Dr. Lynn Swaner has done unprecedented and comprehensive research on flourishing in Christian education. In this speech, she made strong connections between the “Big Story” and student flourishing. She discovered three aspects of spiritual formation happening in Christian schools that highly correlated with Christian school alumni continuing to walk with God: community engagement, Christ-like teachers, and responsiveness to special needs. She gave encouraging examples of how she has seen these aspects practiced in our schools.
Celebrate and Imagine #9: Schools Embodying a Transforming Vision: Missional, Dynamic, Deeper, and Global, 2010-Present (Part 2)
With the rise of national standards and an increase of accountability in both the US and Canada, some began to wonder how much our identities as Christian schools were driven by the wrong outcomes. What was our hope for our graduates?
Celebrate and Imagine #8: Schools Embodying a Transforming Vision: Missional, Dynamic, Deeper, and Global, 2010-Present (Part 1)
It is a risk to try new things, to move in new directions, to love that deeply. But we have reached a time in history where by not innovating we are running a greater risk than staying our current course. Dan Beerens and Erik Ellefsen, MindShift: Catalyzing Change in Christian Education Since the financial crisis of 2007-2008, Christian schooling in … Read More
Celebrate and Imagine #7: Interpreting, Fast and Slow: Faith, Love, and Hope for Christian Education – Dr. Justin Bailey
In this talk, Dr. Justin Bailey suggests that the greatest contribution Christian education can make is to prepare students to become skilled interpreters of our world. Our job in Christian schools is to help students recognize that, while they inhabit a world tainted by sin, they can lead others toward faith, love, and hope through postures of curiosity, discernment, and presence.
Celebrate and Imagine #6: Seeking a New Paradigm of Educating, 1990-2010 (Part 2)
In the mid 2000s it became clear that the long feared death of the “three-legged stool” (the educational partnership between home, Christian school, and the church) was very much becoming a reality.
Celebrate and Imagine #5: Seeking a New Paradigm of Educating, 1990 to 2010 (Part 1)
The time period from the mid-1980s through approximately 2010 saw Calvinist/Reformed Christian educators further define and apply their approach to educating Christianly in response to a changing world. During these years, movement leaders sought to define both what being Reformed means and the essence of Calvinist/Reformed day school education.
Celebrate and Imagine #4: Ron Polinder–70 Years of Christian Education
When I think of a Christian education leader who combines the best of prophet, priest, and king leadership, my mind turns to Ron Polinder. Formed by the routine and discipline of farm life and educated in K-18 Christian schools, Ron is someone whose life and career passionately reconciles his deep faith with his vocational practice. Along with many others, I … Read More
Celebrate and Imagine #3: Thought Leadership in the Boom Years, 1950 to 1990
In this post we will delve into the philosophical and curricular aspects of the movement, highlighting key individuals, particularly from the years leading up to the early 1990s. One could make an argument that these years were a key time in the Calvinist Christian day school movement in terms of articulating belief, uniting around a philosophical direction and identity, and at the same time assessing the effectiveness of the movement as leaders looked to the future.
Celebrate and Imagine #2: Engaging God’s World
Plantinga shares the lament expressed in Jeremiah but also the hope of shalom. Shalom is “the background vision for Christian education.” He calls Christian educators to be “the kinds of people who want shalom and work every day toward it–that is what a Christian education is all about.”
Celebrate and Imagine #1: Introduction and Beginnings
In fall of 2021, CACE invited a group of 70+ educators to Washington, D.C. We met at the Museum of the Bible for a two-day conference on the history and ongoing impact of Reformed Calvinist K-12 day school education. It was a time of remembering, appreciating, and evaluating the history of this movement and considering how it may continue to impact Christian education in North America. Hence the title for this ten-part blog series comes from the conference title: “Celebrating the Past, Imagining the Future.”