Oct 31, 2022 | Care Conversations
Student Leadership 13
The Intentional Development of Character.
Our view of Leadership has a number of key foundations, last week we talked about Christ dependence and the intentional development of that understanding.
This week let’s address character, and again how this development must be intentional.
Surveys of young people in recent years have revealed a worrisome trend: an increasing number of young adults and teenagers are unhappy, depressed, and outright sad.[1]
There are multiple reasons for this, but also some common factors: unhealthy comparisons with others, a lack of focus on gratitude, increasing isolation and self-analysis, fears fanned by media, a sense of unworthiness, a lack of future hope.
These issues all focus on Identity, Meaning and Purpose. The very things that we can only fully realise in a relationship with Christ. Genuine character attributes will only have full meaning when we know of our redemption in Him.
However, every person is made in the image of God and thus, however dimly, reflect the attributes of their Creator. Our task is to bring those character attributes into the light, and encourage our students to exercise them with discipline and diligence, and in so doing, some of their unhappiness will be relieved.
We must continue to have intentional classroom cultures that develop “Habits of Hope.”
These will include gratitude, forgiveness, humility, service, generosity, kindness, mercy, compassion, integrity – all of these things “look outside of ourselves” they are things that we exercise in community. They are things that we contribute. Amazingly, we see the joy and happiness of our students increase as we encourage their engagement with others.
The Senior School at Pacific Hills Christian School focus especially on a GROWTH model, connecting specific character attributes, as part of their ‘Leadership through Learning’ development:
| G |
Gratitude |
Thankful for the privilege to learn |
| R |
Respect |
Respect for the learning process |
| O |
Ownership |
Valuing and owning learning |
| W |
Wisdom |
Seeking wisdom in all learning |
| T |
Tenacity |
Persisting when challenges come |
| H |
Humility |
Valuing humility in all things |
This development of good character attributes is not a separate program that we need to run; it is the culture of our classrooms and school community that we intentionally develop, every moment of every day.
“…it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Blessings
Brian
[1] Eg Twenge, Cooper, Binau, Joiner & Duffy, 2019. “Age, Period and Cohort Trends in Mood Disorders and Suicide-Related Outcomes,” Journal of Abnormal Psychology, vol. 128, No.3
Oct 24, 2022 | Teachers Talking
Remember Pinocchio? A fictional character created by Italian writer Carlo Collodi in his 1883 children’s book ‘The Adventures of Pinocchio’, which Walt Disney adapted into an animated film ‘Pinocchio’ in 1940. In his pursuit of life, Pinocchio the wooden puppet, is given a special gift by the fairy – a little singing cricket with a top-hat and an umbrella called Jiminy Cricket. A comical and wise-cracking partner, he accompanies Pinocchio on his adventures to serve as Pinocchio’s conscience. He sang, “Give a little whistle … and always let your conscience be your guide. “
Jiminy’s role develops the heart of the story as he helps Pinocchio on his journey to become a real boy who is truthful, brave and unselfish. He shows wisdom and courage in facing the enemies that would seek to harm Pinocchio. When Pinocchio constantly lies, Jiminy helps him to tell right from wrong, avoid great temptations and guide him along the right path.
The conscience, a person’s moral sense of right and wrong that impacts their conduct, is a universal gift that God has gifted to every person, no matter what their ethnicity.
(Romans 2: 12 – 16) As a child grows, their conscience becomes consistent with the beliefs and values that they are enculturated into. The way of autonomy means that our conscience is under the control of the evil one and becomes seared.
Prior to his conversion to Christ, the conscience of Martin Luther (1483 – 1546) the great Christian Reformer, was dictated to by the established church system. But when he came to know Christ, his life was transformed. Now his conscience was formed by the love of Christ and His Word. When he refused to recant concerning his beliefs on the nature of salvation and the church, he responded with these now famous words,
“My conscience is captive to the Word of God, thus I cannot and will
not recant, because acting against one’s conscience is neither safe nor
sound. (Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me).”[1]
The most important audience for Luther was the audience of One – God Himself. In a culture where children and young people are encouraged to create themselves as they desire with no obligation to conform to moral standards, the Christian school is a place to reframe and reenergize the individual conscience as an essential part of discipleship. This means that the life of the learning community is to be infused by the Scripture, as the mind of Christ must shape the conscience.
As teachers, the ways of God must be embedded in us, that we might demonstrate what it means to live according to our moral nature as God designed. Our teaching
and learning will assist students to discern the spirit of their age and apply critical thinking to the existential questions they face in the context of the Biblical narrative.
Our students’ consciences will be fed by the truth of a different story and a different set of influences, practices and relationships.
We want our students to be influential without being influenced by those who would lead them astray. Besides, our Christian disciplines and practices, such as prayer, devotions and worship, our class and wider school culture needs to form patterns that align with what it means to live with the reality of being human together.
Author Mark Sayers in speaking of the hope for renewal in a post-Christian culture says,
“Forming patterns align us with the reality of how humans and God’s
world work, integrating into our lives patterns of functionality and
wisdom, which enable us to live flourishing lives. The biblical wisdom
books offer a vast resource of patterns and direction with which to
construct helpful patterns. Forming patterns involve learning the
importance of diligence, of matching our words and actions, of
integrating into our lives the values of delaying gratification for greater
goals and being responsible for the consequences of our actions. All
these forming patterns occur as we interact with reality, as we enact
daily godly and wise choices, which creates a pattern of formation in
our lives, shaping us into healthy and well-functioning humans.” [2]
Let us nurture a culture aligned to the Kingdom of God, where love for God and love of neighbour, informed by God’s Word, is feeding the consciences of our students. When we, as teachers, bring our lives under the Lordship of Jesus, His Holy Spirit enables us to live as genuine human beings who bear the image of Christ. As we demonstrate a life of discipleship, we are inviting our students to live faithfully before the most important audience – the audience of One.
“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.”
Hebrews 9: 14
Grace and Peace
The TEC Team
[1] Here I Stand: Martin Luther’s Reformation at 500 | Abilene Christian University Special Collections (acu.edu)
[2] Mark Sayers, Reappearing Church – The Hope of Renewal in the rise of our Post-Christian Culture, (Chicago; Moody Publishers, 2019), 157 – 158
Oct 24, 2022 | Care Conversations
Student Leadership 12 | Leadership needs to know the Big Story
I was privileged to attend the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town back in 2010. There were many highlights. I still remember Os Guinness’ simple definition of a Christian world and life view:
“God wants us to see the world the way He’s told us it is.”
That’s what we want our students to know, understand and believe. This truth is what we desire them to be led by, and thus to inform the way they might lead.
When it comes to Leadership, we are not suggesting that we identify all the Bible passages that might guide us to be better leaders. We want our young people to know the whole Bible and thus have a basis for all thinking, feeling and action – which will include Leadership. The Bible is our primary source that shows us who God is and consequently who we are and how we should live.
Our Biblical Studies programs; our strong Biblical Christian world and life view should be intentional and permeative. It should inform every thought, word and action. Our Leadership development must not be divorced from our understanding of the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
Research has shown that across Christian schools, teaching the Bible is generally not done well in our schools – we tend to deal with selected passages only and sometimes fail to use the variety of pedagogical approaches that we would use in other areas of study.[1]
Our strong desire and hope would be that our student leaders would operate from a clear Biblical Christian world and life view. Therefore, every year level must have an engaging Biblical Studies program, opportunities to reflect upon the Scriptures and interpret the world and live as warmly relational and redemptive disciples of Christ.
Much more can be said about the way that Biblical Studies needs to be addressed. But that’s another series!
Just one more thought. Does this mean we should only develop leadership in those students who have been gripped by the truth of the Scriptures? Certainly not.
Firstly, God is not restricted to believers to achieve his purposes.
Secondly, we simply do not know when our students’ eyes will be opened to the truth of the Gospel. We can expect all students to have knowledge of the truth; it is God’s prerogative as to when they will be brought to commitment to that truth.
Blessings
Brian
[1] Beyond proof texts, principles and perspectives: the struggle to practice Bible-based
Education Rod Thompson PhD thesis 2003
Oct 12, 2022 | Care Conversations
Soon we will be outlining some practical ways that we might develop Student Leadership in our schools. Just another couple of thoughts before we do.
If we are going to intentionally develop Student Leadership, who will be involved? Who will be engaged in the developing and who will be the recipients of that deliberate initiative?
The answer to the first part of that question is easy – all of us. We will model and teach from our understanding of good leadership. It will involve: faith, character, purpose, virtues, skills, abilities, purposes etc. all the things we’ve discussed so far.
The second part of the question has a developmental answer.
Initially all of our students will be engaged in leadership development. As we have already said, every person leads somehow and somewhere – but Biblically we also recognise that some are especially gifted to lead. In no way does this bestow a special value, or higher level of importance on that person, or that gift – it is simply one of the many gifts that the body needs.
We, and probably they, have no way of knowing or discerning whether particular young people have that gift unless we provide the opportunity. “There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.” [1]
This means that we must provide leadership development and leadership opportunities for all. During the development process we will be able to identify the need for specific leadership development for some. We will not put in place hard and fast entry or exit points to specific leadership development – young people’s gifts become apparent at different ages and stages.
In our plans and purposes of developing student leadership, we must never lose sight of the big picture. We want our young people:
- to Love God and Love people
- to be equipped to live and act graciously and redemptively in the world
- to know God; to reflect His nature; to live incarnationally, to work for the thriving of all people.
We want every student to be this sort of influence. For some this will mean using their gift of leadership to intentionally lead and enable others in the great purpose of being ambassadors of Hope dependent upon the enabling of Jesus.
Blessings
Brian
[1] R Buckminster Fuller
Oct 11, 2022 | Care Conversations
Student Leadership 11
Most schools have student leadership positions at Senior School level – these are often prefects or captains. Some schools have class or year level leaders in Middle and Junior School years.
Some schools clearly see the need to develop Leadership understanding, a heart for leading through service and a love for people that they are called to serve.
This development can be extensive. The aim is the advancement of understanding and wisdom both formally and informally through regular teaching sessions, mentoring and leadership opportunities. Our schools, recognise how important faith is to leadership, and therefore may require students to gain a basic theology accreditation.
Often the approach includes:
- Formal and informal Teaching and Learning about Biblical Christian leadership. Reading, discussing and accessing good resources.
- Encouraging Self-development. By helping young people to develop positive character, identify their strengths, weaknesses, leadership qualities, learning team collaboration, and receiving feedback from peers and other leaders
- Providing Experiences, and giving responsibilities and a wide range of opportunities. Project based learning through year-long, group projects is beneficial as are practical experience of leading within the community
- Engagement with school and local leaders. Interaction with local leaders in their respective fields, working with leaders within the school, and being mentored by respected members of the community
- Reflection. Reflection through writing, discussing, and analysing current leadership.
For these schools that are committed to the encouragement of effective and good leadership there is a strong intentionality to engage and develop.
That intentionality does not require a stand-alone development program. What is needed is the development of understanding, faith, character, skills and experience to be embedded in daily teaching and learning practices and pedagogies. So that’s where we are headed in the next few weeks.
Blessings
Brian
