What if (Christian) education was primarily concerned with shaping our hopes and passions—our visions of the “good life”? What if the primary work of (Christian) education was the transforming of our imagination rather than the saturation of our intellect? What if we began by appreciating how education not only gets into our head but also (and more fundamentally) grabs us … Read More
Deeper Learning Conference–Take Two!
It was a great time of learning, connection, and celebration at our second annual Christian Deeper Learning conference held at Legacy Christian Academy in Frisco, Texas on March 6-8! A couple of highlights for attendees were the keynote speech given by one of the deeper learning pioneers in the national movement, Ron Berger from EL Education; and a presentation of … Read More
Deeper Learning: From Hewlett Packard to Jesus Christ
Many of us have just returned from the 2nd annual Deeper Learning Conference at Legacy Christian Academy in Frisco, TX. I was one of over 200 people attending from Canada, the Dominican Republic, Australia, as well as the United States. We were especially inspired by a keynote address by Ron Berger from EL Education and a presentation by students from … Read More
A Christian Deeper Learning Introduction
Out of its best motives, the Christian day school movement was born from the deep conviction by parents that God’s truth be recognized in every subject and every aspect of learning. Knowing that a teacher’s worldview has a powerful and undeniable impact on students’ worldviews, public schooling was not acceptable to these parents because of concerns over what core values/worldview … Read More
Storytelling: Deeper Than Learning
The universe is made of stories, not atoms. –Muriel Rukeyser Aha! Sonya was a very mature kindergartner whose mother was concerned that she would be bored in my class because she already knew how to do everything in the curriculum. Mom was especially peeved that I would be spending two days on the letter M, when her daughter already knew how … Read More
What Do We Mean by Christian Deeper Learning? A Draft Document for Your Consideration – Part 2
In July I shared with you the first part of a working definition of Christian Deeper Learning. To refresh your memory I mentioned this background information by way of introduction: As a core group (authors are noted at the end of the full document – you can reference that here) we each took our turn crafting a document expressing our … Read More
What Do We Mean by Christian Deeper Learning? A Draft Document for Your Consideration
Tucked into my blog post report this past January on the first ever Christian Deeper Learning conference, I alluded to a small core group working on a definition and explication of what deeper learning looks like in the Christian school context. Out of honor to the small group that composed it and because I believe it deserves more than just … Read More
Teaching the “Real” American Revolution
As we celebrate Independence Day and the political incarnation of the idea that is “America,” I think of all the teachers who have the opportunity to invite students into the story of the American Revolution. What guiding question will you use to spark curiosity and stimulate deeper investigation into this remarkable event? In a letter to H. Niles in 1818, … Read More
Going Deeper into Rooftop Perspectives
In my preceding blog post I wrote a review of Eric Reender’s compelling book, Rooftop Perspectives. In this post, Eric responds to several questions related to the book. Moving to China and teaching in a Christian school there was a big change. I was an experienced teacher but my experience was all in public schools. I had received my teaching credential … Read More
Deeper Play
Play is the highest form of research. Albert Einstein I love when I am invited into schools to do model lessons. I might demonstrate a variety of teaching practices in a range of subjects, but no matter what strategy I focus on, what content we address, the most common response I get from teachers after the lesson is, “The children … Read More