Mindshift: Catalyzing Change in Christian Education by Lynn Swaner, Dan Beerens, and Erik Ellefsen is an excellent read for anyone who has asked the question…”Is there a better way to do this?” or who has ever felt “Something has to change.” I’m grateful to spend every day in a community of people who are asking that question. And continually asking it…both of themselves and their students. This book is a great resource for those conversations. I’m especially thankful it was written by people who serve and lead schools like the one I’m privileged to serve.
I highlighted several things while reading and posted those notes below…
- The challenges facing Christian school teachers and leaders are not just “new”—they are more complex and disruptive than anything we’ve encountered before. Beyond technical solutions, we needed an entirely new way of thinking about these challenges. p. 2
- The challenges we face can be reframed as opportunities to provide an education that is more authentically Christian—that better engages today’s students in their learning, that helps students to move more deeply into a connection and relationship with God, and that equips students to actively participate in Jesus’ redemptive work. p. 8
- What is distinctive about Christian education? p. 9
- What should teaching and learning look like in contemporary society, as today’s educators and students serve God’s purpose in their own generation (Acts 13:36)? p. 9
- What knowledge and skills do today’s students need in order to be salt and light in an increasingly secular, globally-interdependent, and rapidly changing society and workplace? p. 10
- What should Christian schools look like (both programmatically and physically), given the exponential growth of online, on-demand, and personalized learning? p. 10
- How can Christian schools be relevant and nimble in a competitive marketplace, and what actions must they take today to position themselves for the future? p. 10
- When Christian education focuses more on students acquiring static knowledge than developing a rich context for life-long learning, it misses opportunities for authentic growth, discipleship, mentoring, and application in real life. p. 20
- Machines work well for the industrial purposes for which they were invented. We contend they do not, however, work well in forming human beings, who are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26)—and as such are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), diverse in their backgrounds and contexts (Acts 17:26), and uniquely gifted for good works as part of God’s redemptive plan (Ephesians 2:10). So how did we end up with an educational system that is so far afield from God’s design for human flourishing, and how can Christian schools move closer to a vision of education that is commensurate with that design? p. 28
- If the education machine looks at students through the eyes of efficiency and utility and transaction, by contrast a humane education rooted in the Christ story looks at students through the eyes of love. p. 30
- Halton Hills Christian School (HHCS) is committed to embodying a growth mindset where beautiful work is created through healthy cultures of critique and revision. Fundamentally, a growth mindset fostered in a culture of love and acceptance requires grace and commitment. To this end, at HHCS students learn how to work together in groups, as well as how to employ conflict resolution techniques and give descriptive feedback that is kind, helpful, and specific. p. 37
- Only schools that ask good questions can adapt to a rapidly changing world, identify new opportunities, and—in the case of Christian education—live out their missions into the future. p. 43
- From an abundance mindset, leaders might ask, What new opportunities would allow us to expand our reach as a school? What new partnerships—with other schools, churches, ministries, businesses, or community groups—could we forge to do kingdom work together? p. 44
- In what ways can Christian education’s constraints lead to innovation? p. 45
- As we have moved toward greater community engagement by way of shared vision and practices, we are finding that educators who don’t necessarily hold our same faith position are attracted to what we’re doing—that the Christian narrative offers a genuinely attractive vision for education. p. 54
- The Vision for Education takes John 10:10 as a central text —“Life in all its fullness”. The Vision identifies four dimensions essential to an educational ecology that is sufficient for such fullness:
- Educating for Wisdom, Knowledge, and Skills
- Educating for Hope and Aspiration
- Educating for Community and Living Well Together
- Educating for Dignity and Respect p. 56
- There are many proxy measure of success for education—attendance, examination results, college entry, athletic accomplishments, artistic achievement, financial sustainability—but even in combination these may not tell the full picture of the kind of education we seek. “Life in all its fullness” leads us toward a notion of “flourishing” that is a helpfully inclusive concept for a broader and deeper view of what education is all about. p. 62
- Wanting to provide a safe and comfortable learning environment for all students in a wide range of diversity categories, they established the definition of diversity through the acronym “GRACE”—which stands for Gender (male and female), Race, Age, Ability (academic and physical ability), Culture, and Economic status. p. 71
- As we engage in conversations around diversity rooted in the beauty of the image of God (Imago Dei), the aroma of Christ (Psalm 34:8) would permeate the surrounding communities and draw people in. p. 73
- Without question, technology is fraught with risk, and it’s healthy to have a sense of apprehension about the dangers of a 5G future and what it means for human flourishing. Christian educators in particular need to consider how to leverage technology with care and intentionality, in ways that advance—and do not detract from—their schools’ missions. We contend that a 5G world offers us unprecedented opportunities in three key areas: enhancing student engagement and learning; expanding access to Christian education; and re-clarifying our focus as Christ-centered schools. p. 86
- Clearly, a highly connected and digital world requires thoughtful and discerning leadership related to student safety, monitoring, and accountability measures. Without question, students must be taught the appropriate use of technology. But instead of just policies, rules, and regulations, becoming a Christ-honoring user of technology happens best in the context of meaningful student-teacher relationships—which are characterized by trust, open communication, and modeling. The influence of technology in our students’ lives gives us an opportunity to engage them in the discipleship work of Colossians 1:28, as Paul writes: “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” p. 91
- Bearing the name of Christ, Christian schools ought to be places known for ministry marked by mutual submission, shared purpose, and gospel-mindedness, and not by the isolation, disengagement, or competitiveness that are characteristics of siloed organizations. p. 97
- Along those lines, that same group of Christian educators who identified these fears also spent time sharing scriptural rebuttals: for nostalgia, they found 1 Thessalonians 4:10 NASB (“We urge you brother, to excel still more”) and Isaiah 43:18 (“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old”); to inertia, they cited Hebrews 11:8 (“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going”); to self-reliance, they recalled Ephesians 3:20 (“to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to power at work within us”); and so on. p. 109