On a warm, autumnal afternoon shortly after the start of the school year, a group of ten students came to me and asked, “Dr. Chen, can we scale up the impact of our work?” They were referring to the work they had done through the Trinity Institute for Leadership and Social Justice at our school. This enthusiastic group of juniors … Read More
Do You Believe in Your Timothy?
“So, you think you can TED?,” asked Toni. He was not asking if I would have something worthwhile to say on the TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) stage. He was asking for my feedback on his novel concept: a TED style meeting of “So You Think You Can Dance?” To be honest, I had my doubts. Did he have clarity … Read More
Connecting Truth: Training a Movement of Teachers to Equip Students to Reflect Christ
In my previous post, focus was given to answering the questions, why do we make our students take bible classes and identifying the purpose of our bible departments. In this post, we will briefly examine and answer the remaining three questions and then identify best practices for schools that have defined and are measuring spiritual maturity in the context of equipping … Read More
The Disintegration of Faith and Learning, Part 1
In 1996, I was a young pastor tasked with the mission of adult ministry and discipleship at a medium sized church in the western suburbs of Chicago. As a graduate of a premier bible school and a product of growing up in the church since my infancy, it was shocking to me to recognize the truth that I was ill … Read More
Leadership and Innovation, Part 4
Innovation involves bold action and courage. As Christian school leaders, we must be prepared to act boldly and courageously to lead our organizations and the larger Christian school movement to a preferred future. In part one, we discussed how leaders communicate the vision for the future, establishing that leaders need to humbly communicate the vision and that leaders must recognize … Read More
Leading Innovation: Developing an Innovative Culture, Part 3
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” – Anne Ritchie This common proverb outlines the greatest issue facing innovative leaders today: the difference between implementing an innovative idea and developing an innovative culture. The former is akin to giving a man a fish, … Read More
Leading Innovation: The Process, Part 2
As we have seen, having and communicating an innovative vision are essential. The next step to leading innovation is implementing the vision. This stage is often the most challenging because it immediately and clearly affects the status quo. In general, my innovation experience has boiled down to the following five stages: research, pilot, execute, evaluate, and back to the beginning. … Read More
Leading Innovation, Part 1
Most of us aspire to be innovative leaders. The push for 21st century learning, coupled with the technological revolution, has advanced the awareness of innovation and has propelled innovation to the fore as a leadership ideal. In the coming months, we will highlight a variety of different innovations affecting Christian education. Before we explore individual innovations, we will consider the … Read More
Charter Schools: The False Choice (Part II)
Charter schools on the whole have not provided the same results of the few excellent charter school networks. A short review of the research and opinions on charter schools provides a much less hopeful narrative that the Three Sector approach can effectively create quality change throughout American education.
Technology and Innovation
I’m the first to admit it: I’m a technophile. I subscribe to Wired magazine. I love my iProducts. I enjoy networking with other educators through social media. And I am a techie-teacher–I’m always experimenting with new technologies in my classroom! It’s not that I think technology can solve all of our educational problems or make us into super-teachers. But I think technology … Read More