Christian Teachers and Christian Education in Cross

Cultural Teaching

MCCA GUYANA DISTRICTTEACHERS RETREAT

Presenter: Ardith Conway

Cross Cultural Ministry

Many people think secular education is no longer significantly influenced by Christian beliefs and values.

How can Christian teachers, contribute to this culturally complex situation?

Commentators suggest three approaches:I. We can retreat into our Christian enclave and see

the rest of the world as the enemy to be resisted. We regard all other cultures as a threat and try not to be contaminated by them. 

2. We can emphasize what is shared by people of all cultures and faiths. We ignore the differences between us and focus on our shared humanity. This approach treats culture and faith as irrelevant outside people's private lives

3. We can seek to understand and interact with the different cultures we encounter, including the majority secular culture. In this way we will discover what people share in common, we will learn from other people's ways of life and we will be able to offer our own insights as Christians.

This approach treats interaction with other cultures as an opportunity both to learn and to have influence. It is based on a theology of respect for other people.

It is this third approach which offers the way forward.

An Incarnational Approach

An incarnational approach is modeled on Jesus who came to live amongst humans as 'one of us'. There are two notable characteristics of this approach:1. Loving IdentificationJesus identified fully with those around him. He shared their experiences and lived their life. He became part of the present-day culture 2. A Costly Counter Cultural Stance.Jesus had very different values and faith from many of those around him. People knew he was different although he was rarely abrasive or confrontational. In the way he lived he modeled a different quality of life, which others found immensely attractive, although some opposed him. His life transformed many around him.

This incarnational approach also means that we will work hard to understand and appreciate the educational culture in which we are working. This is our professional responsibility.

Whatever we are teaching, we will strive for the highest standards and keep up to date with current educational thinking, but at the same time we won't simply follow the crowd. We will seek to offer better ways of teaching that are Christian at depth and can transform the way everyone teaches.

Six Qualifications for a Spirit-filled Teacher are:

The teacher is the communicator of truth, he/she must be openly and boldly a Christian.

Every teacher must know the bible. Because the Word of God is relevant to all subjects.

The Christian teacher must be committed in every aspect of his/her life and work, in all his/her being, to the truth.

The teacher must seek excellence. This is a seeking after intellectual excellence to the glory of God, and a Christian teacher should be content with nothing less than superiority in this area.

The Christian teacher must truly love his/her students, seeking their highest good even when at times the way may be hard. Not only should he love his students, he/she should genuinely like and understand them.

Finally, the Christian teacher should exercise complete submission to the one great teacher. Every teacher must listen to the Lord, and the Holy Spirit, for his/her lessons and never should he think that he/she does not need to be taught of Him.

TEACHER–STUDENT RELATIONSHIP ISSUES 

I. student motivation – II. intellectual and spiritual development III. supportive, safe class-room environment

that encourages learning IV. developing positive personal relationships

with their students V. cultivate engaging pedagogical(academic,

instructional) conversations that ‘‘hold the interest and imagination of young people’’ and serve to enhance your students’ lives

STUDENT TO STUDENT RELATIONSHIP ISSUES

Communication Expectations Conflict –avoidance and

resolution Boundaries Tolerance /Recognition of

diversity Trends & fashion

Dr. Roy Zuck’s Summary of a Teacher’s Role

Remember that Christian education is a supernatural task.-The presence of God's Holy Spirit in teaching takes Christian education beyond mere programming, methodology, and techniques.

A teacher is to rely on the Holy Spirit -Seen in light of the Spirit's teaching ministry, Christian education demands you be submissive to the guidance and direction of the Spirit. Teachers must work with God, not against Him.

Teachers are to relate God's Word to the pupil's experiences.-A proper understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit provides Christian teachers with a balanced, blended approach to the question of content and experience.

Teachers are to rest satisfied with nothing less than spiritual results.-A teacher must constantly test his teaching to see if it's resulting in spiritual growth on the part of his pupils.

Teachers must recognize that, in the final sense, God, the Holy Spirit, is the teacher.-It is God who does the teaching, a teacher is merely a channel of His grace, an instrument doing the planting and watering. The spiritual effectiveness of any teacher's work rests ultimately with the Holy Spirit

The Role of the Student/Learner

The student/learner represents the challenge and purpose to the Christian educational process. Each believer brings to class a personal set of needs, wants, and goals. Each is looking for fulfillment and growth in his own personal and spiritual life.

Every student/learner starts with his own basic needs, thus, an educator must seek to motivate the student/learner to discover and apply God's provisions to his life. In Christian education, true learning comes as the learner comes to an awareness and experiences the wonder of God's truth applied to his life.

The pupil is to be considered as an individual, a person of worth, as God sees us as individuals. Each (child or youth) personal experiences and knowledge have value. He/she is a responsible member of a learning group, having something to contribute and something to learn.

(Zuck, Roy B. The Holy Spirit in Your Teaching, 1963, pp. 167-168)