Cultivating a Thriving Christian School Series : Addressing Major Components for Institutional Health in Christian Schools
The Power of Biblical Worldview Immersion
By Dr . Roger C . S . Erdvig
If I could spend time with every Christian school teacher , there is one question I would want to ask : How are you immersing your students in a biblical worldview ?
Biblical worldview immersion should be the distinguishing mark of every Christian school , especially when you consider the promises we make to our families . Many Christian school websites promise that “ We teach from a biblical worldview perspective ,” or “ Our graduates leave ABC school with a strong biblical worldview .” These promises require a unique approach to education . Just like full immersion is the best way to learn a language , immersion in a biblical worldview is the best way to nurture worldview development in our students .
The power of biblical worldview immersion has been shown to promote transformational learning in its two-fold focus : modeling and an immersive environment . Instead of only thinking about how we can wed biblical content to our lesson plans , we should be considering how we can : 1 ) develop our own worldview and 2 ) create environments in our classrooms that are saturated with biblical worldview experiences .
IT STARTS WITH US
You may be surprised at how many Christian school teachers do not have a well-developed biblical worldview . Of course , they are fine Christian individuals who love the Lord , but many are not aware of their worldview and how it shapes their ministry as a teacher . There have been many times when I ’ ve sent veteran teachers to biblical worldview conferences , and they come back amazed . They discover that God has much to say about their subject area and that Scripture is an overarching narrative that provides meaning to all of life . While I ’ m always thrilled to hear of these kinds of ah-ha moments , it concerns me that these are the teachers on whom we ’ re counting to develop a biblical worldview in our students .
If we are going to pass on a biblical worldview to our students , we need to be actively developing our own worldview first . Biblical worldview development doesn ’ t happen by accident , though . It is the result of an intensive effort to : 1 ) understand how our upbringing impacts how we interpret and interact with the world ; 2 ) think deeply and regularly about our worldview ; 3 ) process life experiences
46 THE RENEWANATION REVIEW