and use the Big Picture will find the process of curriculum development a lot easier and therefore much more rewarding.

As with a jigsaw, viewing the overall image is most helpful as you commence the task. You then gather and place the edge pieces so as to frame the task. You then work with the most identifiable pieces and join them so sub-section images emerge. To a measure, it doesn’t really matter where you start—one section helps shape and bring another into the overall image. All along you keep referring back to the image on the jigsaw box—the big picture.

Developing curriculum that is shaped by your school’s direction, and by what is important to you as a Christian educator, is a lot like doing jigsaws. They require the overall picture, a good table, a team, patience, and a desire to play.

Those who go straight to the content—the textbook; the learning activities—could be seen as using the ‘text, teach, test’ model. That’s no fun and may very well take the ‘Christian’ out of curriculum development because others, and their worldviews have done the shaping.

We should note here that nearly all curricula contains worthwhile understandings. Acknowledging God’s common grace (the things and insights He has given to all) means that Christians may draw from these resource pools. However, we note that these curricula may not have been shaped by biblical truths. Christian educators in Australia have the opportunity and freedom to build their curriculum on a sound TRACK. This is why we begin with the Big Picture.

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PLAYING IN THE CURRICULUM SANDPIT You will be familiar with the collective groan from teachers when a Christian educational leader mentions “curriculum”—maybe you have felt this yourself?

Somehow we need to change this attitude. We want to create a whole new attitude to curriculum. It’s not the overwhelming package we have to deliver. It’s not the compliance list we need to enter on the hard drive.

It’s not the bucket of content we have to pour into our students whether they want it or not. Rather, it’s a plan for joyful learning.

Think of the image of a father playing with his children on the beach. He’s as engrossed as his children constructing the sandcastle, digging the trenches, building the wall to stop the tide, decorating the shapes.

The joy in exploration, discovery, experimentation, constructing that we seek to encourage in our children is the same enjoyment that Christian teachers can have ‘playing in the curriculum sandpit’. And like the dad on the beach, it is so much easier when those around you want to ‘play’ and when you’ve got good tools to work with. It’s infectious all-round. When teachers are excited about the curriculum they’ve designed, students likewise are going to engage and enjoy the experience. It is a challenge to turn the mindset around.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS TEACHERS AS ACTIVE PLAYERS This model thoroughly rejects the notion that reduces the teacher to a mere deliverer of curriculum—a technician who’s been trained to transfer certain knowledge and skills. The model assumes that the Christian teacher understands that they are at the heart of good teaching—as Curriculum Developers and not just Curriculum Deliverers.

A FLEXIBLE AND DYNAMIC MODEL Schools and teachers approach the development of curriculum in different ways. Therefore a helpful approach is to offer suitable flexibility where schools can mould the tool for their own local use. The template offered within the Big Picture model is a basic one. Some labels might not suit and can be changed. Some schools might desire to add extra sections that capture some of the more specific needs—characteristics of the local school.

There is flexibility in using the Big Picture template. Not everything on the template needs to be completed.

It can be topic or unit-dependent. However, if vital sections (the Main Idea, Biblical Perspective or the set of Essential Questions) were left blank, that could be problematic. When a curriculum development team finds itself becoming overly repetitious or merely completing sections for the sake of it, such padding starts to become meaningless and loses value.

BRINGING TOGETHER KEY ELEMENTS One of the valuable characteristics of the Big Picture model is that it brings together three key elements that many Christian schools have been working with, firstly our all things and transformational heritage, secondly curriculum compliance requirements, thirdly the best in curriculum development models.

Firstly, the transformational heritage could be described as an emphasis on recognising the value of worldview; the need for a biblical perspective like creation, fall, redemption, renewal (CFRR) to guide and shape; that teachers need training and support; and that our curriculum practice can’t help but develop its own different shape because of these things.

Secondly, the required curriculum (for many this is the Australian Curriculum or a state-based version), necessitates response. Hopefully, for Christian schools it is neither the sole shaper nor the enemy. It is a key resource that has significant influence but it also sits beneath the Christian school’s core purpose and vision.

Our understanding of this will guide our response to the structure, mandatory/optional parts, expectations, and use of it as a key resource. Whatever a school’s approach, a certain amount of reporting/auditing against the required curriculum must occur. Schools should articulate their approach to this engagement.

Thirdly, most schools have shaped or adopted models or templates to develop and outline their curricula.

Such tools give insight into a school’s understanding of their purpose and their approach to learning. The Big Picture model makes strong use of the work of Understanding by Design (UbD) and the insights of reformational scholar, David Smith, about pedagogy.

Most helpfully, UbD provides a clear emphasis on the initial establishment of clarity about the Main Ideas and central understandings of the unit. As a model it ensures that there is accountability to ensure the key outcomes are driven by what is determined as being essential.

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THE BIG PICTURE MODEL Summary

1

MAIN IDEA

Summarising the Main Idea The Main Idea is what focuses and holds together the unit. It is a single sentence the big summary that captures the overall Main Idea.

2

BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE Articulating the biblical story

The Biblical Perspective is an articulation of where the topic fits into the biblical story and where the biblical story specifically speaks into the topic area. The key framework of: creation, fall, redemption, and renewal (CFRR) is a helpful tool.

3

THREADS

Bringing the responses alive Threads are the responses that we wish to draw out after understanding God’s revelation as articulated in the Biblical Perspective.

Threads assist in drawing the unit together and provide students with opportunities to live out their new learning.

4

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

Identifying the enduring understandings This is an opportunity to identify those more specific and Enduring Understandings that flow out of the Main Idea and which we wish students to grasp as a result of studying the unit. Enduring Understandings shouldn’t be confused with simply listing key knowledge and content.

5 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Shaping the essential questions

Essential Questions are questions that are created to help focus and capture the Main Idea of a unit and that stimulate deeper student thinking about the topic.

6 KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS Noting the key knowledge and skills

Teachers are all too familiar with the task of compiling a list of Knowledge and Skills for a unit. Careful consideration of prescribed Knowledge and Skills should be merged with an understanding of the thinking that has already occurred in sections 1-5. This is not simply a cut and paste of knowledge and skills lists. Teachers wisely choose and reframe the list using clear, user-friendly language. It is likely that extra knowledge and skills will emerge from the overall process. This section is a significant intersection/collision point between what’s above and what’s below.

7 PRESCRIBED CURRICULUM Listing the content and descriptors

The Prescribed Curricula section is a useful reference point and audit tool. A critical review of the Prescribed Curriculum’s list and a careful selection from it is made in the light of all the other design elements within the Big Picture.

“Learning is learning only if it is remembered and repeatable, if it leads to changes in the way we act” (Stronks and Blomberg, 1993, p. 194)

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THE BIG PICTURE TEMPLATE 1. THE MAIN IDEA Summarise the Main Idea

2. BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE Articulate the connections between the biblical story and the unit

3. THREADS Choose the relevant response threads

4. ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS Identify the enduring understandings Identify misunderstandings

5. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Shape the essential questions

6A. KNOWLEDGE Note the relevant key knowledge and skills

6B. SKILLS

7. PRESCRIBED CURRICULUM List the relevant content headings and descriptors

Reproducible master. Downloads also available www.nice.edu.au © National Institute of Christian Education (2015) Used by Permission.

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THE BIG PICTURE Pointers for getting started

It’s important to keep in mind that the Big Picture is a summary of the whole unit. It’s a summary that captures the main points and not the small detail that’s normally included in a teacher’s weekly planner. The temptation, as you are filling in the sections, is to include everything that is being thought about. That’s okay, providing the final Big Picture version provides a 1 -2 page summary of the unit.

JUST START Some Big Picture thinkers are able to quickly articulate an overall Main Idea by simply pondering “what are we trying to do?” However, for most involved in this process, the key ideas that become articulated in the Main Idea or other sections tend to emerge, as teachers engage with the process.

Therefore just start anywhere on the Big Picture page, possibly with whichever section is the easiest to work with. The process of brainstorming occurs in so many different ways. Some get inspired by responding to a curriculum package and critiquing it. Others start from the ground up, looking at rationales and aims. Others, like those using Understanding by Design, start with the end in mind by asking “what outcomes do you want kids to have at the end?”

Teachers will find that as they begin brainstorming and start to share responses, the sections will begin to fill up. Ideas flow and thinking caps becomes charged as there is immersion in the exercise. So start wherever it best suits.

The flexibility to choose the most conducive starting point is important to remember as the process of constructing the Big Picture is not a linear one but a dynamic one. At the same time, as the diagram on the right demonstrates, there is a sense in which the top and bottom elements serve to inform the shaded elements.

SUGGESTED STARTING POINTS A set of suggestions for different types of starting points would be: • When working from curriculum like the Australian Curriculum (AC), look over the content descriptors.

What is covered and why have these been chosen?

• Don’t get bogged down in the huge array of options within the AC. Summarise the mandatory content, then ask “What’s important to address?” after looking at the Big Picture. At the end, use the AC as a checklist.

• When working with someone else’s curriculum, review their coverage. What would you want to add or subtract? What needs re-arranging?

• When introducing something new or innovative, start by developing a Biblical Perspective and then open up a broader brainstorming exercise—Why is this needed?

Why are you interested in developing this? How will student-interest be triggered? Do you have some key activities in mind?

• If you get stuck, check out the examples that follow.

• For Understanding by Design adherents, take the ‘backwards design’ approach by starting with the end in mind. What learning outcomes, biblical truths, and practices do you want the students to have?

1. THE MAIN IDEA 2. BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

3. THREADS

4. ENDURING

5. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

UNDERSTANDINGS

6A. KNOWLEDGE

7. PRESCRIBED CURRICULUM

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6B. SKILLS

UNPACKING:

BACKGROUND

UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN

What is UbD and why are we using its basic framework?

Understanding by Design (UbD) is a curriculum framework that was developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. It is one of a number of useful resources that can assist in curriculum design. UbD is sometimes referred to as ‘backwards design’ because the focus is beginning the curriculum design with the end in mind.

The UbD process promotes “understanding by design as opposed to understanding by good fortune” (Wiggins and McTighe, 2011, p. 7). It challenges teachers to be more intentional in curriculum design so that students have improved understanding.

The UbD model has three main stages; stage 1 identifies the desired results of the unit, stage 2 determines acceptable evidence, and stage 3 is where teachers plan learning experiences and instruction accordingly. When used effectively, the UbD framework assists teachers in avoiding the twin sins of unit design. The first of these is where the teacher begins with the planning of

activities that relate to a topic, with little thought given to the overall goals of the unit. The second ‘sin’ is where teachers are more concerned with content coverage, rather than teaching for understanding. This approach is more prevalent at older year levels where textbooks have tended to dictate the learning plan.

The beauty of the UbD approach to curriculum development is that it encourages teachers to be mindful that the desired results identified in stage 1 (known as the Big Picture in our model) are clearly evident in all areas of curriculum planning. This is one of the key reasons that we have chosen to adapt it and use it for our approach. The Biblical Perspective and discipleship responses should not simply sit at the top of our curriculum documents. They should be outworked in carefully chosen Enduring Understandings, Essential Questions, Knowledge, Skills, Assessments, Learning Activities, as well as in daily classroom practices.

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THE BIG PICTURE MODEL The core elements explained

1

THE MAIN IDEA The Main Idea is like a hinge upon which the whole unit swings. This hinge is critical for understanding as it holds together all the various pieces of information that are a part of a unit/topic. Otherwise these simply become bits and pieces of inert facts that lead to nowhere. Students and teachers often become so pre-occupied with all the details that they fail to consider the Main Idea that gives the learning meaning. Teachers need to ask, “what are we going to learn?” not, “what are we going to do?”

The Main Idea is one of the take-away or enduring messages that we would like students to have, and which they should be able to engage with for years to come after the unit is finished. It is a single sentence that captures the main message of the unit. While this is the first box we encounter on the Big Picture template, it often is the last one we complete as it emerges as we engage with the various elements of the Big Picture.

2

BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE A Biblical Perspective, better labelled a biblically-informed perspective (as frequently there isn’t just one single Bible-answer to whatever the question might be), ensures the Christian teacher is thinking about how this area of study sits within the broader context of God’s revelation.

By using the CFRR schema, teachers can develop a Biblical Perspective statement for the purpose of seeing where the topic area fits into the biblical story and where relevant parts of the biblical story might provide insight and helpful reflections for the unit of study. The beauty of the CFRR schema is that it typically helps to ensure that misuses of the Bible are avoided (e.g. proof texting; moralising; tacky applications; un-contextualised, simplistic, and false connections).

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The next section of this document provides a more comprehensive explanation about, and a range of resources for, developing a Biblical Perspective.

3

THREADS As teachers engage and understand the Biblical Perspective for a topic, they cannot help but see the need for response.

In the Bible, God spells out his intentions for how His people can live. God invites His Kingdom-people to be active agents in the restoration of all things. Threads are then the specific expressions of what it means to be responsive disciples of Jesus. Threads are action responses, qualities, or characteristics that we desire students to develop.

As we engage and make connections with the Main Idea and Biblical Perspective, a number (maybe 2 or 3) of carefully selected and appropriate Threads will emerge.

As Threads are woven through the curriculum, a rich tapestry of insight and application begins to take shape. In working with the key Threads identified for a unit, students are provided with a ready means to see the relevance and applicability of their learning. Threads then capture both the specific active responses that students can develop, and it also functions to assist drawing a unit together.

However, it is important not to misunderstand the label Threads. They should not be understood as the only or main cohesive element of the Big Picture. It is one of seven.

Indeed all the elements act like Threads, drawing the unit together. Some like The Main Idea, Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions more so than a list of Knowledge and Skills.

A later section of this document provides a more comprehensive explanation of Threads, and a range of resources for choosing and working with Threads.

THE BIG PICTURE MODEL The core elements explained

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ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS By identifying the Enduring Understandings we recognise that our learning seeks to be more expansive than the simple acquisition of knowledge through data. Bloom (1956) wrote that understanding is the ability to marshal skills and facts wisely and appropriately, through effective application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Wiggins and McTighe (2011) expand on Bloom’s concept of understanding and outline six facets: explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy, and self-knowledge. The pursuit of understandings should not be about a collection of facts to learn or a list of knowledge content. Rather, an opportunity for engagement with deeper meaning and effective transfer of new learning. Here we seek to identify the Enduring Understandings that we wish students to grasp as a result of studying the unit. Ideally there would not be more than five key Enduring Understandings listed in the Big Picture template.

When identifying Enduring Understandings a clear grasp of where the learning is heading and how it might be experienced is required.

Grappling with what other curricula have stated in their aims, rationales, and understandings sections can be a useful starting point. Enduring Understandings build off the Main Idea, the Biblical Perspective, the Threads, and the requirements of the Prescribed Curriculum. It is also important to be conscious that Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions have a strong relationship and closely inform each other.

Along with articulating the Essential Questions, capturing the Enduring Understandings is an important step that helps teachers deal with the problem of coverage, i.e. to clarify and separate the essential, the important, the worthwhile, and the superfluous. When teachers attempt to cover all the expectations outlined in Prescribed Curricula they find insufficient time in the school day and year. Choices must be made and teachers

are required to sort through long curriculum overview lists to determine appropriate coverage.

Separating what’s essential, important, worthwhile, and what needs to be discarded, becomes far easier when the teacher has a grasp on the elements of the Big Picture.

Enduring Understandings will flow through the unit as the pedagogy, learning activities, and assessment tasks are planned with these Enduring Understandings in mind.

Enduring Understandings also include the identification of common misunderstandings as these have huge influence and are essential for equipping students with the skills of discernment and critique. Misunderstandings identify the false assumptions that need to be challenged. Simple examples might be, “Does better technology equal superiority?”, “Is tanned skin a sign of health?”

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS: • capture the things we want students to understand, and retain, beyond the work within the unit • refer to transferable, Main Ideas having value beyond a specific topic • involve abstract, counter-intuitive, and easily misunderstood ideas • summarise important strategic principles in skill areas.

“Understandings are the specific insights, inferences, or conclusions about the Main Idea you want to leave with.” (Wiggins and McTighe, 2011, p. 80)

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THE BIG PICTURE MODEL The core elements explained

5

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Essential Questions are three or four key questions (perhaps no more than five) that you keep coming back to throughout the unit to draw out the Main Idea and Enduring Understandings. Other questions that arise do not need to appear in the Big Picture summary but can be included in a teacher’s weekly planner.

Essential Questions are a strong connection point between the major philosophical elements (Main Idea, Biblical Perspective, Threads and Enduring Understandings) and what is focused on in the classroom. By framing Essential Questions teachers help to focus the depth, breadth, and understanding of the learning.

Many observers will note the overlap in educational philosophy between Essential Questions and inquiry-based learning, in that Essential Questions ensure that learners are: • engaged in productive enquiry that stimulates thinking, discussion, and debate • sparked to rethink and ask further questions • led to deeper insights about identified important matters.

Writing the Essential Questions is a part of the curriculum development process and usually follows on from work undertaken on the Main Idea, Biblical Perspective, Threads and Enduring Understandings elements. However, an alternate view, expressed by the useful UbD framework, suggests that a backwards design approach can be helpful, i.e. identify your key Enduring Understandings, learning outcomes and assessments and then articulate your Essential Questions. How the process is undertaken is not that important, over against, that it is undertaken.

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Essential Questions have defining characteristics. A good Essential Question: • is open ended—that is, it typically will not have a single, final, or correct answer • is thought-provoking and intellectually engaging, often sparking discussion and debate • calls for higher-order thinking, such as analysis, inference, evaluation, and prediction, and cannot be effectively answered by recall only • points toward important, transferable ideas within (and sometimes across) disciplines • raises additional questions and sparks further inquiry • requires support and justification, not just an answer • recurs over time – that is, the question can and should be revisited again and again • is not ‘google-able’ (easily researched), but must be discovered, uncovered, or invented.

(Wiggins and McTighe, 2013, p. 3)

“Teachers frequently ask how many essential questions they should have for a unit. Wiggins and McTighe recommend a variation on the Marine Corps recruiting slogan: We’re looking for a few good questions. If they are truly essential, they can and should establish priorities and help uncover all key ideas.” (Wiggins and McTighe, 2013, p. 39)

THE BIG PICTURE MODEL The core elements explained

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KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS Teachers are all to familiar with Knowledge and Skills lists. Knowledge is what we want students to know about the unit or topic we are teaching. Skills are what we want our students to do as they work with the content of the unit.

These lists outline what Knowledge and Skills students will acquire or practice as they work with the content of this unit.

In this section teachers should carefully consider the worthwhile things found in the referenced Prescribed Curriculum (both its Knowledge and Skills lists and its content and description lists). These are considered against the background of the understandings that have emerged through sections 1-5 before a revised Knowledge and Skills list is compiled.

This is not simply a cut and paste exercise.

Teachers should critique and consider what Knowledge and Skills best works with all that has been considered in the Big Picture. The list should be expressed in clear, user-friendly language. This section is a significant intersection/collision point between what’s above (sections 1-5) and what’s below—the Prescribed Curriculum.

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PRESCRIBED CURRICULUM The Prescribed Curriculum (whether that’s the Australian Curriculum or a state-based version) is one means of expressing the learning plan.

In the Christian school it should definitely not be the starting point, but nor should it be ignored. The Prescribed Curriculum needs to be considered and used for the appropriate influence it has. That being said, within the Big Picture the Prescribed Curriculum section is quite deliberately last, so as to emphasise the point that it is not the driver.

The Big Picture needs to include a summary list of what content will be covered because most teachers find this a useful checklist for what they are covering. As a reference point the list of content and descriptors is a helpful stimulus for teachers when developing their unit. As an audit tool the list of content and descriptors assists teachers to weigh-up what others have felt is important and provides the means to cross-check mandatory (Prescribed Curriculum) requirements.

The Prescribed Curriculum section is a useful reference point and audit tool. A critical review of the Prescribed Curriculum’s list and a careful selection from it is made in the light of all the other design elements within the Big Picture.

An adapted list of content headings and descriptors is then entered in this section.

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EXAMPLES

A model for curriculum development The following examples have been provided for teachers to see how others have approached the Big Picture of their units.

DOWNLOAD Download the Big Picture template and the following examples. nice.edu.au/transformation-by-design.aspx

EXAMPLE 1 FOUNDATION GENERAL LITERACY AND HISTORY COMMUNITY UNIT 1. THE MAIN IDEA God made us to live in communities and help each other.

2. BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ,In the Scriptures, God made the first human community through the marriage of Adam and Eve. It was not until Adam had his helpmate, Eve, that both Adam and the Lord were satisfied. It was a perfect community in every sense of the word. After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, God punished them for their disobedience.

Since that time, all human communities and relationships experience sin, pain, suffering, and evil, as the effects of the fall make their mark on all areas of human life: between and in individuals and genders, and between and within families, tribes, groups, nations, races, organisations, institutions and societies.

Nevertheless, the blessing of God remained on Adam and Eve; it was not completely removed. With the birth of Cain (and later Abel), the first human family was formed, building on the marriage of Adam and Eve. Since the fall into sin, there is no perfect community or communities. Each community shows some faults, some scars, some weaknesses. Communities may disregard the ways of the Lord, and do things that do not honour Him. Even healthy or good communities or communities that seek to love and serve the Lord are affected by sin and may experience the consequences of evil, pain and suffering. Relationships may be fractured, their God-given callings, tasks, and purposes may be ignored. Communities may become dysfunctional,

corrupt, exploitative, divisive, self-centred, power-hungry. Some communities may seek to assume (take over) the God-given callings, tasks, and purposes that are the proper responsibility of other communities. There are even some communities that exist solely to bring gain and satisfaction only for their own members.

Other communities may be established to promote violence or injustice; greed or selfish gain; destruction or lust.

Yet each community is called to serve the Lord in their activities and relationships. All communities may experience God’s blessings and grace. All are called to bring restoration or to achieve good and pleasing outcomes through their activities and goals. Each is called to help the broader society; to bring peace and shalom; to seek justice for the weak and the needy; and to enjoy times of creativity and physical expression.

The children will be encouraged to look for ways, in response to God’s love, to bring hope, reconciliation, love, and justice in the communities of their own classes as well as in all the other communities to which they belong. They will also be given opportunity to practice hospitality in the school community and explore ways to use their gifts to serve others locally and globally.

A community that reflects the love of God will practise the values and virtues that foster effective community life like honesty, integrity, care, compassion, kindness, gentleness, patience, and service of others.

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EXAMPLE 1 FOUNDATION GENERAL LITERACY AND HISTORY COMMUNITY UNIT 3. THREADS Building Community Students will explore that they are active contributors and encouragers of others as the community is built up. They will find ways to serve others in their own classroom and beyond.

Practicing Hospitality Students welcome and accept others, and use their gifts to embrace others into community.

Unwrapping Gifts Students enrich theirs and other’s lives through developing and using their gifts. They will be encouraged to look for unique ways that they can give to their communities.

4. ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

5. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Students will:

• what makes a community a community?

• explore why God created us to live in communities

• do communities need rules?

• gain insight into the childhood of their parents and grandparents

• who are the people in my neighbourhood?

• compare and contrast different family structures and ways of commemorating significant events • reflect ways where they can contribute their gifts and talents within their family, school, and beyond,

• what can people do in communities that they can’t do by themselves?

• what is a child’s position and role in the community? A grandparent’s?

• is life any different now from when my grandma was a child?

• have gratitude for their abilities and explore opportunities to serve others, • extend thinking outside of themselves, to the next point of call, being their family.

Misunderstandings: • that community refers only to one limited concept such as the neighbourhood • that community is man’s idea.

6A. KNOWLEDGE

6B. SKILLS

Students will know:

Students will be able to:

• God made the first community

• investigate and communicate through discussion, role play, and listening.

• other peoples families and housing can be different to theirs • what life was like when Grandma/Grandpa grew up (daily life, family traditions, leisure time and communications)

• explore another point of view

• communities have structure, and to take a closer look at our school community as an example

• distinguish between past, present, and future

• communities have leaders and helpers, each person having specific jobs to do

• pose questions using historical sources.

• listen and respect each other • practise service at home, school, and other community settings

• common jobs in the community; such as the local shops, hospital, fire station, and police station.

7. PRESCRIBED CURRICULUM Historical knowledge and understanding: • who the people in their family are, where they were born and raised and how they are related to each other (ACHHK001) • the different structures of families and family groups today, and what they have in common (ACHHK002) • how they, their family, and friends commemorate past events that are important to them (ACHHK003) • how the stories of families and the past can be communicated, for example through photographs, artefacts, books, oral histories, digital media, and museums (ACHHK004) Historical skills • sequence familiar objects and events (ACHHS047) • distinguish between the past, present, and future (ACHHS048) • pose questions about the past using sources provided (ACHHS049) • use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written, role play) and digital technologies (ACHHS054) • explore a point of view (ACHHS020)

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EXAMPLE 2 YEAR 5 & 6 PRIMARY SCIENCE ANTARCTICA UNIT 1. THE MAIN IDEA God’s majestic creation of the unique Antarctic ecosystem requires us to have a special relationship and response to it.

2. BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE In our unit on Antarctica we will explore the marvellous work of our Creator, and be awed by the majestic beauty of the land, by the interdependence and harmonious relationships of the created world, and by the diversity and adaptation of its wildlife. We will see the way Antarctica’s cold adapted organisms have survived in their harsh environment; the interdependence of the food chain; and the natural adaptation that makes each species suited to life there. We will discover the place that Antarctica has as one of the two polar caps; its impact on global climate; how its ozone hole affects ultraviolet radiation levels and weather patterns; and that it stores 90% of the world’s ice and 70% of its fresh water. Just watching clips of the March of the Penguins, for example, in the rearing of chicks prompts us to wonder—at the amazing timing of nature, at the devotion of parents, and at the way creatures respond to the changing seasons of life.

We affirm that this is God’s world. He created it with a plan and purpose and He is sustaining it as He does the entire creation. We recognise that as God’s image bearers we’ve been created with a desire to know and understand our world, and so people have sought to explore it, Antarctica included. People have challenged themselves, sometimes with self-sacrificing heroism, to discover, understand, and ‘open up’ Antarctica to the rest of the world.

Some environmentalists would have us believe that Antarctica is like the ‘forbidden fruit’ that we must not touch for any reason at all for fear of the consequences. But we believe that God created Antarctica for a purpose and it is part of His plan, though we don’t understand exactly what that might be yet. We know that we are to act responsibly towards Antarctica, showing wisdom in our stewardship and acting in the land’s best interests. Yet, God gives us permission to use the land, as everywhere else, for His glory and purpose. There may be as yet undiscovered sea creatures holding great medicinal cures that await our discovery and responsible use. At the same time there is a place for some spaces to be established as special protection zones because of their unique beauty and value and because of the risks associated with human exploitation. Where does the created tension lie between these biblical guidelines of care and use?

People have only set foot in Antarctica since the 1820s when Russian explorers stood in wonder at the world’s fifth largest continent, nearly twice the size of Australia. Even now no one is

permanently resident there. Only a small number of temporary scientific visitors based at national research stations come and go and a limited number of tourists visit during the summer months.

Such restricted access and small amount of human contact has meant that there is little evidence of corruption (the fall) apart from this human interference. An interesting question is whether Antarctica is as God always intended it to be, up till the moment people arrived.

We can see the evidence of human impact on Antarctica, even without a permanent human population living there, in the pollution of the seas surrounding it; in the decline of species of fish due to over-fishing and exploitation of the seas; and in the break-up of the ice shelves due to global warming, to name a few examples. All of this has impacted on Antarctica with species like the albatross declining in number due to fishing practices, and the subsequent impact of the food chain when one species of sea life is decimated.

Although we are much more aware of human impact now, there is still the possibility that humans will continue to harm Antarctica by inappropriate research, by excessive tourism and potential environmental damage including oil spills from cruise ships or exploitive mining. The prohibitive costs of access, clean up and waste removal and the fact that so much is out of sight means there are risks of poor care. Close attention and mutual oversight is needed to ensure Antarctica is adequately protected from carelessness.

The Antarctic System Treaty ensures Antarctica is a natural reserve devoted to peace and science and through international cooperation bans, military activity and mineral mining. Christians would applaud this unique agreement of sharing not just the continent but also the various researches undertaken and the present suspension of national self-interest for the sake of greater global goals. This international agreement and cooperation is currently protecting Antarctica from many dangers. However, in the future it is possible that if valuable resources are discovered in Antarctica, this cooperation may vanish as competition for resources takes over.

3. THREADS Caretaking Earth Students will be challenged to explore ways to act responsibly towards Antarctica, showing wisdom in our stewardship and acting in the land’s best interests. They can also explore how new discoveries from this land may benefit communities.

Pondering Creation Students will see the wonderful work of our Creator, and be awed by the majestic beauty of the land.

Discovering Patterns Students can explore and discover God’s patterns and designs in the way Antarctic creatures live in harmony with their surroundings and by the diversity and adaptation of its wildlife. continued over page

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A CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE FOR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS

EXAMPLE 2 YEAR 5 & 6 PRIMARY SCIENCE ANTARCTICA UNIT CONTINUED 4. ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

5. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Students will:

• what is special about Antarctica?

• reflect on how much God loves His creation and has asked us to take care of it

• what is our relationship to nature?

• appreciate and be gobsmacked by the beauty and uniqueness of Antarctica • be inspired to consider how their lifestyle affects the environment

• how can we explore and make use of the world God has given us, without spoiling it?

• what choices can Australia make in working and taking care of Antarctica?

• propose possible ways this land can be used or preserved in the future.

Misunderstandings: • it is safe because it is so far away • there aren’t enough people there to pollute the place.

6A. KNOWLEDGE

6B. SKILLS

Students will know:

Students will be able to:

• the location and physical features of Antarctica

• read and make maps

• related vocabulary on Antarctica

• assess impact on the food chain due to human activities

• unique animal life and ecosystem

• compare explorers, and past and present experiences

• exploration history

• pose questions leading to research

• what it is like to live and work in Antarctica today

• read, highlight and take notes to show relevancy

• the issues that threaten Antarctica’s future

• critique an issue from different perspectives and formulate an opinion

7. PRESCRIBED CURRICULUM Science understanding Level 5 • living things have structural features and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment (ACSSU043) Level 6 • the growth and survival of living things are affected by the physical conditions of their environment (ACSSU094) • sudden geological changes or extreme weather conditions can affect Earth’s surface (ACSSU096) • science as human endeavour (Levels 5 & 6) • science involves testing predictions by gathering data and using evidence to develop explanations of events and phenomena (ACSHE098) • scientific understandings, discoveries and inventions are used to solve problems that directly affect peoples’ lives (ACSHE100) • scientific knowledge is used to inform personal and community decisions (ACSHE220) Science skills (Level 5 & 6) • compare data with predictions and use as evidence in developing explanations (ACSIS221) • with guidance, plan appropriate investigation methods to answer questions or solve problems (ACSIS103) • communicate ideas, explanations and processes in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts ( ACSIS093)

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EXAMPLE 3 SENIOR PRIMARY GENERAL LITERACY AND SCIENCE LIGHT UNIT 1. THE MAIN IDEA God’s gift of light to the world.

2. BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE In the Creation account, God reveals that light is one of the fundamental requirements for life on earth and that He is its source. It is because of this primary importance of light that it is accorded a unit of study. It complements the other units in the early years of schooling. This unit continues to expand and deepen the children’s experience of their life in God’s world.

All life on earth depends, in some way, upon light for its existence. But light is important for more than just bare existence. It allows for the richness of visual perception and the vast array of colours to which we respond aesthetically. It helps to set the mood for social occasions and evokes an emotional response. It represents truth and honesty, and so on. Light helps to make the earth a home for humanity, not just by establishing the physical conditions for our lives but throughout our lives in all dimensions.

It is important when we study light that we do not regard it as a merely ‘natural’ phenomenon. We know the meaning of light in its fullness when we know the fullness of its relationships to other creatures. Our study of light must unpack the full range of functioning of light and the way in which it functions in all aspects of experience.

A significant component of our modern worldview is the belief that we only really know things when we know them scientifically. We must be aware of the influence of this scientistic perspective on our way of seeing light and must consciously seek to counter this in the construction and implementation of this unit of study. Our focus of attention will be ‘light’, but we cannot know light in isolation, as a thing in itself.

Sitting in front of a fireplace, watching the play of the flames and the movement of the colours; lighting a candle in the midst of a group gathered for prayer and meditation; dousing the incandescents for a candle-lit dinner; lighting the streets of London with gas-lamps to deter criminals; posting traffic lights at busy intersections; the proclamation of Jesus that He is the light of the world; the brightness of the sun announcing the dawning of a new day—in these examples we begin to get an inkling of the richness of our potential experience of light.

Think then more broadly of the colours of God’s world; in the flowers and the clothes; the paints on walls and canvasses; of how a colour assumes a cultural meaning; in the flag or the wedding dress. These are not mere accidents of history, but examples of the ways in which the meaning of God’s world is disclosed as humans carry out their cultural task. Each person is God’s co-worker in unfolding the rich meaning of light to the praise of His name and for the benefit of all people.

But the fall into sin entails that light will also be used disobediently, in ways that cause harm and deny God’s purposes. Children should become aware of these effects and also of the power of reconciliation in Christ that can bring healing to the world. Lasers can be used for destruction in war and to shine in goal keeper’s eyes or for healing in medicine. The wrong use of light can blind, but we can use glasses to refract light to help overcome eye defects. It is indeed a challenge to know how we can use God’s gifts in ways that glorify His name and affirm human life.

3. THREADS Pondering Creation Students contemplate both the Creator and His handiwork and respond in delight and praise.

Challenging Distortions Students identify and critique areas impacted by sin and then discern God’s purposes.

Relishing Play Students have an attitude of joy-filled play as they respond to what God has provided and Christ has restored.

4. ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

5. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Students will:

• how do we experience and enjoy ‘light’ all around us?

• explore how God is the source of Life and light on earth

• what does ‘light’ tell us about God and His creation?

• experience and reflect on how light has brought so much joy and richness to our lives

• why is Jesus called the ‘light of the world’?

Misunderstandings: • light is merely a natural phenomenon

Further Questions: • why do our shadows chase us around?

• what would life be like without ‘light’?

• we only really know things when we know them scientifically. continued over page

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EXAMPLE 3 SENIOR PRIMARY GENERAL LITERACY AND SCIENCE LIGHT UNIT CONTINUED 6A. KNOWLEDGE

6B. SKILLS

Students will know:

Students will be able to:

• how light from a source forms shadows (absorbed, reflected and refracted)

• pose questions and predict findings

• the properties of light and how it enables us to see

• use equipment in ways that are safe and improve accuracy of their observations

• the vast array of functions that light provides in our lives and community

• construct tables and graphs to organise data

• language features and use vocabulary and vocal effects appropriate for different audiences and purposes

• plan, rehearse and deliver an or imaginative multimodal text, choosing sounds, images and language appropriate to audience

• justify a point of view and develop interaction skills

• reread and edit own work and peer work.

7. PRESCRIBED CURRICULUM Science Understanding

English

• light from a source forms shadows and can be absorbed, reflected and refracted (ACSSU080)

LITERACY

Science as Human Endeavour

• clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to students’ own experiences and present and justify a point of view (ACELY1699)

• science involves testing predictions by gathering data and using evidence to develop explanations of events and phenomena (ACSHE081) • scientific understandings, discoveries, and inventions are used to solve problems that directly affect peoples’ lives (ACSHE083) • scientific knowledge is used to inform personal and community decisions (ACSHE217) Science Inquiry Skills • with guidance, pose questions to clarify practical problems or inform a scientific investigation, and predict what the findings of an investigation might be (ACSIS231) • with guidance, plan appropriate investigation methods to answer questions or solve problems (ACSIS086) • decide which variable should be changed and measured in fair tests and accurately observe, measure and record data, using digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS087) • use equipment and materials safely, identifying potential risks (ACSIS088) • construct and use a range of representations, including tables and graphs, to represent and describe observations, patterns or relationships in data using digital technologies as appropriate (ACSIS090) • suggest improvements to the methods used to investigate a question or solve a problem (ACSIS091)

• interacting with others

• use interaction skills, for example paraphrasing, questioning and interpreting non-verbal cues and choose vocabulary and vocal effects appropriate for different audiences and purposes (ACELY1796) • plan, rehearse and deliver presentations for defined audiences and purposes incorporating accurate and sequenced content and multimodal elements (ACELY1700) • creating texts • plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1704) • reread and edit student’s own and others’ work using agreed criteria for text structures and language features (ACELY1705)

• communicate ideas, explanations and processes in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts (ACSIS093).

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EXAMPLE 4 JUNIOR SECONDARY GEOGRAPHY LANDFORMS AND LANDSCAPES UNIT 1. THE MAIN IDEA God shapes creation and we shape creation.

2. BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE Psalm 24 tells us that “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof”. Genesis 1 and 2 and many other parts of the Scriptural account inform us about the vast cosmos that God’s fingers wove together. The pinnacle of His creation, His image bearers, His people, were given this creation to delight in. The creation wasn’t established as a static form that simply wound down like a clock.

It was dynamic, constantly changing, subject to global, local, tectonic, geomorphological changes and also open to people’s use and shaping. Physical changes are the result of forces beneath the earth’s surface and weathering above the surface. Cultural (or man-shaped) changes occur as a result of people’s activity of using, shaping, and changing their environment.

This unit is framed by this understanding that our Creator God has provided the landscape and landforms we live in for the purpose of living an abundant life where people can respond by using and caring for that environment—all in praise to their maker. God’s purposeful creation of the world enables people to unfold creation’s potential. God has placed this unfolding purpose and drive within the very characteristic of what it means to be human. We also recognise that God stays intimately involved in life as the sustainer of His creation. God acts to sustain His people through both challenges and threats.

In this unit we will look at the value of different forms of landscapes, their distinctive features and what forces God has provided to cause that shaping. We look at a creation that also groans because of the impact of people’s disobedience and the consequent defiling of the creation, where there are geomorphological hazards and man-made degradation and their effects.

These present challenges that impact the environment and people open up many questions of how should people respond.

Even though the creation continues to reflect God’s goodness and control, we cannot hide from the damaging effects that the earth continues to experience as it awaits full redemption.

This unit examines the wonder and horror of a beautiful, yet fallen creation. We see the effects on the fallen creation: in its brokenness and decay; in devastating natural catastrophes; in places of terror and danger; in human choices and changes that have not protected the landscape and their ruinous consequences; in man’s responses that have frequently ‘raped and pillaged’ the earth; and in those who do not see their relationship to God and the earth as one of obedient caretaking.

In response we understand God’s desire for us and the new creation is wholeness established through Jesus’s victory over sin. We see that God’s intent is that we care responsibly for the environment that cares for us. We see all resources are owned by our Creator—Redeemer God and we are to use them with wise and faithful stewardship. We can faithfully relate to God’s creation as respectful, caring, nurturing, and restoring caretakers of ‘the garden.’ Our response to God and His creation reflects our relationship with God. As much as He sustains and shapes His creation He also seeks to shape us through His redeeming action in and through our lives. We are to unfold and develop his world as faithful stewards. What is our impact on local landscapes?

What can we be doing to faithfully promote, beautify, or sustain our natural environment?

3. THREADS Pondering Creation Students can contemplate both the Creator and His handiwork as they view majestic landscapes and landforms, and relationships carved between those landscapes and people.

Caretaking Earth Students can respond to God’s call to be stewards of all creation in practical ways, looking to protect and enhance aspects of the local landscapes.

Challenging Distortions Students identify and critique areas impacted by sin and then discern God’s purposes for dealing correctly and sustainably with local landforms and landscapes.

4. ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

5. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Students will:

• how does where you live influence how you live?

• reflect on how God has revealed Himself in the handiwork in the wonder, beauty, grandeur, shape and form of the creation • be inspired to sustain, protect and enhance local landforms and landscapes • compare the different cultural and spiritual value that landscapes and landforms have to different people • consider how our physical and environmental context will impact on our life choices • examine the physical and cultural forces that shape landscapes and landforms Misunderstandings:

• what is our impact on local landscapes?

• what can landscapes and landforms tell us about God’s provision to people?

• are geomorphic forces destroying or beautifying the earth?

• what can we be doing to faithfully promote, beautify or sustain our natural environment?

• the created order is beautiful and compliant • the created order is random and purposeless • all human use of the environment results in degradation • people are significant, the created order is not. continued over page 32

A CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE FOR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS

EXAMPLE 4 JUNIOR SECONDARY GEOGRAPHY LANDFORMS AND LANDSCAPES UNIT CONTINUED 6A. KNOWLEDGE

6B. SKILLS

Students will know:

Students will be able to:

• the different types of landscapes and their distinctive landform features

• critically reflect on interpretations given in secondary source material

• geomorphic forces constantly impact on landscapes and landforms • internal and external forces shape landscapes and landforms • indigenous peoples have alternate ‘stories’ about the beginnings of landscapes and landforms • the human causes and effects of landscape degeneration • spatial distributions and patterns around the local region and identify associations between distribution patterns.

• investigate the local area for evidence of change, development, or degeneration of landscapes and landforms • reproduce accurate field sketches that illustrate patterns • use enquiry skills—defining a question, locating information, analyze, synthesize, and present findings to a local landscape issue • research an example of a dangerous geomorphic activity and suggest measures to counteract the dangers • develop accurate maps to illustrate examples.

7. PRESCRIBED CURRICULUM Geography knowledge and understanding • the different types of landscapes and their distinctive landform features (ACHGK048) • the aesthetic, cultural and spiritual value of landscapes and landforms for people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACHGK049) • the geomorphic processes that produce landforms, including a case study of at least one landform (ACHGK050) • the human causes and effects of landscape degradation (ACHGK051) • the ways of protecting significant landscapes (ACHGK052) • the causes, impacts and responses to a geomorphological hazard (ACHGK053) Geography Inquiry and Skills • develop geographically significant questions and plan an inquiry using appropriate geographical methodologies and concepts (ACHGS055) • collect, select and record relevant geographical data and information, using ethical protocols, from appropriate primary and secondary sources (ACHGS056) • evaluate sources for their reliability and usefulness and represent data in a range of appropriate forms, for example, climate graphs, compound column graphs, population pyramids, tables, field sketches and annotated diagrams, with and without the use of digital and spatial technologies (ACHGS057) • represent the spatial distribution of different types of geographical phenomena by constructing appropriate maps at different scales that conform to cartographic conventions, using spatial technologies as appropriate (ACHGS058) • analyse geographical data and other information using qualitative and quantitative methods, and digital and spatial technologies as appropriate, to identify and propose explanations for spatial • apply geographical concepts to draw conclusions based on the analysis of the data and information collected (ACHGS060) distributions, patterns and trends and infer relationships (ACHGS059) • present findings, arguments and ideas in a range of communication forms selected to suit a particular audience and purpose, using geographical terminology and digital technologies as appropriate (ACHGS061) • reflect on their learning to propose individual and collective action in response to a contemporary geographical challenge, taking account of environmental, economic and social considerations, and predict the expected outcomes of their proposal (ACHGS062)

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EXAMPLE 5 YEAR 9 HISTORY THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION UNIT 1. THE MAIN IDEA Innovation and progress causes a wide array of changes, many beneficial and others adverse.

2. BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE God made man in His image with an innate desire to innovate. We can see the outworking of this, with the technological advances that occurred during the Industrial Revolution - changes from hand production methods to the development of new machines, steam-driven power and mass production processes. The Industrial Revolution marks one of the most important turning points in history. The term ‘revolution’ is apt because almost every aspect of daily life and society was impacted. The way people lived, worked and thought rapidly changed.

The innate God-placed desire and need to innovate had its ‘hey-day’ during the Industrial Revolution of 1760 – 1840 beginning in Great Britain and spreading globally. God’s provision of intelligence, the desire to experiment and the ability to seek new solutions to problems led to massive benefits for mankind and society and changed life forever. Industrial progress realised sustained economic growth. Average incomes and population rose significantly. Masses of ordinary people saw their standard of living rise. The modern capitalist economy was birthed and a new burgeoning middle class emerged to invest and spur on innovative manufacturing practices. Labour conditions which were horrific in many factories and mines, in particular, did improve over time.

Advances in agricultural production saw the alleviation of chronic hunger and malnutrition. Improvements in nutrition, hygiene, public health and home construction saw a huge jump in average life expectancy. The mass production of newspapers and book publishing increased literacy rates and education opportunities and also realised mass political participation.

However the consequences of the Industrial Revolution were not singularly beneficial. As with all of people’s endeavours they are marred by the effects of sin and self-serving interests. When people do not serve God in their enterprise and work, investment and innovation, all their economic and social activity - distortion

and breakdown occurs. Many factory owners employed harsh employment regimes. Workers (who became known as ‘Luddites’) smashed textile machines when their work was terminated because the looms were cheaper and quicker to produce cloth.

Unemployment was rife in the cities. Even so, out of great anguish good can emerge. As a result of riots in the early 1800’s trade unions emerged to look after the interests of mistreated workers and child labour laws changed for the better. Massive urbanisation resulted in the growth of huge cities and its associated social dislocation and upheaval.

Rising standards of living, improvements in lifestyle and greater confidence in mankind’s ability to address all of his problems led to huge changes in people’s worldview outlook. The pre-Industrial Revolution religious outlook was full of superstition, a certain measure of inevitability and resignation to one’s fate. The post-religious view became a more positive, deterministic and ‘invincible’ outlook. A circular causation between resultant improvements and a vastly more positive outlook fed on each other. However, when people become self-serving they can place their trust in their own abilities, wealth or material possessions. Our overly materialistic and consumer-oriented society, which was facilitated through the outcomes of the Industrial Revolution, remains a pervasive negative influence still today.

Such a clear contrast between the benefits and negative consequences of the Industrial Revolution allows students to address the challenging and difficult question of whether all progress is inherently good. The call to be redeeming agents of the fallen world requires us to be wise and discern if each change is ultimately helping to bring about renewal or not. A good question to ask is whether this change is drawing us closer to God or moving us further away from Him and His will for all of creation?

3. THREADS Shaping Culture Students can understand how their society today was shaped from the past and discern its errors and virtues. They can also explore how they might be agents for social change today and seek to live in a self-serving and overly-materialistic society.

Challenging Distortions Students are provided with an opportunity to explore the roots and consequences of urbanisation, uncontrolled economic growth and materialism.

Imagining Innovations Students can examine their own ability to innovate and create while carefully considering the possible impact innovations have on influencing social change.

continued over page

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A CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE FOR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS

EXAMPLE 5 YEAR 9 HISTORY THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION UNIT CONTINUED 4. ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

5. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Students will:

• what makes an innovation ‘good’? (or what makes innovation ‘bad’?)

• analyse how ideas change over time • recognise areas of social change happening as a result of continued industrialisation around the world

• because we can do something, should we?

• gain new insight into how their lifestyle today (economic, social, political etc) has been impacted by the Industrial Revolution

• if the Industrial Revolution never occurred would most still be living on farms?

• be inspired to be agents of social change

• how does faith motivate us to innovate and inspire social change?

• empathise with those caught up in the negative consequences of industrialisation.

• does technological change always, in the end, benefit society?

Misunderstandings: • progress is always good.

• people’s ingenuity and innovations will solve all problems

6A. KNOWLEDGE

6B. SKILLS

Students will know:

Students will be able to:

• positive and negative consequences of progress

• critique different historical and theological perspectives

• the short and long term impacts on the IR (global changes in transport, landscape and communication)

• formulate their own inquiry questions

• the impact of the IR on the everyday experiences of men, women, and children in this period • the change in population movements and settlement during the period

• use chronological sequencing to explain the cause and effect of events • effectively and authentically use primary and secondary sources • evaluate the usefulness and reliability of historical sources

• consumerism is a by-product of the IR • the main inventions/inventors that came out of the IR 7. PRESCRIBED CURRICULUM Historical Knowledge • the technological innovations that led to the Industrial Revolution, and other conditions that influenced the industrialisation of Britain (the agricultural revolution, access to raw materials, wealthy middle class, cheap labour, transport system, and expanding empire) and of Australia (ACDSEH017) • the population movements and changing settlement patterns during this period. (ACDSEH080) • the experiences of men, women and children during the Industrial Revolution, and their changing way of life. (ACDSEH081) • the short and long-term impacts of the Industrial Revolution, including global changes in landscapes, transport and communication.

(ACDSEH082) Historical Skills • use chronological sequencing to demonstrate the relationship between events and developments in different periods and places (ACHHS164) • identify and select different kinds of questions about the past to inform historical inquiry (ACHHS166) • evaluate and enhance these questions (ACHHS167) • evaluate the reliability and usefulness of primary and secondary sources (ACHHS171) • identify and analyse different historical interpretations (including their own) (ACHHS173) • identify and analyse the perspectives of people from the past (ACHHS172)

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EXAMPLE 6 YEAR 10 ENGLISH THE RUGMAKER OF MAZAR-E-SHARIF UNIT 1. THE MAIN IDEA Understanding, and responding to, those who come from distressed and vastly different places and circumstances to our own.

2. BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE God reveals Himself to us through His written Word, creation, and most completely, His son Jesus Christ. Within this revelation of God’s story we are challenged to find our place, our relationship with God, and whether we want to receive His love, forgiveness, and guidance. If we choose to live in response to God’s love it will mean following His ways and His call to seek justice, mercy, and compassion in all things. These are the specific challenges that speak into the literature text study The Rugmaker of Mazar-eSharif.

The capacity to communicate and use language reflects the image of God in the human being and we have a responsibility to use this gift in service to God, others and development of self. The skills learnt in the study of English enable students to contribute to community and society in meaningful and informed ways, equipping students to engage productively in all areas of their learning in the school curriculum.

The study of English enables students to develop critical thinking and creativity, and allows for nuanced ideas to be explored.

It also allows for the exploration and critique of our culture. English provides students with the opportunity to engage with creation, enabling understanding and empathy with others in different times, places, and cultures. English encourages students to develop discernment and ethical decision making, promoting the role of belief and perspective in all facets of life. Studying literature provides a context for students to become conscious of their own operating worldview and to examine critically alternative ways of understanding the world and social relations. In The Rugmaker the clear contrast between the Islamic and Christian religions and between the Afghani and Australian/western cultures, traditions and beliefs will help students to reappraise their understandings and refine their own belief system.

Teachers have responsibility to choose texts that are topically current and that open up important critical and contemporary issues like social justice, multi-cultural community and migration, and war and its refugee consequences. The key issues of Islam and refugees arise within the text The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif, an autobiography of an Afghani refugee living in Melbourne. This true story of Najaf Mazari, an Afghani man who lived through the Soviet-Afghani war and then the rule of the Taliban, sees him tortured, fleeing his homeland and paying people-smugglers to take him to safety. He travels in a leaky boat eventually landing on Ashmore Reef, gets taken by boat to Woomera detention centre and claims refugee status.

Great works of literature are a powerful means of shaping attitudes about social responsibility. Social responsibility is all about assisting students to be intellectually curious, understanding and critiquing the issues and developing an interested and caring heart. Text studies, such as The Rugmaker can invite and challenge students to grapple with moral dilemmas. We grapple with moral dilemmas because our world is marred by sin that sees war and its consequences creating terrorised societies. Fleeing refugees can’t find permanent safe havens and on-lookers (like Australians) wonder what they should do. As students awareness and understanding of social justice issues is heightened they can better identify injustice and ponder what how we might respond.

The Scriptures call us to respond to social injustice through understanding the breadth of issues involved and applying biblical discernment to its complexity. This will not be easy as the Australian refugee situation raises many vexing and contentious issues. How should Australian students compassionately and justly respond? How does the scriptural challenge to care for the alien come to bear? What’s the broader geo-politic context that caused the refugee problem? How has the government and the mainstream media portrayed asylum seekers? How naive and biased have been our understandings? Why is there fear (particularly Islamic fear) of those seeking refuge? Do some want to harm Australia? Is it simply about border protection? Is it fair that an illegal arrival ‘trumps out’ a genuine applicant who has waited their turn? What’s a fair consideration of the plight of these people?

Once an asylum seeker has landed, how should they be processed?

What’s the role and appropriateness of detention centres? Should children be locked up? What do we call them—queue jumpers, illegal arrivals, a (number), alien, refugees, asylum seeker, illegal, boat people, illegal immigrant, problem? What should be our treatment and attitude toward asylum seekers?

The Scriptures call us to respond to social injustice through empathy and compassion. Rugmaker is a graphic autobiographical account that helps students to be immersed in the story. They typically to empathise with Mazari’s plight—feeling what it’s like to leave behind your country and family; leaving without knowing where you’re going or who you can trust; placing your life in the hands of people smugglers and their rickety boat; understanding a little better the experience of a repressed minority (the Hazara).

3. THREADS Showing Mercy Students respond to God’s mercy by likewise, being merciful to others like refugees who have been forced to flee their homes.

Seeking Justice Students identify and respond to injustice by understanding the injustice and exploring ways to respond.

Expressing Words Students use words to form opinions, hone ideas and develop perspectives. continued over page

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A CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE FOR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS

EXAMPLE 6 YEAR 10 ENGLISH THE RUGMAKER OF MAZAR-E-SHARIF UNIT CONTINUED 4. ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

5. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Students will..

• what makes a refugee?

• consider what a Biblical response to the asylum seeker situation may be

• should all refugees be allowed entry into Australia?

• consider Australia’s previous and current responses to asylum seekers • be inspired to respond to injustice of minority groups • reflect and articulate their own view in response to the asylum seeker situation • critique Australia’s approach to the Refugee Convention and the processes asylum seekers go through to be accepted as refugees.

Misunderstandings

• where have students’ attitudes towards asylum seekers come from?

• do illegal arrivals deserve mercy?

Further Questions: • has your understanding of asylum seekers changed after studying the account of a refugee’s actual experience?

• was Mazari a victim of injustice and how do we respond to that?

• are there differences between legal and moral obligations for Australia?

• the trap of stereotyping or typecasting asylum seekers

• shouldn’t countries find their own solutions rather than transporting their problems?

• asylum seekers are queue jumpers who can afford to pay people smugglers

• how appropriate are detention centres?

• all Muslim people are the same and present a danger to the Australian way of life

• what is it like for asylum seekers in mandatory detention?

• are temporary protection visas a violation of the international refugee convention

6A. KNOWLEDGE

6B. SKILLS

Students will know:

Students will be able to:

• what a refugee is and why people seek asylum

• develop their text essay writing skills.

• the recent events in Afghanistan’s history; the context of war and the rise of the Taliban

• explain different viewpoints, attitudes and perspectives

• the way events in recent Afghanistan history have impacted civilians.

• evaluate other interpretations, analysing the evidence used to support them.

• what the Taliban did to the Hazara people and to Mazari specifically.

• evaluate how text structures can be used in innovative ways by different authors

• the reality of life for people in war-torn countries

• listen for ways features within texts can be manipulated to achieve particular effects

• the similarities and differences between Afghani and Australian culture.

• develop and justify their own interpretations of texts

• articulate their own view about asylum seekers seeking refuge in Australia.

7. PRESCRIBED CURRICULUM • Language • understand how paragraphs and images can be arranged for different purposes, audiences, perspectives and stylistic effects (ACELA1567) • evaluate the impact on audiences of different choices in the representation of still and moving images (ACELA1572) • refine vocabulary choices to discriminate between shades of meaning, with deliberate attention to the effect on audiences (ACELA1571) • literature • analyse and explain how text structures, language features and visual features of texts and the context in which texts are experienced may influence audience response (ACELT1641) • evaluate the social, moral and ethical positions represented in texts (ACELT1812) • identify, explain and discuss how narrative viewpoint, structure, characterisation and devices including analogy and satire shape different interpretations and responses to a text (ACELT1642) • Literacy • analyse and evaluate how people, cultures, places, events, objects and concepts are represented in texts, including media texts, through language, structural and/or visual choices (ACELY1749) • identify and explore the purposes and effects of different text structures and language features of spoken texts, and use this knowledge to create purposeful texts that inform, persuade and engage (ACELY1750) • plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements to influence a course of action (ACELY1751) • use comprehension strategies to compare and contrast information within and between texts, identifying and analysing embedded perspectives, and evaluating supporting evidence (ACELY1754)

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EXAMPLE 7 YEAR 12 FURTHER MATHS CORE (DATA ANALYSIS) UNIT 1. THE MAIN IDEA Measurement and statistics can help us understand complex information and discover patterns, but they will never provide us with the complete picture.

2. BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE God created us to care for each other, and to use our gifts to be responsible managers of all of God’s good creation. Statistics plays a role in understanding complex situations better, and determining whether this information calls for innovative solutions or change in practices. Through discovery and analysis of data, we can determine whether there are trends or patterns worth investigating further. In presenting our findings to others, we are to be faithful in the communication of our results.

It can be tempting to manipulate graphs to make our point stronger, or deceive others into making decisions in our favour. This is not a Christ-like response. We recognise that while careful use of statistics and graphing can give us insight into issues/situations and alert us to trends and patterns, they will never give us a complete picture of these issues/situations. For this reason, they should only ever act as one of the factors giving us insight into the bigger situation.

Statistics are widely used in all aspects of society—medicine, sciences, technology, weather forecasting, business, sports, psychology, education, sociology, engineering, industry, and government. More specifically, statistics have been used to determine; the links between skin cancer and latitudes (strength of sun); the links between German measles in pregnant women and subsequent birth defects; the overall trend that average sea temperatures have been rising and the effect that has on world climate, sea levels and human development and habitation in low-lying countries. Students can look at any number of examples of the link between the statistical data and outcomes and whether these are fair and well established findings. Their critique and analysis of the statistical data can ask what presuppositions lay behind the intent of data collection and the resultant findings.

3. THREADS Challenging Distortions Students identify and critique areas where data and statistics have been used in a distorted way and then discern what would be the appropriate and fair way in which such information should be used Getting Wisdom Students go more deeply in order to understand and discern what is revealed and for what purpose. They seek the insight of God for these complex areas of investigation Discovering Patterns Students explore, discover, and delight in God’s patterns and designs within their measurement and statistical study and seek out the ways in which these can be beneficial for humankind 4. ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

5. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Students will:

• should we make decisions that impact human lives, based on information presented in statistical graphs?

• critique the ‘way of knowing’ that emerges from using numerical data • understand that we need to be careful how we present data as it can be easily manipulated

• are statistics overused in society?

• what role does interpretation play in the study of graphs?

• identify ways in which data, presented well, can be used to influence and shape helpful initiatives • understand that statistics are fallible.

6A. KNOWLEDGE

6B. SKILLS

Students will know:

Students will be able to:

• statistical terms

• determine a random sample using a graphics calculator

• centre/spread/shape

• plot by hand - accuracy, attention to detail

• defining data as categorical/numerical

• interpret graphs

• how to graph bar charts, segmented bar charts, histograms, stem and leaf plots

• write reports

• difference between sample and population

• practise practice examinations

• linear regression using least squares & three median line

• discern whether graphs are being used to manipulate

• residual plots

• use graphics calculators proficiently

• apply concepts to investigate data

• time series continued over page

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EXAMPLE 7 YEAR 12 FURTHER MATHS CORE (DATA ANALYSIS) UNIT CONTINUED 7. PRESCRIBED CURRICULUM* Area of Study: Data Analysis - Outcome 1 • On completion of this unit the student should be able to define and explain key terms and concepts as specified in the content from the areas of study, and use this knowledge to apply related mathematical procedures to solve routine application problems.

Area of Study: Data Analysis - Outcome 2 • On completion of this unit the student should be able to use mathematical concepts and skills developed in the ‘Data analysis’ area of study to analyse a practical and extended situation, and interpret and discuss the outcomes of this analysis in relation to key features of that situation.

Area of Study: Data Analysis - Outcome 3 • On completion of this unit the student should be able to select and appropriately use technology to develop mathematical ideas, produce results and carry out analysis in situations requiring problem solving, modelling or investigative techniques or approaches in the area of study ‘Data analysis’ and the selected module from the ‘Applications’ area of study. * Whilst this unit is specific to the Victorian VCE Curriculum there would be equivalent units in all other states/territories.

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UNPACKING:

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

DETERMINING UNDERSTANDING There are a number of models that assist in measuring understanding. The model chosen will obviously be determined by one’s goals for learning. The Big Picture model suggests that a quality teaching and learning practice is well aware that understanding is far broader and deeper than just listing Knowledge and Skills.

The Understanding by Design model ensures a comprehensive understanding of a topic and assists teachers to realise that understanding goes way beyond simple head knowledge. Wiggins and McTighe (2005) suggest that it is important to experience/ plan for learning activities and assessment strategies in six areas of understanding: explain, critique, interpret, empathise, apply, and reflect. All six facets are needed to have a complete and mature understanding.

Explain – provide knowledge, events, actions, and ideas: • criteria - accurate, coherent, justified, systematic, predictive • key questions - why is that so? how can we prove it? what are the key ideas?

• students will have an opportunity to: describe, express, instruct, prove, teach Critique – sees points of view through critical eyes, sees the big picture:

Apply – use and adapt what one knows in diverse contexts. Finds solutions. Active Response: • criteria – effective, efficient, fluent, adaptive, graceful • key questions - how can we use this knowledge/skill/ or process? how might we help? how and when can we use this?

• students will have an opportunity to: adapt, create, design, invent, exhibit, perform, propose, solve

• criteria – credible, revealing, insightful, plausible, unusual

Reflect – aimed at transforming thought and behaviour.

Awareness of thinking and understanding.

Reflective Response:

• key questions - from whose point of view? what of it?

• criteria - self-adjusting, self-aware, reflective, wise, action-oriented

• students will have an opportunity to: analyse, argue, compare, contrast, criticise

• key questions - how do I know? why do I think/act the way that I do? what are my views about ___?

Interpret – make events and ideas personal and accessible • criteria – meaningful, insightful, significant, illustrative, illuminating • key questions - what does it mean? so what does this have to do with me? us? what does it tell us of the human experience?

• students will have an opportunity to: aware of, realize, recognise, reflect, self-assess Adapted by the Prairie Association for Christian Schools for their ‘Teaching for Transformation’ Guide (Buisman et al, 2009, p. 22).

• criteria – sensitive, open, receptive, perceptive, tactful,

A planning wheel can be used to aid the process of developing activities and assessments using the 6 facets of understanding. Use the planning wheel by writing down the topic in the middle of the planner. Go around the planner indicating outcomes in each of the six areas.

Brainstorm learning activities that will best meet those outcomes, being conscious of the variety of assessment strategies available.

• key questions - how does it seem to you? what would it be like to walk in their shoes? how do I feel? why?

Explain

• students will have an opportunity to: critique, evaluate, judge, make sense of, read between the lines Empathise – find value in others/creation. Perceive sensitively:

• students will have an opportunity to: believe, consider, be like, be open to, relate to

Empathise

Critique Topic

Interpret

Apply Reflect

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UNPACKING:

WHERE TO NEXT?

STEPS AFTER THE BIG PICTURE Some curriculum planning templates include assessment strategies (or other headings like ‘learning outcomes’) and learning activities. These certainly need to be articulated by teachers and are the subsequent steps after having framed the curriculum by completing the Big Picture. Schools are welcome to add their own extra element(s).

ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES There is a close correlation between Enduring Understandings and assessment strategies or activities, though they are not synonymous. Through the development of the Australian Curriculum there has been a renewed emphasis on teachers being more accountable for the learning outcomes of their students and on gathering the evidence to prove what has been learned.

An assessment section should identify the key assessment and feedback tools that can measure whether the desired kinds of understanding, knowledge and skills identified on the Big Picture template have been achieved. Teachers should be free to use a variety of assessments tools to test and reinforce the understandings, knowledge, and skills desired.

Wiggins and McTighe (2015) point out that assessment activities should not to be regarded as the conclusion to the process but, rather, central to the process and happening whilst the learning is occurring and certainly determined before learning activities are chosen.

Wiggins and McTighe (2015) encourage formative assessment mechanisms that provide important input for the teacher to consider in their day-to-day planning and provide a source of feedback for students to consider.

Teachers need to identify where and how they will sample students’ understanding so they can make the appropriate adjustments.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES The Big Picture model’s main emphasis is in establishing a summarised framework that shapes the overall curriculum and not the detail of the curriculum.

Therefore, this model does not make suggestions for how schools/teachers should outline the learning activities included in a unit/topic. Each teacher/school can design their own learning activities section as best fits their needs. Obviously the learning activities section will outline how content is organised and how resources, materials, and assessments will be structured and sequenced through the unit, so as to maximise the intended learning.

CLASSROOM PRACTICE (PEDAGOGY) Regretfully, too often pedagogy is left off the design table when curriculum is being developed. Most curriculum design work focuses on content and outlining achievement standards. Teachers are mostly left to develop their own individual classroom and teaching practice. The freedom that Christian teachers have to develop curriculum should allow an appropriate focus on the ‘how’ of teaching as the learning activities are being determined. Christian teachers have the opportunity to develop teaching strategies that bring the classroom alive as an arena of faith and life-growth.

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A Biblical perspective to understand

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A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE TO UNDERSTAND

Understanding the unit in the light of the biblical story INTRODUCTION Part of establishing the Big Picture is to understand where our topic fits into the biblical story and where this story speaks into our topic area. This simple introductory sentence is loaded with meaning. It summarises some critical theological, and Christian education viewpoints.

The first notion of locating our topic in the biblical story acknowledges that this world belongs to God and that we must view it as an integral whole. It acknowledges that God comes first and our job is to unpack the meaning that He has placed within the creation; within life.

The second question, “where does the biblical story speak into our topic?” is also necessary—but it is also a dangerous one. It can be wrongly understood that the Bible is relegated only to some parts of the topic. The biblical story speaks into all things because it is the story of ‘all things’. Here, we are most definitely NOT making the mistake of adding convenient scripture(s) as an after-thought. The topic or study already exists within God’s created reality and doesn’t need specific scriptures to make it sacred. While understanding this, it is helpful to identify the more specific parts of the biblical narrative that have specific relevance for the area/topic being studied.

HOW PERSPECTIVE WORKS A Biblical Perspective, better labelled a biblically-informed perspective (in that frequently there isn’t just one single Bible-answer to whatever the question might be), ensures the Christian teacher is thinking about how this area of study sits within the broader world of revelation and learning. It is a critical shaping piece of the overall Big Picture.

A Biblical Perspective is a developed articulation of how to view the curriculum area from a biblically—informed perspective. At best it is shaped by a team of teachers into a statement that speaks specifically into the area of study.

The exercise of developing the Biblical Perspective is not just a hurdle to be achieved. Its on-going function is that it describes the Christian perspective from which the unit/subject/area is going to be taught. It is foundational in that it helps to focus on unfolding the truths locked in creation prior to the specific details provided by the Australian Curriculum. Many teachers say this is the hardest step and therefore they leave it to the end. This is a mistake.

It is also important to note that we use the term Biblical Perspective to mean the view through which all things are seen within any focus of study, i.e. it is as if we have a pair of biblical glasses on. It does not mean an optional extra angle or slant.

Here, we also use the term a Biblical Perspective framework because it is a pattern of understanding (or truth) that is needed—a way of viewing the whole slab of reality that is being looked at. Every educator should acknowledge their way of viewing—their particular perspective or worldview. Many secular educators falsely claim that their way of viewing is neutral or that learning itself is neutral. Christians reject that view because all learning is a basic religious response to who or what is being served.

Because of some of the difficulties with the term Biblical Perspective, the authors debated whether or not to make use of the term. In the end, it was retained because of its present formidable use within Christian schools.

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A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE TO UNDERSTAND The power of biblical perspective

SOME BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE POINTERS: • Biblical Perspectives are some of the most difficult items to write in curriculum documentation. To have examples and to share Biblical Perspectives work provides support and stimulation for developing Biblical Perspectives.

• the term ‘perspective’ is a good one to use when it is understood as a way of looking at the whole unit with an identified set of glasses. Everyone has glasses. It is not a good term when used to express a slant or angle.

• Biblical Perspectives are one of the key ‘engine rooms’ that critically shape the development of a unit of study.

• at times Biblical Perspectives should be made explicit at appropriate points within a unit of study.

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HOW TO USE THE BIBLE

THE OVERALL BIBLICAL MESSAGE

The Christian school movement has many resources that address the subject of using the Bible in the Christian school. Discernment is needed here as many misuses of the Scriptures occur. In summary, the authors of this model would encourage all Christian educators to avoid; proof texting; mere history stories; token moral or tacky applications; straight textbook use; or drawing out un-contextualised, simplistic, superficial (and therefore false) connection points. The beauty of the CFRR schema is that it helpfully assists in avoiding these misuses.

When the Scriptures are understood as God’s unfolding story, written in a particular time and context but with the enduring message of God graciously reaching out to restore his fallen people into a loving relationship with Himself, then the Scriptures become a meta-narrative of guidance and authority for the Christian school.

Meta-narratives are stories that are over-arching and all-encompassing based in a transcendent truth. They look at the story—the way of explaining the things that happen—that is beyond the story. In this sense they are a grand account of one’s view or perspective on life.

Many Christian educators have found it helpful to summarise the overall biblical story by using the terms creation, fall, redemption, renewal (CFRR). These four words together capture the overall biblical narrative, that the world was created good and to be enjoyed, that all aspects of life and the world are now affected by sin and alienation, and that God is restoring everything in Christ, leading to the full expression of the Kingdom in the new creation. This is the basic message of the biblical revelation and it is a useful framework/tool to use for looking at many topics. At the end of this Biblical Perspective explanatory section the Our World Belongs to God statement provides a summarised testimony of the biblical faith.

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Even though the CFRR framework is a useful tool, it cannot replace the need for teachers to have a healthy understanding of the whole Scriptures. The only way that teachers can adequately develop biblically informed insights or perspectives is if they are familiar with the biblical story. Teachers need to be biblically literate and students of the Scriptures.

A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE TO UNDERSTAND The CFRR Schema

The following explains what is more specifically meant by the terms creation, fall, redemption, renewal (CFRR) and how they can be used to help shape curriculum.

CREATION The biblical story tells us that God created and sustains all things. God gave life and controls all things. He made mankind to have special relationship with Him and gave mankind His creation mandate that directs human life.

The creation is good and this not only refers to the physical and biological creation, but also to the cultural strands that God has woven into its fabric. Here the focus is on what God intended things to be like, the way it ought to have been.

FALL The biblical story tells us that all things have fallen as a result of sin and that every facet and part of the world is twisted by evil. The consequence is pain and suffering, brokenness and idolatry. Therefore all things, human life and culture, have become distorted and shaped by idolatry. The widespread effects of sin are obvious but God is still faithful and promises liberation from this bondage to decay.

REDEMPTION The biblical story tells us that although mankind fell into sin, God had a plan of redemption through the sacrifice of His Son. Christ came to earth to restore creation from the distorting influence of sin and redeem all things so that we could get back on track with God’s original design/purpose. Through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, who holds all things together, the power of sin has been dealt with. Now, as redeemed people, we look forward towards, and participate in, the restoration of the whole creation.

RENEWAL The biblical story tells us that we are called to live in the light of this coming restoration as faithful redemption agents responding to God’s invitation to work towards on-going redemption—as we fulfil our original mandate to take care of and develop His creation. God is sovereign in His on-going work of redemption and He calls us to join Him as His redemption people—His agents of renewal. In response to Christ’s past and ongoing redemptive work, and with the active presence of the Holy Spirit, we can gratefully respond by living a life of service and partnership as all things move towards complete restoration. This will not be fully realised until Christ returns when all things will be fulfilled. One of the tasks of the Christian school is to call students to be involved with God’s redemption and transformation of His world and to set up sign posts to the coming kingdom.

“The Biblical narrative of redemption and the coming of God’s Kingdom is the story that informs and shapes every aspect of the life of the school” (Burggraaf, 2014, p. 67)

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A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE TO UNDERSTAND The CFRR Schema

The following is an easy to use CFRR master template. Teachers can brainstorm or reflect and enter responses to the key questions, building up a set of notes that can be re-worked into a Biblical Perspective statement for the unit. Please remember a Biblical Perspective statement should not be disjointed or an eclectic list of brainstormed points. It needs to be carefully written into a structured, cohesive, and well informed statement.

THE CREATION - FALL – REDEMPTION – RENEWAL SCHEMA CREATION

FALL

God has created all things

All things have fallen as a result of sin

• what is God’s created intention for (this area)?

• how has sin distorted God’s intention for (this area)?

• because God is the creator of the universe and all that is in it, think about the topic for your unit.

• why did God create (this area)?

• what form did it take in the beginning?

• what is God’s purpose for (this area)?

• how have humans been involved in this creation?

• considering the fall and that the whole creation has fallen and that humans have messed up God’s plan (distortion and rebellion) for this area of study, think about the topic for your unit.

• what has humankind done, or what have we done, to mess up, distort and misuse (this area)?

• how do the consequences of sinful rebellion in this area contrast with God’s original intention?

REDEMPTION

RENEWAL

Christ came to earth to redeem all things

In response to Christ’s redemption we are called to work in partnership with God’s so all things are renewed:

• what has the cross achieved in confronting brokenness (in this area)?

• considering that Christ’s act of redemption laid the foundation for the restoration of creation, think about the topic for your unit.

• how has Christ redeemed (this area)?

• how has the cross brought new life to our understanding of this part of God’s creation?

• how do God’s people express their desire to be Christ’s hands and feet in bringing renewal to (this area)?

• considering that we can partner in God’s renewal plan, think about the topic for your unit.

• because we know Christ, what hope for this topic can we experience now?

• being conscious of God’s original purpose/ design for this area, what actions can we take to help renew (this area)?

• what does an obedient response to (this area) look like?

• how does the coming restoration of all things affect the way we think about (this area)?

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A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE TO UNDERSTAND Being careful

RENEWAL There is much discussion about the use of a 4th term.

We’ve used renewal, but it could also have been any of: redemption (parts A and B), on-going redemption, fulfilment, restoration or consummation. It doesn’t really matter, provided certain theological assumptions are understood. Some prefer to use only 3 terms where ‘redemption’ includes both Christ’s redemptive act and the on-going work of redemption in the here and now based on the foundation of Christ’s death and resurrection. Using the 3 terms is fine.

CFRR: A GREAT TOOL because: • it looks at the core themes of Scripture and not just at particular passages • it avoids the misuses of Scripture • it requires an understanding of the Biblical Story • it is easy to use • it is the beginning Christian teacher’s key support tool

In using the 4th term of renewal the following theological assumptions should be understood: • the emphasis in ‘redemption’ is on what has Christ achieved and that this is the basis that invigorates His people to respond • the emphasis in ‘renewal’ is on the end result of redemption and on what Christ calls us to do in His name. We are called to be co-redeemers with Christ, God’s kingdom people. However, this emphasis on renewal work should not underplay God’s action and particularly the Cross as God’s strategy of redemption.

An over-emphasis on the actions of responsive disciples can lead to focussing on what we achieve— an ugly moralism we wish to avoid • the 4th term in the schema is important because at times ‘redemption’ alone can facilitate a certain laziness of thinking—we’re in Christ and we can just sit back and wait until He returns. The 4th term ensures a joyful, thankful, and energetic response to God’s call to work with Him in redemption part 2—an endeavour of discovering a whole new creation, now and not yet.

• responsive disciples are both active players now and, in doing so, become signposts pointing the way. This ‘now’ and the ‘not yet’ Kingdom is not a contradiction but the tension of living between Jesus’ resurrection and his return when we will experience the fullness of the Kingdom.

POSSIBLE WEAKNESSES OF CFRR Some commentators have critiqued the CFRR approach as being too linear and simplistic, claiming that it doesn’t give adequate attention to the full drama of the scriptural story. Where the CFRR approach has been over or superficially used it is possible that many Biblical Perspectives start to look the same and certain jargon terms lose their meaning. Well-developed Biblical Perspectives are unlikely to encounter this problem.

In the light of this some have used a more comprehensive six acts of scripture schema to unfold the biblical narrative as a drama where the scriptures provide an unfolding story of God walking with his people—a drama that continues as we become increasingly aware that this story is our story.

Act 1: CREATION - how is all began Act 2: CRISIS - how it fell apart Act 3: COMMUNITY OLD - how God restores through Israel Act 4: CHRIST - Jesus the climax of history Act 5: COMMUNITY NEW - how God restores through his church Act 6: CONSUMMATION - all things new (Bartholemew and Goheen, 2004) A set of questions (like the CFRR ones) can readily be developed by teachers to apply across the six acts.

The following diagram (set of questions) could be applied to most units.

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CREATION CONSUMMATION What will popular culture look like in the new creation?

What is God’s intention for culture in the new creation?

What hope is there for popular culture now in Jesus?

What is the creational norm related to popular culture?

What is God’s intention for popular culture?

What responsibilities did God give people for popular culture?

CRISIS (Fall) What has gone wrong?

How has God’s purpose been distorted by sin?

How has it deviated from God’s plan?

THEME: POPULAR CULTURE (Identity and Purpose) m CH n fro is the R r a t U s? le

a

i

CH we ? Wh on th

o y ce t d or ha hist idan W ch gu ur ’s ch pirit S

CHRIST How does Jesus’ death and resurrection affect popular culture?

How does God want us to respond redemptively?

CO

H M pe ow M U op di le d G NI T ha o nd d’s Y ( le O po T k OL pu ing D) lar d cu om ltu re?

How does Jesus act within his own culture?

WHAT IF IT’S NOT IN THE BIBLE?

IN SUMMARY

Sometimes teachers can feel a little stumped because their topic/unit is not specifically mentioned in the Scriptures, e.g. transport or Australian popular culture in the 1960s. This does not mean there is not a biblical reflection on it. It may simply indicate that the topic is a sub-set or contextual example of a bigger concept.

Everything in life and all that mankind has developed and done since the time that the Scriptures were written has a place within the creation; within God’s revelation.

With the example of Australian popular culture we know that popular culture is a search for meaning, purpose, and identity. The Bible has a great deal to say about these topics as larger concepts. Sometimes clarity comes as we adjust the focus of the lens with which we look at topics.

It has been useful to summarise the biblical narrative as the story of creation, fall, redemption, renewal, to provide a schema for understanding how the biblical narrative relates to curriculum development.

The following questions can be asked of any aspect of the world being studied: • Creation: What is God’s created intentions for (this area)?

• Fall: How has sin distorted God’s intention for (this area)?

• Redemption: What has the cross achieved in confronting brokenness in (this area)?

• Renewal: How do we partner with Christ in bringing renewal to (this area)?

“As disciples, students and teachers will understand themselves to be participants in God’s work; the total renewal of creation which started with the resurrection of Jesus, demonstrated in the faithful activity of his followers and which will come to completion when Jesus comes again in power.”(Burggraaf, 2014, p. 19)

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A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE TO UNDERSTAND Alternative biblical perspective tools

Even though the CFRR schema is always applicable to every topic of study (it’s the biblical story), it can be overused or applied too simplistically. Or it might be that another approach would be more fitting. The following alternate tools/ schemas might be useful to explore.

ALTERNATIVE TOOL 1:

ALTERNATIVE TOOL 2:

CFRR SIMPLIFIED I

CFRR SIMPLIFIED II

A simple and easy to use narrative approach. i.e. What is good and reflects aspects of God’s original wonder and purpose. What is bad and points to the way human rebellion has complicated and brought horror?

A simple analytical approach.

Create a template that includes the following: 1. Creation What is God’s design or purpose for this topic?

Create a template that includes the following: Creation What’s good about …?

2. Creation and Fall Human action/choice/decision. These overlap with God’s design and these overlaps have consequences.

Fall What’s bad about …?

a. Consider the good choices that people have made for

b. Describe the consequences of these choices.

Redemption What are the implications of the gospel for …? c. Consider the poor/bad/wrong choices that people have made for

Renewal

d. Describe the consequences of these choices.

What does the gospel mean for me in …?

3. Redemption and Renewal In the light of God’s redemption in Christ, what is my priviledge and responsibility now?

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ALTERNATIVE TOOL 3:

BASIC QUESTIONS A flexible question and answer approach that can be applied to any topic area. The questions can be used as prompts for response/reflection in order to draw out key biblical insights that relate to your unit/subject. Not all the questions will be relevant and some should be ignored or new ones can be added. After answering the questions, which can be viewed as the brainstorming stage, attempt to use your responses as a basis for writing a Biblical Perspective statement.

Questions

Response

1. From a biblical or Christian perspective, what are some of the important issues relating to this unit? Why are they important issues?

2. How does your faith or understanding of the Scriptures impact these issues?

3. Does the content trigger any values or worldview issues, particular to a Christian way of seeing the issue?

4. Does the story of the biblical drama (from creation, the fall into sin, redemption in Jesus Christ, to the final restoration) shape, direct, and inform our understanding of and response to this unit?

5. Do any of the following shape or impact our understanding of and perspective on this unit?: sovereignty of God, man’s rebellion, man’s task/job, stewardship, the gospel of Jesus Christ, different faith responses, Christian action?

6. Where can the impact of sinful/idolatrous understandings of life covered by this topic/unit be discerned?

7. In response to the above question, how might we develop more faithful understandings and patterns of discipleship?

8. What faith response, in thought, belief, and action, is God seeking from us as we study this unit?

9. What impact do we want this unit/area of study to have on our students? Why? 10. What will be left unresolved and even perplexing at the end of this unit?

Other questions to add:

Reproducible master. Downloads also available www.nice.edu.au 50

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ALTERNATIVE TOOL 4:

WORLDVIEW QUESTIONS Using worldview questions to develop biblical perspectives.

STAGES OF THE BIBLICAL DRAMA

WORLDVIEW QUESTIONS 1 (Based on Walsh & Middleton’s 4 basic world view questions)

Creation

1a. Who am I/are we? Or, what is the nature, task, and purpose of human beings?

1b. Where am I/are we? Or, what is the nature of the world and universe I live in?

Christian Secularist Fall Into Sin

2. What is the problem? Or, what is the basic problem and obstacle that keeps me/us from attaining fulfilment? In other words, how do I/we understand evil/ distortion?

Christian Secularist Redemption in Jesus Christ

3a. What is the remedy? Or, how is it possible to overcome this hindrance to my/our fulfilment?

In other words, how do I/we find salvation?

3b. In what ways have the life (modelling and teaching), death (atoning sacrifice) and resurrection (to sovereign rule) of Jesus, brought healing or restoration?

Christian Secularist Renewal

4a.In what ways does Jesus expect and include me in His healing work, active as a faithful disciple in responding?

4b.What part do we play in living out our experience as Christ’s hands and feet?

Christian Secularist Consummation

5. What does the future hold—for us and the world? Or, what is my/our ultimate destiny? In other words, where does my/our hope lie?

Christian Secularist What is the religious ‘heart’ commitment?

God or Idol

6. Who or what is divine? In other words, who or what is believed to be the ultimate source of order and meaning in and for life?

Christian Secularist

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ALTERNATIVE TOOL 5:

DISCERNING AND AFFIRMING Discerning assists students to understand and critique a key aspect of the area being studied. Affirming assists students to grapple with how they can respond. The following is a series of questions that cover some universal aspects.

Depending on the unit being studied, other aspects might be more appropriate.

ABOUT PEOPLE

ABOUT VALUES

• Discern – What is the nature, purpose, and origin of the people being presented or assumed within the curriculum?

• Discern – What core values and ethics are seen as being foundational and good are being presented or assumed with the curriculum? In what ways have these values and ethics been distorted by the fall?

• Affirm – What opportunities are there to present a biblical view of people (i.e. created by God as the pinnacle of the creation, in His image, to give glory to Him, and given the role of care-taker and cultivator of the creation)?

• Affirm – What values and ethics have the opportunity of being presented as ‘good’ aspects of the creation (possibly within areas like family, justice, arts, marriage, community, leadership, technological innovation)? In what ways can students be inspired to participate in the redeeming of the distortions?

ABOUT CREATION • Discern – What is the origin of the cosmos and its ultimate destination being presented or assumed within the curriculum?

ABOUT BROKENNESS

• Affirm – What opportunities are there for me to present a biblical view of the creation (i.e created and designed by God, made ‘good’, affected by the fall while maintaining good creational essence, and will be redeemed and restored to a new earth)?

• Affirm – What opportunities are there to explore the brokenness that has become evident whilst exploring this curriculum area?

• Discern – How does the curriculum express what’s not right about the world?

ABOUT RESPONDING AS DISCIPLES • Discern – What will this area of creation look like in the coming kingdom?

• Affirm – How can the students be inspired and equipped to participate in the renewal of this area of study?

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ALTERNATIVE TOOL 6:

ROOTS AND FRUITS This tool is usually best used within the secondary school context. After identifying the topic to be explored, questions are asked under the headings: Roots, Fruits, Suits, and Biblical Critique.

• Roots – What’s behind the topic? What’s its basis?

Any drivers? Any philosophical foundations or worldviews that can be identified?

• Fruits – What were/are the out-workings? (“By their fruit you will know them”). What has resulted out of this topic?

• Suits - How does it/how does it not suit? What are the conjunction/disjunction points? Here we ask the questions about how well the issue suits or aligns or conflicts with what Christians have thought or reflected about the issue.

• Biblical Critique – After drawing together the insights gained from Roots, Fruits, and Suits apply any other biblically informed insights. The resulting discussion and ideas will produce useful teaching material.

Example: The French Revolution If we were to apply this to a history topic like The French Revolution, we might ask ‘How Christian was the French Revolution?’

• Roots – ‘Natural law’ replaces ‘God’s law’... Move to toleration of atheism … Autonomy of human beings and rise of the influence of free thought within Enlightenment period… Built on rationalism rather than revelation…The historical context: decline in law and order; abuse of power by aristocracy and the church; indifference of the powerful to the needs of the masses.

• Fruits – Firstly look at the actual situation – What did France look like in the late 1700’s? … The revolution destroyed its own children and laid the seeds for a return to totalitarianism. Secondly, how does that epoch of history affect us today? Does it still have influence?

Do the values of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity have enduring impact? How do we see them?

• Suits – Conjunction - the revolution wanted to bring about a better, fairer society. Disjunction – the revolution was based on non-Christian ideas such as the autonomy of human beings. This autonomy led to the breakdown of societal structures, anarchy and mayhem.

• Biblical Critique – Is the biblical approach one more of reformation than revolution? What about revolutionary subordination? How do the Scriptures address the tension between respect for governing authorities and dealing with ungodly repressive power?

HOW CHRISTIAN WAS THE FRENCH REVOLUTION?

ROOTS

FRUITS

SUITS

BIBLICAL CRITIQUE

IMPROVED CURRICULUM

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ALTERNATIVE TOOL 7:

BALLOON BRAINSTORM The Balloon Brainstorm is a helpful tool that can assist teachers to comprehend the whole picture of the slice of learning (theme, topic, area, unit) being studied. When teachers are opening up their brain storming or seeking to grasp the breadth of the area being studied the Balloon Brainstorm provides a ‘step in’.

Use the Balloon Brainstorm template; write the topic in the centre, eg Tiwi Islands. Using the right-hand side list,

which covers the ways any topic/ unit functions (not all are relevant for each topic/ unit), choose headings for the individual balloons. Then underneath each heading note down the sub-areas involved. This tool ensures that curriculum planners are exposed to the full breadth of relevant and inter-related learning components. The diagram can then be set up as an audit tool against an outlined curriculum list or a textbook with teachers asking, “Has the area been fairly covered?”

Historically Physically

Missionaries

Legally Economically/ Commercially Family Life

Socially Aesthetically

Community

Politically

TIWI ISLANDS Kinship Vegetation

Spatially Geographically Linguistically Ecclesiologically Morally Sports Globally

Industry & Employment

Example: The Tiwi Islands

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Multi-culturally Technologically

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Launch lessons, teachable moments, and perspectival opportunities THE LAUNCH LESSON

PERSPECTIVAL OPPORTUNITIES (DRIVERS)

One approach that can be an inspiring and memorable introduction to a unit is to develop a Launch Lesson. A Launch Lesson typically needs creative thought and extra preparation as it seeks to capture student imagination and engage students with the new area of learning.

It is the sort of lesson where you need to stop at the shops on the way to school to purchase those special resources, borrow a lesson before and after and maybe go into lunch, or prepare the students beforehand with a call to bring dress up etc. Launch Lessons have the potential to be a foundational Perspectival Opportunity (see right). When this occurs, subsequent reflections on this Launch Lesson can be programmed through the rest of the unit so that it ‘drives’ the learning journey.

Perspectival Opportunities are parts of the teaching program that quite specifically and overtly unfold the Biblical Perspective. This resource (Transformation by Design) has presented the idea that the entire curriculum in Christian education should be shaped by the Big Picture and its elements like the Biblical Perspective.

Perspectival Opportunities are the deliberate attempts to teach the link between the biblically informed perspective and the strand of the curriculum being unfolded. They may be parts of lessons, or whole lessons—or a Launch Lesson—and they may be seen as key Drivers of the learning journey. It may be helpful to aim for two or three Perspectival Opportunities during a unit—some subjects/topics might lend themselves to more and some less.

TEACHABLE MOMENTS (DETOURS) The Teachable Moment is an unexpected, spontaneous, rich-learning moment that arises within a lesson; a question from a student; an interruption from outside the classroom; a personal anecdote that comes to mind.

We can think of these as Detours from the main learning journey. Teaching that nurtures a culture of relationship and authenticity will expect and welcome these moments—while being discerning towards the ones that might be a dead end. It may be that the Detour was actually in line with the main journey of the lesson and therefore valuable enough to deliberately write into the teaching program/curriculum. However, it should also be recognised that sometimes the nature of the Teachable Moment is that it is spontaneous and sometimes can’t be forced or artificially created.

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DANGERS The potential Danger to highlight with Drivers and Detours is a reliance on them. It may seem an obvious statement to make, but it is an important one for Christian educators to keep remembering—if we don’t seek to deliberately transform our curriculum and teaching program, and simply rely of Teachable Moments for the unfolding of a Biblical Perspective, it will be ad hoc, idiosyncratic, may not happen, and may actually be developing a dualistic framework in the students thinking and living. Likewise, focussing only on Perspectival Opportunities for presenting a biblical worldview ignores the rich truth that Jesus is Lord of all things and that all things are only understood fully and completely when seen through the worldview glasses that the biblical narrative provides. The whole curriculum is to be shaped by the Big Picture and Drivers and Detours are only components of a complete curriculum.

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UNPACKING:

WHAT WE BELIEVE

OUR WORLD BELONGS TO GOD The following contemporary creed is a summarised statement of how the biblical faith undergirds the CFRR schema: CREATION Our world belongs to God not to us or earthly powers, not to demons, fate, or chance.

The earth is the Lord’s.

In the beginning, God called this world into being out of nothing, and gave it shape and order.

God formed sky, land, and sea; stars above, moon and sun, making a world of colour, beauty, and variety a fitting home for plants and animals, and us a place to work and play, worship and wonder, love and laugh.

God rested and gave us rest.

In the beginning everything was very good.

Made in God’s image to live in loving communion with our Maker, we are appointed earth-keepers and caretakers to tend the earth, enjoy it, and love our neighbours.

God uses our skills for the unfolding and well-being of his world so that creation and all who live in it may flourish.

Even now, as history unfolds in ways we know only in part, we are assured that God is with us in our world, holding all things in tender embrace and bending them to his purpose.

The confidence that the Lord is faithful gives meaning to our days and hope to our years.

The future is secure, for our world belongs to God. FALL In the beginning of human history, our first parents walked with God. But rather than living by the Creator’s word of life, they listened to the serpent’s lie and fell into sin.

In their rebellion they tried to be like God. As sinners, Adam and Eve feared the nearness of God and hid.

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Fallen in that first sin, we prove each day that apart from grace we are guilty sinners: we fail to thank God, we break God’s laws, we ignore our tasks.

Looking for life without God, we find death; grasping for freedom outside the law, and pursuing pleasure, we lose the gift of joy.

When humans deface God’s image, the whole world suffers: we abuse the creation or idolise it; we are estranged from our Creator, from our neighbour, from our true selves, and from all that God has made.

All spheres of life, family and friendship, work and worship, school and state, play and art bear the wounds of our rebellion.

Sin is present everywhere in pride of race, arrogance of nations, abuse of the weak and helpless, disregard for water, air, and soil, destruction of living creatures, slavery, murder, terror, and war, worship of false gods, the mistreatment of our bodies, and our frantic efforts to escape reality.

In all our striving to excuse or save ourselves, we stand condemned before the God of truth.

But our world, broken and scarred, still belongs to God, who holds it together and gives us hope.

REDEMPTION While justly angry, God did not turn away from a world bent on destruction but turned to face it in love.

With patience and tender care the Lord set out on the long road of redemption to reclaim the lost as his people and the world as his kingdom.

Although Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden and their days burdened by the weight of sin, the Lord held on to them in love and promised to crush the evil forces they had unleashed.

UNPACKING:

When evil filled the earth, God judged it with a flood but rescued Noah and his family and animals of every kind.

He covenanted with all creatures that seasons will continue and that such destruction will not come again until the Lord returns to make all things new.

The Lord promised to be God to Abraham, Sarah, and their children, calling them to walk faithfully before him and blessing the nations through them.

God chose Israel to show the glory of his name, the power of his love, and the wisdom of his ways.

The Lord gave them the law through Moses and led them by rulers and teachers, shaping a people in whom God is revealed a light to the nations.

When Israel spurned God's love lusting after other gods, trusting in power and wealth, and hurting the weak God still promised them the Messiah: a prophet to speak good news, a king to crush evil and rule the earth with justice, a priest to be sacrificed for sinners.

God promised to forgive their sins and give them a new heart and a new spirit, moving them to walk in his ways.

CHRIST Remembering the promise to reconcile the world to himself, God joined our humanity in Jesus Christ.

Standing in our place, He carried God's judgment on our sin his sacrifice removed our guilt.

God raised him from the dead: he walked out of the grave, conqueror of sin and death, Lord of Life!

Jesus overcame death and ascended in triumph, raising our humanity to the heavenly throne.

All authority, glory, and sovereign power are given to him.

And so, we are set right with God, given new life, and called to walk with him in freedom from sin's dominion.

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WHAT WE BELIEVE

THE MISSION OF GOD'S PEOPLE Jesus Christ rules over all.

To follow this Lord is to serve him wherever we are without fitting in, light in darkness, salt in a spoiling world.

To follow this Lord means to be sent with the gospel of the kingdom to call everyone to know and follow Christ and to proclaim to all the assurance that in the name of Jesus there is forgiveness of sin and new life for all who repent and believe.

The Spirit calls all members to embrace God’s mission in their neighbourhoods and in the world.

Serving the Lord in whom all things hold together, we support sound education in our communities, and we foster schools and teaching in which God’s truth shines in all learning.

All students, bear God's image and deserve an education that helps them use their gifts fully.

NEW CREATION Our hope for a new creation is not tied to what humans can do, for we believe that one day every challenge to God’s rule will be crushed.

His kingdom will fully come, and the Lord will rule.

We live confidently, anticipating his coming, offering him our daily lives our acts of kindness, our loyalty, and our love knowing that he will weave even our sins and sorrows into his sovereign purpose.

God will be all in all, righteousness and peace will flourish, everything will be made new, and every eye will see at last that our world belongs to God. Hallelujah! Come, Lord Jesus!

Adapted from ‘Our World Belongs to God’ (Contemporary Testimony of the Christian Reformed Church).

Sections 7-10, 12-23, 25, 43, 41, 47, 55, 57, 58.

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n o i t c e l e s A s d a e r h T f o

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A SELECTION OF THREADS

Learning action steps that follow WHAT ARE THREADS? Threads are action responses. Threads are qualities or characteristics that we desire students to develop.

They are expressions of what it means to be responsive disciples of Jesus, pointing others to the Kingdom of God. Threads are the challenges that God calls us to live out.

Woven throughout the fabric of God’s Story, God spells out His intentions for how his people can live in harmony in His Kingdom. These intentions were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, evil was conquered and all things were reconciled to God. With the power of the Holy Spirit in us we are God’s earthly ambassadors bringing about his will. Threads are our responses to these revelations of God about life. By weaving Threads through our curriculum we become part of the restoration of all things.

By identifying and embedding carefully chosen appropriate Threads into units of work, we are giving students the opportunity to explore and ponder what it means to be Christ-redeemed, Christ-like, and Spirit-led ambassadors on the earth.

Threads are like key strings that run through a unit, giving it body and character, and contributing to the whole. They help bring cohesion, assist in the shaping of a unit, and enable students to see the relevance and meaning of learning. They are not the only element that helps draw a unit together (each of the key elements do this) but as each Thread is woven in, and given place, a rich tapestry of insight begins to take shape.

Threads are expressions of what it means to be responsive disciples of Jesus.

They are action responses.

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WHAT THREADS ARE NOT

THREADS - THE WRITE UP

Whilst Threads are action responses they are not our way to get right with God. The overwhelming message within the Scriptures is that we respond to God’s love through His provision of an excellent Saviour by gratefully abiding in Him. It’s not our role to do ‘holy stuff’ so as to please God, because that can never be achieved. Rather abiding in God, responding in thanks to Jesus action on our behalf, being satisfied in Him, leads us to gratefully follow. John says, “If you love me you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Loving Jesus is not a matter of doing excellent things. It’s a matter of delighting in an excellent Saviour.

The descriptors given to the following list of 23 Threads attempts to succinctly outline a range of biblical truths of what it means to live in, and for, Christ. The descriptor starts with unpacking the nature and character of God, picks up how things are fulfilled in Christ, and includes what are the implications for kingdom builders.

Therefore, it is essential that students do not get the wrong message about Threads. The theological foundation behind our action responses is not about doing stuff to please God, but being the ‘fruit’ that results from ‘abiding in the vine’ (John 15). It is for this reason that the descriptors that explain each Thread start by focusing on the nature and character of God. Based on that understanding we can follow the charge to God’s people, “Be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16), die to self and live for Him.

The list is by no means a complete list. There are other Threads that could be given a focus as the Scriptures are searched and units of work are developed.

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The illustrative verses outline the Scriptural foundations for the Thread. The questions that follow prompt and resource the teacher for working with the Threads.

Developing relevant questions help unfold the meaning of the Thread. The quotes capture an essential truth.

Threads should not be limited to the curriculum outline or the content section. They should be woven through all aspects of our learning—the choice of activities; the practices used in the classroom, the way in which students are viewed and treated, even our own character.

“Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.

Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which he is to bless us now.”

St. Teresa of Avila

QUESTIONS DO THREADS SOMETIMES LOSE SHARPNESS BECAUSE THEY OVERLAP? Threads are woven together to create a piece of fabric.

Whilst looking at any one Thread, teachers will find close correlations with other Threads. There is a sense in which ‘loving God’ or ‘seeking shalom’ or ‘bringing hope’ can be found in everything. So that we don’t get lost in the view that ‘everything is about everything’, it is best to choose the most relevant Thread for that unit and then develop questions that can more specifically unpack its meaning.

THREADS • are action responses • assist in holding a unit together by linking the area studied back to basic Christian discipleship principles.

• offers a guide for living a Christian life.

• are woven throughout the curriculum to help provide a rich tapestry of meaning within the entire educational experience.

WHEN ARE THREADS DISCOVERED AND WRITTEN UP? Even though Threads can be thought of at any stage, they typically come to mind or emerge after the more foundational sections have been pondered (Main Idea, Biblical Perspective). With those in mind, the curriculum developer can go on to ask, “What appropriate responses can be selected and woven through the whole unit of study?”, “How might we want students to respond?”

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE AND THREADS?

THROUGHLINES Another helpful notion is that of “throughlines” developed by the Prairie Association of Christian Schools (PACS). This Canadian Christian curriculum team has developed a key set of resources that can be found at http://pcce. tftshare.ca/. Go to ‘Teaching for Transformation’.

Whilst in one sense a well-researched and articulated Biblical Perspective functions as a Thread, it is important to see the difference. The Biblical Perspective functions to understand the revelation of God through the Bible, whilst Threads explore our response to that revelation, what we wish students to both see, understand, and do.

DON’T THREADS HAVE A BROADER INFLUENCE THAN JUST WITHIN CURRICULUM? Threads should not be limited just to the curriculum outline or the content section. They should be woven through all aspects of our learning—the choice of activities; the practices used in the classroom; the way in which students are viewed and treated; even our own character.

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A SELECTION OF THREADS

Learning action steps that follow Key Threads of the scriptural story can be woven through the curriculum and thereby ‘draw together’ meaning and purpose in learning. This summary list of 23 action-response Threads covers a wide range of the possible student responses to their learning. This list is organised alphabetically, with the exception of the first, which is foremost.

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1. LOVING GOD

Students respond to God’s love by loving God in return and their neighbour as themselves.

2. BUILDING COMMUNITY

Students are active contributors and encouragers of others as the community is built up.

3. CARETAKING EARTH

Students actively respond to God’s call to carefully manage of all creation.

4. CELEBRATING LIFE

Students embrace the full suite of God’s provisions in life and live in such a way that all may flourish.

5. CHALLENGING DISTORTIONS

Students identify and critique areas impacted by sin and then discern God’s purposes.

6. DISCOVERING PATTERNS

Students explore and discover God’s patterns and designs for delighting in and/or using for the benefit of all.

7. EMBRACING DIVERSITY

Students respect and celebrate the built-in differences between cultures and peoples given for the enhancement of all.

8. EXPRESSING WORDS

Students use words to build up, make choices, and express life.

9. GETTING WISDOM

Students can go deeper than understanding and knowledge to seek the insight of God.

10. IMAGINING INNOVATIONS

Students innovate and renew for good purposes and thereby praise the master designer.

11. IMITATING HUMILITY

Students gratefully accept God’s grace and respond by humbly serving Him.

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12. OVERCOMING SETBACKS

Students overcome setbacks through the strength of the Spirit and live in hope and faith.

13. PONDERING CREATION

Students contemplate both the Creator and His handiwork and respond in delight and praise.

14. PRACTISING HOSPITALITY

Students welcome and accept others, and use their gifts to embrace others into community.

15. PURSUING PEACE

Students bring healing and restoration to people and areas of brokenness.

16. REFLECTING CREATIVITY

Students praise God by reflecting their Creator in making expressive and inspiring things and ideas.

17. RELISHING PLAY

Students have an attitude of joy-filled play as they respond to what God has provided and Christ has restored.

18. SEEKING JUSTICE

Students act as agents of change by identifying and responding to injustice.

19. SHAPING CULTURE

Students understand their cultural context, discern its errors and its virtues, and seek to ‘shake and shape’ it for the Kingdom.

20. SHOWING MERCY

Students respond to God’s mercy by likewise, being merciful to others.

21. TRANSFORMING THINKING

Students let every thought be captive to Christ so that their thinking is transformed by the renewing of their minds.

22. UNDERSTANDING

Students discover the vocational task in which God has called them to serve.

VOCATION

23. UNWRAPPING GIFTS

Students enrich theirs and others’ lives through developing and using their gifts.

(OTHERS)

(Teachers may choose to investigate other discipleship responses and create their own Thread)

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1. LOVING GOD God is love. His love is abundant in mercy, justice, wisdom, beauty, joy, grace, and peace. His greatest act of love came in Christ Jesus who paid the full price for our salvation. We love God because He first loved us. To love God is to admire, enjoy, treasure, delight in, desire Him, and be satisfied in Him. To obey God is to believe, receive, follow, remain in, and abide in Him. When we acknowledge that Jesus is the son of God, it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives through us. As we abide in Christ, we reflect God’s character and produce the fruit of His Spirit: we love our neighbours as we would love ourselves, and we are signposts for the Kingdom of God.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

This is the first and greatest commandment.’

Matthew 22:37 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 1 John 4:7-9, 15-16 We love [God] because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19 KJV But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:4-5

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • Is obeying God the same as loving God? • What does love look like?

• What does God’s love look like?

• How do we respond to God’s love?

• What does it mean to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength?

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FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • What does love look like in my classroom?

• How do we know God loves us besides Jesus’ work on the cross?

• How do we learn more of the nature and character of God? • What opportunities are there for students to appreciate and express love for God in this unit/in our classrooms?

• How do we see God’s love while studying this unit?

“The task of true education is to develop knowledge of God and His created reality and to use that knowledge in exercising a creative-redemptive dominion over the world in which we live. Such an outcome can be attained only by loving God and communing with Him, resulting in the wholehearted worship of God.” (Graham, 2003, p. 54)

2. BUILDING COMMUNITY God is building His Kingdom, His community. As a result of the fall, God no longer lived with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It is through the saving works of Christ on the cross that God is reconciled to His people. He is lovingly building His church, the body of Christ, which will one day be presented to Him as a bride to her groom.

God’s love working in us can only be fully expressed in relationships with others. We have each been assigned gifts that are to be shared within a community. We meet each other’s needs; we share each other’s joys; we carry each other’s burdens. God gives us gifts not just for our enjoyment and satisfaction, but so that we, in turn, use these gifts to be a blessing to others. Just as the different parts of a body all have different roles and make up one body, so God’s people all have different roles in His Kingdom building project and make up His church.

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10-11 Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:1-8 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • What makes a community?

• Who is our neighbour?

• Can we live without others?

• Why should we serve others with our gifts?

• How can we resolve conflict?

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • In what ways can our classroom be a rich community?

• How can we encourage our students to build each other up and to share burdens?

• How do our practices ensure that our classrooms are inclusive spaces where each student has a role to play?

• What opportunities are we providing for students to enhance their local and global community?

• How does the cross bring God’s people together in community?

“The particular shape that any community takes is already a creation and reflection of its way of life. As gifts are received, roles assigned, conflicts handled, and practices lived in certain ways, a community lives out its own way of being in the world.”

(Rasmussen, 1997, p. 121)

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3. CARETAKING EARTH The earth belongs to God and it has been declared by Him to be very good. It is a gift from God for our good and is to be cherished and looked after. God’s creativity, His glory, His majesty are revealed as we consider the universe around us. In cherishing and delighting in this awesome gift of creation we respond with thankfulness, awe, and obedience. Through Christ’s redemptive work we become partners invited to take care of the creation. Caretakers— also called stewards, can delight in being workers, developers, respecters, and carers of God’s world—God’s earth keepers.

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything into, the world, and all who live in it. Psalm 24:1

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Genesis 1:28

• How are we taking care of the earth’s resources that we have been given?

You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honour. You have made them rulers over the works of your hands; you have put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the sea.

Psalm 8:5-8 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Genesis 2:15

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • Why should we take care of the earth?

• What does obedient caretaking of the earth look like?

• Have humans gone too far in their use of the earth’s resources?

• How can we explore and make use of the world God has given us, without spoiling it?

• Is it God’s job or our job to fix global warming? (Is God still in control of creation?)

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• What whole-school/classroom/individual practices promote caretaking earth?

• What do we need to stop doing—locally, nationally, internationally—in order to care for God’s world?

• How do we ensure we do not lose sight of the centrality of God in our call to be responsive caretakers?

• How do we affirm the hope we have in a loving and sustaining God in the face of a decaying and despairing world?

“In the kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed, dominion is never “lording over”; it’s more like “lording under” by way of support. In the kingdom of God, to have dominion is to care for the well-being of others. To have dominion is to act like the mediator of creation. This means that a human steward of God’s good creation will never exploit or pillage; instead she will give creation room to be itself. She will respect it, care for it, empower it. Her goal is to live in healthy interdependence with it.” (Plantinga, 2002, p. 31)

4. CELEBRATING LIFE God breathed life into man and woman—his extra special creation—and He spread out before them the full array of the rest of His creation. He said, ‘This is yours for using and caring for, yours for frollicking in and enjoying’.

In the beginning we were given a garden, in which we could walk with God, for our complete nourishment and development. At the other end of the Scriptures the picture is one of God dwelling with His people in the holy city, a place that has been designed and built as His people embraced ingenuity, advancement, and the opportunity to live joyful and exuberant lives. This charge to celebrate life and to live abundantly should not be confused with the materially prosperous life. True prosperity can only be found in Christ who is the foundation from which our lives can flourish.

The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:28-31a I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices ... You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:8,9a,11 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom. Ecclesiastes 9:10 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us - yes, establish the work of our hands.

Psalm 90:14,17

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • What does true prosperity look like?

• Why do some people flourish and others don’t? (What does it mean to ‘flourish’?)

• How is it possible to suffer and be joyful at the same time?

• How can we celebrate life? How can we celebrate the giver of all good things?

• The American Declaration of Independence says “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men ... are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Does everyone have the right to happiness?

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • Can you truly flourish without knowing God? • How does God/we turn defeat into victory? How can purpose come out of chaos?

• How are we encouraging our students to celebrate gifts and the giver?

• How are we promoting the flourishing of others?

• Are we noticing and celebrating the joy and satisfaction in moments of ‘serious learning’?

“According to God’s intelligence, the way to thrive is to help others to thrive; the way to flourish is to cause others to flourish; the way to fulfil yourself is to spend yourself.”

(Plantinga, 2002, p. 22)

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5. CHALLENGING DISTORTIONS When God created the world, He pronounced it ‘very good’. The consequences of the fall meant that sin caused distortion in every facet of life. Our world bears the mark of this and suffers under the burden of sin. God created mankind to worship Him alone but God’s enemy seeks to divert our attention to other objects of worship. Man’s life-work—his development of culture—is distorted when it isn’t directed to God’s glory. With Jesus as our example and guide, using Spirit-inspired discernment and critique, wisdom and courage, we identify those areas impacted by sin and challenge our culture to be transformed for Christ’s sake.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Romans 12:9

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

Do not conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind. Romans 12:2a

• How do we identify the idols of this world?

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Titus 2:11-14 The [people] exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator. Romans 1:25 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.

Acts 17:22-24

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • Why do we love things that are bad for us?

• How can you tell ‘good guys’ from ‘bad guys’?

• It is true that we all worship something?

• Who’s telling us what to believe?

• How do we decide what’s important in our culture?

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• Are our students challenged to appropriately critique the culture they are swimming in?

• How do we highlight/bring out the goodness of God’s way of doing things?

• Are we aware of the ideas that have shaped our thinking/teaching practices/unit content?

• If the gospel is not transforming our students, then what is transforming them?

“Jesus wants to save us from giving our lives to things that just don’t matter. In a culture that relentlessly reminds us of what we don’t have—the “silver medal syndrome”—the Scriptures bring blinding illumination. Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions. Do not put your hope in wealth. Put your hope in God, be rich in good deeds, be generous and willing to share. In doing so you will take hold of the life that is truly life.” (Whitehead & Tyson, 2011, p. 43)

6. DISCOVERING PATTERNS When God created the universe, He created it with natural laws. Embedded throughout God’s created order are patterns, structures, and systems. God also created us to have reason—to observe, perceive, conclude, discern, question, think, and organise ideas. Because of these gifts, we are able to explore all areas of God’s creation and discover His patterns and designs. We seek the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so as not to come to distorted conclusions. Our inspired learning can form the basis of new discoveries that seek to benefit our communities.

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. Genesis 8:22

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name: “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the Lord, “will Israel ever cease being a nation before me”. Jeremiah 31:35-36

• What opportunities are we creating for students to play with patterns?

Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. Isaiah 25:1 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place.

Psalm 8:3

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • What makes a pattern a pattern?

• What can we learn from patterns?

• Are people programmed to behave in a certain way?

• Is human conflict a pattern?

• Can you safely mess with natural patterns?

• What do patterns and order reveal about the character and nature of God?

• Where do we see patterns that extend beyond physical creation?

• What patterns and structures are you deliberately shaping in your classroom?

• What concerning patterns are emerging in your classroom? Do they need attention?

“Just as creation was a mighty act, it was the act of a mighty mind - thinking, forming, and evaluating” (J.I. Packer, cited in Graham, 2003, p. 75) “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.”

Isaac Newton

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7. EMBRACING DIVERSITY In Revelation, we read of the magnificent moment when people from every tribe, nation, people, and language, will stand together and proclaim the glory of God. Every person on the planet is made in the image of God—there are no exceptions. Everyone has the same Creator Father. We can proclaim our unity as a created, equally valued, common humanity. God goes further by offering the message of the gospel in Jesus Christ to all. Every people and culture on earth, both past and present, reflects the creator in some way and bring richness to the Kingdom of God. We celebrate the rich diversity of God’s created peoples and cultures and the variety of insights and responses that this offers. However, we also recognise that each people group and culture has fallen short of serving God. Respect for cultural difference is held in tension with a critical appraisal of culture—particularly where its expression is out of step with God’s design.

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Revelation 7:9-10

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:26-29

• What do other cultures do better than we do?

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body— whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many...But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

Acts 17:24-27

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• Why are we all different?

• What good comes out of diversity?

• What do all people/cultures have in common?

• Are all cultures equally valued?

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • What opportunities are we giving students to explore the richness in other cultures?

• What do we learn about the character and nature of God through other cultures?

• How would you describe the culture of your classroom? Does it embrace diversity?

• What are examples of different insights and offerings from different peoples and cultures that contribute to richness of mankind?

• How can there be unity in Christ when there are such vast differences in culture and people?

“The Old Testament is the story of human scattering, of nations spreading abroad, falling apart, fighting. But the New Testament is the story of the divine ingathering of nations into a single international society... So here was the nucleus of the new community, in which men and women of all ages, and of all racial, cultural and social origins, find their oneness in Christ.” (Stott, 2006, p. 289)

8. EXPRESSING WORDS Written and spoken words carry infinite significance. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth with His Word and breathed life into man. With words, Jesus healed and cast out demons, He taught and guided, He cast judgement and He encouraged. Jesus is the ultimate example who committed no sin and used His words to speak life and truth to others. Because our words are an expression of the condition of our hearts they can be used to bring glory to God. We can follow Jesus’ example and speak truth and life as we use our gifts of insight, language, and voice. We are charged to be vigilant in guarding and examining our speech; in using our words to build others up; and to be responsible in making wise choices in our daily language.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:6 For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.

Matthew 12:34-37 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun. Psalm 19:1-4

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • Can words alone ever capture what we truly wish to express?

• Why are words so ‘powerful’? (How can words be used to heal rather than hurt?)

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • As words are so powerful, how are we challenging our students to use them to speak life into common situations, eg. online social interactions, conversations with friends etc?

• How are we intentionally encouraging our students to use words in a wider arena, e.g. promoting justice, challenging distortions, shaping culture etc?

• Are we educating our students on how to speak the truth in love, when to speak, and when to keep silent?

• How are we exposing students to a rich vocabulary so that they may carefully select the most apt words to use in their written and verbal expressions?

• Do our classrooms allow for more enriching student conversation rather than teacher talk?

“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.” Yehuda Berg

• What is the connection between what we think, what we feel, and what we say?

• How do you know when it is time to speak and when it is time to keep silent?

• If we promote ‘freedom of speech’, does that mean we can say whatever we like?

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9. GETTING WISDOM True wisdom belongs to God, and He gives it to those who ask Him for it. Wisdom extends beyond understanding and knowledge; it provides direction to a manner of being and a way of living. Jesus is the ultimate wisdom from God; He is the way, the truth and the life. Our growing in wisdom results in lives that are in step with His Spirit. As we walk with Christ, we get an insight into the mind of our Father God and the way in which He would like us to rest in Him and live for Him. Through Him we are given a heart that is able to discern what is good and evil—and to live accordingly. God’s wisdom confounds the wise people of this world.

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Proverbs 4:7

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

If any of you lack wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5

• What’s the relationship/connection between knowledge, understanding, experience, common sense, and insight?

For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. Proverbs 2:6-9

• Can wisdom be taught? Can wisdom be assessed? Can wisdom be studied?

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:2-3

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • What is wisdom?

• How can you identify a wise person? (What makes a wise leader?)

• Does wisdom change with the times? (What is ‘common sense’?)

• Do we have to know God to be truly wise?

• What is needed to make a wise decision?

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• How are we ensuring that we are ‘in step with the Spirit’ so that we are wise leaders in our classrooms?

• Is it reasonable to expect a child to show wisdom?

• How are we practising wisdom in our classrooms?

Has it been intentionally included as a shared understanding/practice/repertoire?

“Wisdom is rooted in faith and leads to a walk of faithfulness. With wisdom comes a passion to know more, to understand more, and to be able to do more, in a world we recognise as an abundantly rich home for God’s people.” (Stronks and Blomberg, 1994, p. 131)

10. IMAGINING INNOVATIONS God is a designer; our chief designer. We stand in wonder at (and try to work out) just how birds can fly, or new life is made, or exactly how far out does the universe extend. God created from nothing and made man in His own image with the unique privilege to rule over the earth. Man was made to cultivate the earth and fully develop the land to its full potential. To innovate is to change or make new. Jesus is innovation in a person. He came to earth to bring renewal to every area of life. He is in the process of innovating all creation as He builds His Kingdom on the new earth. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to manage creation better; to discover and use components of the earth in new ways—designing products, processes, services, and ideas. These innovations have a purpose; to demonstrate love, to be of service to others, to explore God’s creation further, to create wonder, and to bring praise and honour to our Master Designer.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea… He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:1, 5 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. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12:5-7 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:1-3

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • Are innovations always improvements? Who decides?

• What is progress? (or What is change?)

• Is there any truly unique and new idea?

• Can an innovation have no purpose?

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • How do we ensure our innovations/changes are aligned with God’s will?

• How do our innovations demonstrate love for others?

• What role does relationship/community/empathy play when creating innovations?

• Where in our programs are we giving students the opportunities to innovate? Where are we teaching them the skills of the design process?

• What opportunities are we giving students to explore and create through innovation?

“Though the creation was purely good, it had not been developed to the extent that it could be. Thus human beings were given the privilege and responsibility to create new products to subdue the creation, make new connections between parts of the creation in order to manage it better, discover and use the components of creation as good stewards, and appreciate it for their own enjoyment and sustenance.” (Graham, 2003, p. 51)

• Where do new ideas come from?

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11. IMITATING HUMILITY Humility is a key characteristic of the Kingdom, not as a personality trait or outward demeanour (where one’s heart can still be full of pride and arrogance) but as a reflection of our whole relationship with God. As humans we come as paupers who have nothing to offer but our sin and need for salvation. We recognise our lack of merit and our inability to save ourselves. Then when God offers to lift up the humble and fills the hungry with good things (His grace) we gratefully accept and live for Him and others. We die to self and live as new creations in Christ. This is true humility and the way we come to God. Jesus is our model. Just as He did not come to be served, but to serve, so must we commit ourselves to humbly serving.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. Luke 1:51-53

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.

Matthew 11:29-30

• How do we challenge students toward thoughtful contemplation of God’s love shown in the cross of Jesus? How is Jesus the ultimate expression of humility?

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Romans 12:3 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be your slave.

Matthew 20:26-27 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another. Colossians 3:12-13a

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • What is Christian humility?

• Is humility weak? Does humility mean that you are a doormat?

• Is humility the opposite of pride?

• Why is humility unpopular in western culture?

• What is the cost of humility?

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• How can we foster a spirit of humility in our classrooms?

• Often we are described as living in a narcissistic culture. How do we teach students to view themselves in ‘sober judgement’, while not taking away their sense of identity and meaning?

• In what ways is humility an outworking of our whole relationship with God? • In what ways does humility stand in contrast to a sense of rugged Australian identity and individuality?

“Humility truly is the mother of all virtues. It makes us a vessel, a vehicle, an agent instead of ‘the source’ or the principal. It unleashes all other learning, all growth and process. With the humility that comes from being principle-centred, we’re empowered to learn from the past, have hope for the future, and act with confidence in the present.” (Covey, 2003, p. 72)

12. OVERCOMING SETBACKS God is full of compassion and mercy and desires well-being and harmony in every area of life. His Word reveals that He promises a ‘crown of life’ to those who love him and persevere under trials and suffering. Our world is full of brokenness, pain, sorrow, and hardship. Jesus modelled the character of perseverance in the suffering He endured.

In response to this, we are to forgive, reconcile, solve problems, and ultimately persevere in the many trials and obstacles we face in life. We have the Holy Spirit to help us to continually transform our heart, mind, and spirit to have the strength to overcome setbacks and be full of hope and faith.

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

James 1:12 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:4 Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything…

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:3-5 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. James 5:11-12

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • Why does a loving God allow evil and suffering?

• What does perseverance look like?

• Can any good come out of suffering? How do the hard things we face shape us?

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • What influence does a positive (growth) mindset have on our responses to setbacks?

• How can I encourage my students to develop perseverance in the classroom?

• How can knowing God build resilience and emotional strength? Are we intentionally embedding these ideas into our curriculum/teaching practices?

• What perspective do we gain from learning about the trials and sufferings of others less fortunate than ourselves?

• How do we learn from the responses of others who have experienced trials and suffering? What role does imagination play in developing these understandings?

“I know there’s bound to come some trouble to your life But reach out to Jesus and hold on tight He’s been there before and He knows what it’s like You’ll find He’s there.”

(Mullins, Cited in Smith, 2007, p. 107)

• How do we respond to setbacks?

• How do we support others who are going through difficult times?

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13. PONDERING CREATION Our God is the Supreme Artist. In Psalm 8, David writes about God creating using His fingers. His fingerprints are all over His vast universe. His artistry is revealed in everything—in the physical creation; in the variety of human character; in the expressions of people and community around us; and in the development of diverse cultural expressions. We respond in awe, wonder, interest, amazement, and even bamboozlement. We have the ability to sense that there is still so much we don’t know and cannot comprehend. As we all bear God’s image we are invited to stand back and contemplate both the Creator and His handiwork.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Psalm 21:1

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them. Psalm 8:3-4

• How are we recognising God’s supreme artistry in creation? How can we draw our students attention to this in our units?

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know full well. Psalm 139:13-14

• In what ways are we incorporating moments to pause/ reflect/contemplate in this unit?

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him for him. Colossians 1:16 You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. Revelation 4:11

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • Where can we see the fingerprints of God in creation?

• What does creation tell us about God/ourselves?

• How is design evident in creation?

• How do we respond to questions of nature that we cannot answer?

• If God created the whole universe, why does he care about us?

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• While pondering creation, what do we learn about our relationship with our Creator?

• Different people ponder and respond in different ways. How can we create opportunities for students to ponder and respond in their style?

• What are examples of God’s good creation? Are we limiting these to the physical creation? e.g. How is cultural expression an outworking of God’s artistry?

“Significantly, the world [God] created is complex and elegant – filled with clues about the character and nature of its creator. The more we learn about this created order, the more sophisticated its designer appears. The magnificent design of the solar system and all the many galaxies we are now able to observe make it clear just how creative the creator must be. But we need not limit our observations to a telescope. By looking through a microscope, the same variety and imagination can be seen. From the very large to the very small, God’s intricate design reveals him to be a creator of amazing innovation and diversity.” (Boa, 2015)

14. PRACTISING HOSPITALITY God’s love extends to all nations and His desire is for a family drawn from ‘every tribe, language, people, and nation’. Because of Jesus’ work on the cross, everyone is now welcome to be a member of God’s family. Jesus modelled how we are to love each other and be ‘others’ centred in the way we live out our lives. He shared meals with the tax collectors and others who were rejected by society. He had compassion for all; His love was unconditional. In response to Jesus’ example, and as He works within us through His Spirit, we use our resources and individual gifts to provide for and serve others. Our hospitality extends beyond our friends and family, to those who are in need—even people we do not know. Hospitality involves generously sharing our lives and our gifts with each other; it is more than simply providing a meal.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:14, 16-18

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:8-10

• Do you eagerly anticipate the opportunities to spend time with your students?

Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Hebrews 13:2-3 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:12-14

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS

• Do all of our students feel welcome in our classrooms?

• How are we practicing hospitality in our classrooms/ beyond our classrooms? How are we allowing our students to express their gifts of hospitality?

• How can we direct hospitality and compassion toward those who most need encouragement?

• How are we cultivating a spirit of generosity in our students/teachers/school?

“Jesus taught in the synagogues and preached in the temple, but settings of hospitality seemed to be Jesus’ venue of choice for dealing with Kingdom matters.

All the Gospel writers give us his table talk... stories of Jesus in conversation at meals. The table is the focal point of hospitality in all cultures. Eating and talking go together.”

(Peterson, 2008, p. 77)

• Am I welcoming? Are we welcoming?

• Is food essential for hospitality?

• Why should we spend time, money, and effort on hospitality?

• How do we choose who to share hospitality with?

• How can I use my gifts to show hospitality?

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15. PURSUING PEACE God established a creation that was at peace. Disharmony arose as a result of the fall. Brokenness and warfare came to mar all relationships and life. But we weren’t left to wallow in a pit of anguish. God appointed a way where biblical peace or shalom could be found. Through Christ the pursuit and restoration of peaceful relationships between humans and God, between persons, and between humans and the world was made possible. Pursuing peace goes hand in hand with a call for justice and it results in healing brokenness and restoring relationships.

But it also seeks to restore creation to what God intended it to be. Ecological decay, violence and crime, disabling poverty and unemployment, personal abuse and the self-centred excesses of the western lifestyle, are just a few examples where the pursuit of peace (restoring things to the way they should be) restores the downtrodden and lifts the weak.

Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:11 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:19-20 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. Isaiah 11:6 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. Luke 4:18-19

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • What is ‘world peace’ and is it our goal?

• Is lasting peace achievable in a broken world?

• Can all broken relationships be restored?

• Why is peace defined as not just the absence of trouble?

• Is there always a peaceful approach towards conflict?

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FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • Do the processes and structures in our school/ classroom promote the resolution of broken relationships and the restoration of peace?

• What is our school’s approach to feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick, the elderly and the emotionally wounded?

• What issues of social justice and the need for restoration arise out of the unit being studied?

• Are we giving our students opportunities to speak up about injustices in school, in their own neighbourhood, and around the world?

• How can we be agents of peace in caring for creation?

“The peace that is shalom is not merely the absence of hostility, not merely being in right relationship. Shalom at its highest is enjoyment in one’s relationships ... with God, with self, with fellows, with nature...To dwell in shalom is to enjoy living before God, to enjoy living in one’s physical surroundings, to enjoy living with one’s fellows, to enjoy living with oneself.”

(Wolterstorff, 1983, p. 69)

16. REFLECTING CREATIVITY God reveals His creativity in what He has made. His magnificent universe and everything in it, including us, are testament to His artistic flair. Consequently, we as His image bearers have been entrusted with a measure of His creativity. As God’s works of art, we reflect the skill, flair, talent, diversity, and care of our Creator. Our creative flair is not limited to the fine arts or gifts only given to some. Each has the ability to create inspiring and expressive things and ideas because this reflects God’s character within us. When we do and make creative things—reflecting what we were made to do—we bring praise to our maker and bring gifts that contribute to the flourishing of life and society.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

Genesis 1:1,31 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know full well. Psalm 139:13-14 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him for him. Colossians 1:16

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • Does everyone have the gift of creativity?

• How did God make me creative?

• How do art and creative expression enrich society?

• How do we judge the value of artwork?

• Should art be beautiful?

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • How does creativity extend beyond simply works of art?

• How does artwork reflect the artist’s worldview?

• Does Christian art exist? Do Christians naturally produce Christian art?

• Different cultures express their art differently. Is appreciation always in the ‘eye of the beholder’?

• In what ways is reflecting creativity both service to God and service to others?

“It is obvious from the beginning verses of Genesis that God is creative, rational, and powerful; everything he does is good.

His work in the creation was an amazing act. And looking at everything around us should convince us that creativity is one of the fundamental parts of his character and one of the joys of his existence… When he says, “be like me and do what I do,” He intended for us to be creative in all that we do.” (Graham, 2003, p. 51)

“That aesthetic obedience is required of everyone by the Lord - artist or not - ...is an imperative that’s full of challenge, comfort, rich freedom and basic shalom.”

(Seerveld, 1980, p. 9)

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17. RELISHING PLAY The fear, despair, and drudgery that is so evident in the world was not God’s intention. God gave mankind the garden (all of life) and said ‘go and play’ but we turned and listened to another voice. Because our Redeemer lives we can re-find the full and abundant life that God intended. Because of what God has done for us in Christ our lives can be surprised by joy and lived out with robust playfulness. Because love has cast out all fear we can live flourishing lives that run with joy and feel the pleasure of God. We can share with the stars as the children of God, singing together and shouting with joy at the wonders of His creation. We call this wonder and amazement at being alive in such a rich and vibrant world; this celebration of living—play. Play is not just frivolousness or the opposite to serious enterprise. It’s an attitude that relishes God’s gifts of provision and life. It’s not limited to the aesthetic, creative, imaginative dimensions of life, or only given to a few. Playful joy, as an attitude of life, is an invitation given to all to vigorously engage with God’s world. It stimulates imagination; nurtures curiosity; fosters discovery, exploration and experimentation; encourages creative flair and assists in the integration of work and rest.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Genesis 1:28 I was there when he set the heavens in place... when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind. Proverbs 8:27-3 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.

Ephesians 5:20 Where were you ... while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”... Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs?... Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?... Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens? Job 38:4,7,32,35,37

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • Does play have a purpose? Why is play important?

• Should everyone live a flourishing life?

• Did God really say ‘go and play’?

• Should all classes have the opportunity to play?

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• Does playfulness/play really honour God? Is He interested in such frivolousness?

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • Can we find the balance between work, rest, and play?

• The invitation to ‘joyful play’ is for everyone. Why do some not take up the invitation?

• What’s the problem with the romantic traditional understanding of the place of play and the creative?

• Should we keep play for pre-schooling and emphasise serious learning once compulsory schooling starts?

• Do you think God still interacts and plays with His creation?

“It is play that nurtures our imagination and creativity, playing around that enables us to put together ideas that haven’t been put together before. Messing around in the world, getting our hands dirty, allows us to experience creation ... to make connections and see relationships that we otherwise would not have encountered.” (Blomberg, 2007, p. 185)

18. SEEKING JUSTICE In the Bible, God reveals Himself as a God of justice. In Jesus, He proclaimed justice to the nations. A modern idea of justice focuses on the law and individual rights. The biblical view of justice is about the fair and equal treatment of everybody, giving each person what they require—whether it is punishment for the wrong-doer or compassion for the vulnerable. It promotes the wellbeing of society as a whole—social shalom, or social harmony. To act justly is to deny ourselves and actively work to the benefit of the community. Justice is applied with an even hand. It shows no favouritism; it is impartial. It is interesting to note that justice and righteousness are strongly linked in the Bible. Justice isn’t just standing against that which is unfair, it also compels a response of righteousness, a charge to live the right way and to express God’s love through the selfless serving of others.

And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice. Psalm 50:6

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:17

• How does God’s view of justice compare to our legal system’s version of justice?

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream. Amos 5:24 Who executes justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free.

The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous; The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked. Psalms 146:7-9

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • What is true justice?

• Who has the right to judge?

• How do we respond to injustice?

• Does a sense of justice come naturally to people?

• Our students have a very strong sense of fairness and justice. How do we help shape this understanding and lead them to a Godly view of justice?

• Justice and righteousness often come together in the Bible. How/why is justice and righteousness so closely linked?

• How is our lifestyle an outworking of our understanding of justice? How are we applying this in our classrooms?

• How do we show God’s love to others through the action of justice?

“Most people know that Jesus came to bring forgiveness and grace. Less well known is the Biblical teaching that a true experience of the grace of Jesus Christ inevitably motivates a man or woman to seek justice in the world.” (Keller, 2010, p. xi)

• How is justice achieved? e.g. Is justice achieved through punishment?

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19. SHAPING CULTURE God has given us His good creation to manage with care, creativity, and joy. This task is not restricted to the natural world, but includes the cultivation of cultures that live out God’s purposes. He has equipped all of us with a diverse range of gifts necessary to complete such a task. As image bearers, we reflect our God who creates and sustains every single element of His universe. During His earthly ministry, and His death and resurrection, Jesus was the ultimate example of a loving shaper of culture. Like Jesus, we humbly engage with our culture, while respectfully and graciously showing others an alternate way of life in Christ. We shape culture by living Spirit-led, biblically-driven, counter-cultural lives. Through Christ, we put the needs of others first, forgive an offence, serve rather than consume, faithfully use our gifts, stand up for the oppressed, care for our creation, celebrate the successes of others, share the good news, and live with joy as children of the King.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Ephesians 4:15-16

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers.

They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

Luke 10:30-36

• Why should we love our enemies?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. 2 Corinthians 5:17-20a Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” Mark 4:30-32

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• Is shaping culture even possible?

• What does it mean to live counter-culturally?

• How do we discern what’s good and bad in our culture?

• How can we be others-centred in our culture?

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • What opportunities for culture shaping are we providing our students?

• Do our classrooms foster an environment that stands up for the oppressed, puts others first and celebrates the successes of others?

• What does it mean to ‘swim against the tide’ in this unit?

• How can you as a teacher develop your ability to critique cultural movements and ideas?

• Do you think it may be God’s plan that by living out our God-given gifts, we will inevitably shape culture?

“0ur task is to participate in the revelation of the new Creation. Like Joseph before Pharaoh, Daniel before Nebuchadnezzar and Paul in the Roman Empire, we operate inside this fallen human world in order to bring about small, incomplete glimpses of the world to come. We subvert empires from within. We are engaged in translation from God’s future world to this world that is fallen, but being redeemed. We live out of His Story.

And this story - the story of the Bible - changes everything.” (Allpress and Shamy, 2009, p. 79)

20. SHOWING MERCY Our God is a God of mercy. Words often associated with mercy include compassion, pity, sympathy, and empathy.

To show someone mercy is to have compassion on them, to walk in their shoes, even though it is within one’s power to punish, judge, or ignore them. God’s greatest act of mercy came in His Son, Jesus Christ, who came to earth as a man. Jesus understands suffering and temptation, because He lived it. We are merciful because we know what it means to have our sins dealt with on the cross. We are merciful, because we have been shown mercy.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Matthew 5:7

• How do we encourage our students to empathise with and look out for those who need our mercy?

But love your enemies, do good to them … Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:35-36

• How are we intentionally creating opportunities to develop empathy in our classes? e.g. What would it be like to walk in a character’s shoes? What might they have been thinking? etc

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

James 2:12-13 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Colossians 3:12-13 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:17-18

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • What is mercy?

• Who deserves mercy? How does God show mercy?

• How should we act towards those who hurt/offend us?

• How does empathy encourage us to show mercy?

• Is showing mercy counter-cultural?

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

• Jesus says “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”.

Do Christians have a choice to show mercy or not?

How are mercy and grace related?

“0 God, to those who have hunger give bread; and to us who have bread give the hunger for justice.” a Latin American prayer “Don’t just be merciful to your mates that’s measly.

Be merciful to the meanies - that’s mighty.

If you manifest mercy to men who maltreat you, that makes men marvel.

Manifesting mercy to meanies mutates mere men into Intimate Mates of the Master.”

(Semmens, 2010, p. 45)

• What does compassion and mercy look like in our classrooms?

• How do we teach our students to forgive an offence, and show mercy to others?

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21. TRANSFORMING THINKING God reveals some of His thoughts to us in His Word and in His creation. While His thoughts are much higher than ours, He has given us enough in His Word to guide our living and thinking. In Romans 12:2, the Greek word for transformed is the root word for the English word ‘metamorphosis’—a complete change. Our thinking needs total transformation. The world presents ideas about ways of living and thinking that are at complete odds with the standards set by God. If we are in Christ, and with the Spirit of truth, our minds are continually made new and new again. How do we actively participate in this renewing? We meditate on the Word of God. We seek Godly counsel.

We take every thought captive and submit them to Christ. For in Christ, we have freedom.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

• What makes bad thinking bad? What makes good thinking good?

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:6-8

• How do patterns of thinking shape our attitudes and behaviour?

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

• Where are we utilising moments in our classrooms to highlight how the world’s way of thinking is at odds with God’s way of thinking?

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

“Bringing every thought in subjection to Jesus Christ means making the deliberate choice to recognise non-neutrality and to recognise His lordship over our thinking processes.” (Edlin & Ireland, 2006, p. 68)

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• What is wrong with the world?

• How do we transform our thinking? How do we actively put on the mind of Christ?

• What impact does our thinking have on others?

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • How do we encourage our students to think about their thinking?

• How often are we opening up the Scriptures in our classrooms to seek Godly counsel from the Word?

In what other ways do we encourage students to understand God’s thoughts on matters?

• How does the cross of Jesus reframe the ways in which we think?

• How does a renewed mind help to ‘test and approve’ or discern and critique?

22. UNDERSTANDING VOCATION God is a worker and in our work we can reflect our Creator. God worked for six days and then He rested. After the fall, work became hard labour and drudgery—but God didn’t leave us to toil in vain. He provided work as a blessing and not a curse; a means to be productively engaged in developing His creation so that all can flourish. God calls each to work hard at discovering a sense of vocation through understanding gifts, making healthy choices, taking hold of opportunities, and recognising vocation as a means to serve Him. An understanding of vocation, calling, and service, challenges the distorted view that the purpose of school is to prepare students for a job; and incorporates other considerations like rest, vocational changes, an attitude of vocational service not being limited to an employed job, identifying gifts, passions and interests, attitudes and responsibility, dignity in work, and even joy in work.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:2-3

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS

So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

Genesis 3:23

• Is it fair to label our students as ‘the next generation’, or do they have an important role in society right now? How do we promote these ideas in the way we speak to them and about them?

… everyone who had acacia wood for any part of the work brought it. Every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun—blue, purple or scarlet yarn or fine linen. And all the women who were willing and had the skill spun the goat hair.

Exodus 35:24b-26

• Is work part of creation blessing or the curse of the fall? If work is a blessing, why do we whinge so much about it?

Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people. Ephesians 6:7 Slaves [workers], obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favouritism.

Colossians 3:22-25

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • Why should we work? Should everyone work?

• What is our ‘job’ as students?

• If work is not hard work, is it still work? Should you get paid for work?

• What’s the right job for me? Is there only one vocation for every person?

• How do we recognise the vocation of children of any age?

• If we are called by God to have a vocational response is there only one job for us to do? Do we limit the potential of students by focussing on one or two of their God-given gifts?

• How are we preparing students for responsive discipleship if/when they enter the workforce?

“To follow their main vocation of serving the kingdom of God, Christians pursue a wonderful array of sub-vocations. They sing, pray, and hand each other the body and blood of Christ. They rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

They fight against evil, but also fly kites and bake bread. As part of their vocation they absorb good books and good music.

They work, but also rest from work in order to make a space in which to long for God.” (Plantinga Jr, 2002, p. 114)

• How do we reflect our Creator in our work?

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23. UNWRAPPING GIFTS God created man in His image. We all reflect in different ways the image and majesty of God and His kingdom, each made with individuality, uniqueness, and complexity. His people are made of the same Spirit with different kinds of gifts. God equipped people to unfold and develop His world with the gifts He uniquely bestowed on each one. The drive to ‘unfold’ is characteristic of being human. However, the fall of man has distorted and stunted individuals from being empowered to cultivate their uniqueness. The culture in society has often influenced schools to become institutions that only develop a certain type of gifting that slots nicely into mainstream schooling life.

Spiritual gifts should not just be limited to unwrapping intellectual gifts alone. Through Christ, we can seek to deepen and enrich our identities and develop our gifts for re-creation and redirection of our culture back to God.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Romans 12:4-8 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.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

1 Corinthians 4: 4-11

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ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS IN OUR CLASSROOMS • Am I truly unique?

• What do I do with my gifts and talents?

• Are some gifts more useful or important than others?

• What do we learn about God from the gifts He gives us?

• Do all gifts enrich society?

FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS • How are our teaching practices helping to uncover all different types of student gifting?

• How do we celebrate and reward student’s with all different capabilities?

• What opportunities do we provide for students to display their gifts to each other?

• How do we develop students to discover their uniqueness?

• How do you design your assessment to ensure that your students, with a variety of gifts, can demonstrate their academic faithfulness?

“Schools help students to unwrap their God-given gifts not primarily for their personal growth and advantage. Rather, they develop their individuality in order that they may offer their unique gifts to the body of Christ and to society.”

(Stronks and Blomberg, 1993, p. 25)

OTHERS Investigate other discipleship responses and create your own Thread

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REFERENCES All scriptural references are from the new International Version (NIV) unless otherwise stated.

PART 1 - A TRACK TO FOLLOW Dykstra, C. and Bass, D. C. (2011). Foreword. In Teaching and Christian Practices: Reshaping Faith and Learning.

Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

Burggraaf, H. (Ed.). (2014). Transformational Education: A Framework for Christian Education. Melbourne, VIC: Mount Evelyn Christian School and The Brookes-Hall Foundation.

Postman, N. (1996). The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School. New York, NY: Vintage Books.

Wright, N. T. (1992). The New Testament and the People of God. London: Fortress Press.

Wolterstorff, N. (1969). Curriculum: By What Standard?

Grand Rapids, MI: National Union of Christian Education.

PART 2 – A BIG PICTURE MODEL Buisman, P., Hayes, C., Hoffman, L., Moltzahn, R., Monsma, D., Monsma, C., Stolte, C., Vandergrift, E., Van’t Bosch, B. (2009). Teaching for Transformation: A Guide for Developing Christian Curriculum. Lacombe, AB: Prairie Association of Christian Schools.

Stronks, G.G., & Blomberg, D.G. (Eds.). (1993). A Vision with a Task: Christian Schooling for Responsive Discipleship. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Wiggins, G.P., & McTighe, J. (2011). The Understanding

by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units.

Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Bloom, B. (Ed.). (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Wiggins, G.P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Wiggins, G.P., & McTighe, J. (2013). Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

Allpress, R. & Shamy, A. (2009). The Insect and the Buffalo. Christchurch: Compass Blomberg, D. (2007). Wisdom and Curriculum. Sioux Centre, IA: Dordt College Press.

Boa, K. Change and Innovation. Retrieved April 15, 2015 from bible.org/seriespage/16-change-and-innovation Covey, S.R., First Things First: (2003) To Live, to Love, to learn, to Leave a Legacy. New York: Free Press.

Edlin, R., & Ireland, J. (2006). Inhabiting the Mindfield: Why We Think the Way We Do, and What To Do About It. In R.Edlin & J.Ireland (Eds.). Engaging the Culture: Christians at Work in Education (pp. 53-74).

Blacktown, NSW: National Institute for Christian Education.

Graham, D. (2003). Teaching Redemptively: Bringing Grace and Truth into Your Classroom. Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design Publications.

Keller, T. (2010). Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Peterson, E.H. (2008). Tell it Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus and His Stories and Prayers. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B.Eerdmans Publishing Co. Plantinga Jr, C. (2002). Engaging God’s World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning and Living. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B.Eerdmans Publishing Co. Rasmussen, L. (1997). Shaping Communities. In D.C.Bass (Ed.). Practicing our Faith (pp. 119-132). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Seerveld,C. (1980). Rainbows for a Fallen World. Toronto: Toronto Tuppence Press.

Semmens, C. (2010). Give a Man a Fish: Making a Difference and Being the Difference. Burwood East, VIC: World Vision Australia.

Smith, J.B. (2000). Rich Mullins: An Arrow Pointing to Heaven. Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman Publishers.

Stott, J. (2006). Issues Facing Christians Today (4th Ed.).

Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

PART 3 – A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

Stronks, G.G., & Blomberg, D.G. (Eds.) (1994). A Vision with a Task: Christian Schooling for Responsive Discipleship. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Bartholomew, C.G. & Goheen, M.W. (2004). The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story.

Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic

Whitehead, D. & Tyson, J. (2011). Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You’ve Only Heard About. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

Burggraaf, H. (Ed.). (2014). Transformational Education: A Framework for Christian Education. Melbourne, VIC: Mount Evelyn Christian School & The Brookes-Hall Foundation.

Wolterstorff, N., (1983). Until Justice and Peace Embrace.

Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B.Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Christian Reformed Church in North America. (2008).

Our World Belongs to God: a contemporary testimony.

Grand Rapids, MI.

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