CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION (Biblical World Views)

In Christian education, the bible should be used to build a framework for informing and directing our inquiries into any subject. It should be used for identifying biblical themes, concepts and doctrines that will help develop a perspective for examining reality.

Without doubt, as Christians we all believe that God created the universe out of nothing. Biblically it’s through His word that creation was creatively put in place and in order. He made Man in his own image. One who could be in the same likeness with Him(Image bearer).When God created man, He crown him with responsibility over His creation

Describing God is one of the things man still finds difficulty in doing. But God has been able to reveal himself to us in the written scriptures and his creation around us. And indeed with the evidence seen, it’s very obvious that God is very Creative, rational and powerful, and everything that He does is good. His work in the creation was a great act. He continues to creatively care for the creation even after the fall and he therefore intends for us to be creative in all that we do. Therefore we believe that creatively caring for God’s creation is one of the ways that we reflect Cod’s character and participate in his work

This whole process of creation also reveals a fundamental character of God as loving to humankind. And therefore we also believe that another significant part of our purpose in life is to Love God and our Neighbors. Jesus summed up the entire law in two commandments; Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind and with all your soul. And love your neighbor as you love yourself. (Mathew 22:37-39). This is just to emphasize the point that loving our fellow human beings is a necessary threat in the fabric of life as God created it. This brings glory to Him because it’s a demonstration of His character.

When man fell short of the glory of the Lord after sinning, God didn’t not curse him  and the world  and leave it at that, rather He had a plan to reconcile human beings to Himself through Jesus Christ(2Cor 5:18). This means that redemption of humankind and the creation is through Jesus Christ. As image bearers of God, we are to be reconcilers in a broken and alienated world. We are to be used as agents, depending on Him for wisdom, love and power to do those acts that lead to reconciliation and healing. This can’t be any different in education. It should also be able to help students become reconciling and redemptive agents working on God’s behalf.

The bible therefore shows themes and principles that should be applied to all of our work; Humans were created to love and to be loved. Therefore all institutions that involve human beings must incorporate that characteristic of love. Wholeness and Unity is another biblical theme for us to acknowledge. All that is to be done in the various institutions that involve human beings should lead to a sense and experience of wholeness. Lastly, the responsibility of Knowledge. God’s expectation is that we use the knowledge we have acquired for his purpose hence bringing glory to Him

The purpose for Education is therefore to prepare human beings for life – which is all about glorifying God

The Nature of the Learner

For education to serve its purpose as intended, it must have impact on the learner. Any kind of teaching that doesn't recognize the created nature of the learner actually serves a wrong purpose.

The biblical teachings give us a framework to understanding better the true nature of the learner from a Christian point of view.

Since man was made in the image of God. There is a great impact in the way we deal with each other in the teaching-learning process as well as in all other realms of life. However this doesn’t mean that we are infinite and perfect as God’s attributes are. Rather we as God’s image are to reflect what the reality of God is like, thereby trying to display his attributes in all dimensions of life as He enables us to do so

We were separated from God through Adam’s sin. This therefore implies that we are still bound to going wrong in one way or another and therefore need to be careful with what we do or say to one another.

God through Jesus Christ redeemed a people among our fallen race, hence restored our broken relationship that resulted from the fall. We were therefore called and empowered to live by the Spirit in truth and righteousness

In an attempt to live as a redeemed people of God, we therefore have to explore and reflect more of the attributes of God so as to live a more glorying and honoring life

Active and Purposeful: Looking at God, we notice that from the creation of the world till now, He has been actively in action. His deeds aren’t a bunch of random things that just happen, rather all things happen according to His will and good purpose. In the same likeness, we as his image bearers ought to reflect the same, our actions must always be driven with meaningful purpose to have an impact in school and the world at large.

Rational: This is a basic element of God’s character as He holds things together through law and order. We therefore must operate reasonably and not chaotically to be able to fulfill tasks in a more satisfactory way as we exercise any kind of rule over God’s creation.

Creativity: While God created out of nothing, we are certainly limited in our creative capacities by our finiteness and our dependence on God.  However we are capable of creating manifold things and ideas. This is a one calling for us in order o be able to be great partners in managing God’s creation

Moral: In this case, God’s character sets the standard for man. And therefore we are to live by the standards that He set through the redemption of Jesus Christ

Free and Responsible: God acts freely according to His own purposes, making choices to do as He wills. When we submit ourselves to God we are truly free as we live out the nature that God gave us.

Faithful: Being faithful is knowing the truth and acting according to the truth. Given the fact that we are from a fallen nature, this implies that we still face difficulties in trying to be faithful. But it doesn’t eliminate the fact that we are striving to be faithful as He is

Exercise Dominion: Of course God is sovereign ruler over all things. As his image bearers and stewards, we to have to exercise a measure of control over the environment and the created things living in it

Social relationship: This involves fellowship which means working together sharing experiences, communicating with one another and dwelling together in peace.

Loving: Just as God exhibits his love to mankind through forgiveness and doing what is just and good, we are expected to follow God’s footsteps in doing well. We are always commended by God when we do what is good.

Merciful: Mercy is an attribute God desires to see us reflect to the world. This is a reflection of our Love for others

Dependent: God created human beings to be in constant fellowship with Him and to be loved by him. Therefore being dependent on God. This kind of dependence also flows to our fellow human beings.

Nature and roles of the teacher

Biblically, Teachers are highly esteemed and gifted by God and held responsible over creation. On the other hand, Teachers must be understood as human beings and created in the image of God, yet fallen just like any other person.

A creative, thinking being: God gave man the responsibility to exercise control over the world around them and develop its potential, He called him to do it creatively and rationally, thus teachers are not simply to be in charge rather creative in charge. Creative thinking takes hard work and diligence.

Free and responsible: one must be free to be in position to make impactful choices. As teachers, we are free to use any manuals/guides or create our own as long as they are within biblical guidelines for the education process.

Finite, fallen and redeemed:  as teachers, we should accept the limitations and possibilities of our fallen, finite and redeemed state. We are not God, but we are called to think and act like Him. Therefore the distortions that flow from our fallen state should make us cautious about our interpretations, humble in our approach to students

Fruit of the Holy Spirit: when we are redeemed by God, the Spirit of God becomes the driving force in our lives, this then implies that we ought to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in our teaching. – Love, Patience, kindness, Peace etc.  The fruit of the Spirit is not optional or dependent on whether the teacher tends to be active or dormant.

A teacher has multitudes of roles, however teaching redemptively requires examination of specific roles such as;

A model: Jesus being God and human at the same time, gives us a more confident reason to look at Him as our model teacher. He taught with authority-knowing what He was doing, He did it without hesitance. Yet he lived what He taught. He therefore set a good example for us to follow in our teaching.

Prophet, Priest and King: As a prophet, our role as teachers is to know and interpret ideas and experiences through the scriptures. The priestly role of a teacher is similar to that of the Old Testament. We are to pray for the students and act as healing agents. In one way or another. Finally as a servant king, we are to lead the students in the discovery of the truth by using our authority to enable the students to be all they were created to be.

Shepherd: the shepherd’s eyes are always on the sheep, continually aware of what the sheep are doing. They must always be alert lest the sheep hurt themselves or others. Likewise As teachers, we are to be on full time alert of how and where the students are. This is a form of assurance to the students that they are not alone hence a sense of security and comfort for the students.

Nature of the learning process

While understanding the concept of the nature of learning we must always put into consideration the fact that a students learn in conjunction with their true nature. He is made in the image of God, and as God’s image bearers, they are creative, proactive, purposeful, dependent, and rational.

Learning most times involves recognition of a process that has impact on behavior. Behaviour has a big role that it plays in the learning process. Most certainly all the effort will in most cases be focused sources that influence the learning. Biblically the heart is the source of human behavior and therefore it plays a major role in the leaning. It encompasses all that we are because it’s the center of our being, emotions

Learning therefore involves the following;

• It requires the involvement of the person
• It occurs at a level that engages the person’s whole being (rather that the mind)
• It requires a person to commit to something as the whole truth and to act upon it, whether that commitment simply strengthens an already existing behavior or creates a new one.

In the learning process, perception and conceptualization add a string to better learning for a student. Conceptualization involves placing an experience or an idea in a larger framework and it more heavily emphasizes analysis. Conceptual learning involves a person discovering the form of a concept by observing objects that do and do not fit the detonation of the name used for the concept (Hunt 1974). On the other hand, Perception has more of learning with little or no analysis.

In most cases, Perception demands immediate responses hence no time to conceptualize an idea or an experience

Learning also involves induction and deduction. In other words, it consists of weighing the observed facts and the general principles that must have been tested and used over a period of time

Engagement in the Learning. For learning to take place well, it should be engaging in one way or another. This needs to be done in very many creative ways so that it can make the learner to be more interested in the subject of learning.  Creative tension is one way a learner can be active in their learning. It puts a learner in a state of desiring to know and hence demanding attention for easy learning. Learning needs to also relate the ideas with real life events.

Subject matter and the Curriculum

There is meaningful learning when the subjects allow students to become more involved. In order for the curriculum to be developmental, it must utilize all the four sources of knowledge in appreciate ways. These sources include the following;

• The Bible,
• The organized bodies of knowledge known as the academic disciplines,
• Individual person
• Needs and issues of the society.

In the process of acquiring knowledge, Christians should not separate knowledge into secular and sacred. All knowledge has a spiritual basis in it, whether its from findings or bible.

Acquiring knowledge also comes with a responsibility of action. Normally our actions are as a result of some knowledge acquired. This means that whatever we do is a result of what we know

Conclusion

God’s sole purpose of creating man was to glorify Him, therefore whatever man does on earth is meant to bring glory to God.  Christian Education therefore is a tool to assist man to respond to the purpose in the best appropriate ways. So whatever is done in Christian schools must intend to help students respond positively to their purpose in life. This is supposed to be evident in all the subject curricular, school activates and in the different ways that teachers deliver the education services to the students

The curriculum guides for the various subjects and activities should be formed with biblical backgrounds or themes and they  should be in position to impact the learner in a positive way.

The learning process should allow more student involvement/engagement. This creates a more lasting impact on the leaner

Reference

Graham, Donovan L.Teaching Redemptively: Bringing grace and truth into your classroomSecond Edition2009 Hunt Ear B. 1974Concept learning: An information processing problem, New York: Wiley and sons 1962.Reprint, Huntington, NY: Robert Krieger 

“Christian education begins where evangelism ends, helping believers grow in their faith.” 

― Perry G. Downs

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