Spirited teaching : the integration of faith and learning in the teaching of Bible in British Columbia Christian schools

Abstract

The integration of faith and learning has been the object of study of men and women in the Canadian Calvinistic school movement ever since Dr. Abraham Kuyper pointed out that there could be no dichotomy between the sacred and the secular in the life of a Christian. Acting on the traditions, influences and beliefs these `Reformed' Christians had imbibed in their homeland, the Dutch Calvinistic immigrants who came to British Columbia after WW II built Christian schools as soon as they arrived. As they became more established, they formed curriculum committees of teachers who wrote curriculum for each subject area from a Christian perspective, intentionally planning to integrate their faith and learning in all subject areas. By looking at the history and Bible textbooks of not only the Calvinistic (Reformed) Christian day schools in British Columbia and then branching out to the history and Bible textbooks of three other denominational schools, the Mennonite, the Pentecostal and the Lutheran, I have tried to discover how the faith beliefs of each of these groups are brought to bear on the teaching of Bible. In soliciting the strengths of each of these groups from their history, current practise and teacher comments, I have pitched my own proposal as to how the integration of faith and learning can be enhanced in the teaching of Bible. By blending goals, curricula and best practice, as well combining certain faith belief frameworks in interpreting God's Word, by learning in community, and by listening to the Holy Spirit in the text, I believe the teaching of Bible can become `Spirited teaching'.