Understanding Biblical Worldview as a foundation in the International Baccalaureate Program.
By Chantal McAllister
*IB dictates a philosophy of authentic life experiences: how much more authentic is a student whose education enables them to develop spiritually and / or supports their faith?
The IB experience and educative philosophy prizes holistic education but what does that truly mean?
Is an education holistic – if it ignores the learner’s soul – and spiritual being? The six areas of learning; CAS; EE; TOK and the Learner Profile in the IB DP program address the learner’s academic; intellectual; emotional and physical being but it does not directly address the learner’s spiritual needs. At no time does the program address the needs of the learner’s soul. However IBO do expect teachers to use “best practice”, thus it is on this premise that I justify incorporating Biblical Worldview not just into my units as a lens; but rather as a focus and ground motive or in fact the essence of how I teach.
Real life application leads to tangible transfer of knowledge and understanding; which is the focus of the IB and any other education programs of excellence. Ultimately education is the vehicle society uses to transport our beings from babyhood, through childhood, into young adulthood- and of cause, beyond this: creating lifelong learners. An education program that offers a holistic balanced approach to learning is admirable but what should be at the CORE of any learning is an identification of one’s world view. Our world view defines who we are, in fact it is the essence of who we are and who we want to become. An educator’s worldview shapes the way in which he / she conveys the content and under pins the instructional strategies used within the learning environment.
Worldview is what ties our background; culture; values; philosophy of life; religious choices and faith together, creating our identity. This being said, F.Heylighen, (1) ironically identifies that “What we need is a framework that ties everything together, that allows us to understand society, the world, and our place in it, and that could help us to make the critical decisions which will shape our future.” This is an ironic truth, how does one maintain a spiritually neutral education program, and still be educating effectively? This is the crux of education – can any education system be “worldview free”?
Biblical Worldview proponents identify this basic key aspect as the pivotal agreement for Biblical Worldview debate. Education needs to be authentic; real; relevant and value laden to truly effect change and transformation in the learner’s being. F.Heylighen, (1) also says the following “one of the biggest problems of present society is the effect of overall change and acceleration on human psychology. Neither individual minds nor collective culture seem able to cope with the unpredictable change and growing complexity. Stress, uncertainty and frustration increase, minds are overloaded with information, knowledge fragments, values erode, negative developments are consistently overemphasized, while positive ones are ignored. The resulting climate is one of nihilism, anxiety and despair. While the wisdom gathered in the past has lost much of its validity, we don't have a clear vision of the future either. As a result, there does not seem to be anything left to guide our actions.”
Yes there is profound truth to his statement, but I would argue that, change is actually not the cause of our concern but rather the lack thereof. Education for too long has separated the student’s spiritual life and the learner’s soul is neglected. Removing GOD from our classrooms has lead to our learners only being prepared for the here and now – not for their future: ETERNITY. Being unprepared or underprepared for eternity is a GRAVE mistake!
We are so desperate to educate students for the future such as: the 21 st. century learner; the lifelong learner; creating authentic assessments; bringing the real world into the classroom; preparing learners for adulthood and global citizenship. Why don’t we just educate our learners for eternity? We will all get there but do education systems prepare students for their real future?
So how do we incorporate a Biblical Worldview into our units, classroom and teaching?
Five key aspects that all learners share – no matter what their age – is where an inspired educator begins.
Key aspect 1: Milieu / Background
Every person taught or being taught comes from a milieu unique to them. It is important to acknowledge the learners differences of personal environment and encourage each learner to share their personal context, so that you as their educator can use these vital “nuggets” to help each student not only connect with the content to be learned, but also to connect with each other. Relationships in the classroom and in our own lives should reflect an understanding of each other and more importantly an interest in the ambient context of all backgrounds found within the classroom. We all have a background and we are all faced with eternity: this is a great place to start guiding your teaching: find commonalities and differences. Facilitate kingdom mindedness, by expecting the learners to ask questions about each other’s milieus.
Key aspect 2: Culture
Every face tells a story. As an African woman – who doesn’t look African, I have a story to tell. Each of us has an umbilical cord tying us to our heritage. In international schools we have many ethnicities, reminding us of the creativity of God. Culture and ethnicity are so closely intertwined that it can be a remarkably powerful learning tool. Do not be afraid to share; search for and use culture in your teaching. Using culture effectively in a Biblical Worldview classroom demands a praying teacher. Ask God to show you how and when to teach and reach a student through their culture. Create in your classroom a “God Culture” – “What Would Jesus Do?” WWJD, can be so much more than a catch phrase in your teaching. Teach from this premise – good ideas come from reading books but truly inspired ideas come from GOD. Invite Christ into your classroom everyday: you can do this privately or as a collective group of learners. Great books that helped me learn how to embrace culture and use it as a key factor in teaching from a Biblical Worldview, are "A Christian Approach to Education" by Harro Van Bruemelin; “Eternity in their Hearts” and “Peace Child” both by Don Richardson.
Key aspect 3: Values; Morals and Ethics
Values drive our behaviour and actions. These innate and learned environmental factors forge our responses to societal issues and concerns. Morals, values and ethics are difficult to identify when a groups of international learners meet in one classroom. This is because the nature of each concept is unique but all three concepts contribute to a fundamental aspect of our being which dictates our ground motive.
Dictionary.com defines values as:
n : beliefs of a person or social group in which they have an emotional investment (either for or against something).
Our values then can be identified as the notions which an individual holds dear, thus relating to the development of our intrinsic worldview. Often these values are driven by our familial environment. Within the classroom, it is safe to say that not everyone holds the same values but this is perfect soil for the growth of a Biblical Worldview foundation. Our Biblical Worldview stimulates the learning environment, as it is ideal to use as a values indicator. It allows our classrooms to become vibrant value laden spheres that create unity.
Dictionary.com defines morals as:
n : motivation based on ideas of right and wrong.
It is interesting that learner behaviours are often defined as moral or immoral; this denotes a value judgment being attached to our motives. Morals also lead to unity in our global classrooms’ diversity! We can all be from different places but the Biblical Worldview learning environment provides a framework of common language; similar terminology and ideas that produce a collective communal sense of justice. Right and Wrong have a solid place in the Biblical Worldview classroom and present an opportunity for learning through unified acceptance.
Dictionary.com defines ethics as:
A theory or a system of moral values.
The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession.
Every learning environment should have essential agreements, by which the learners expect to be treated and treat others, thus functioning as a symbiotic community. A Biblical Worldview learning environment uses the Word of God to determine its system of moral values and ethics and this learning environment is guided by Godly principles.
Values, morals and ethics are excellent areas of learning, where transfer of our Godly culture can take place. This key aspect of developing a Biblical Worldview potentially drives us to become principled educators; whom galvanize our learners to grow into principled Christians.
Key aspect 4: Philosophy of life
A philosophy of life relates to the learner’s meaning which they attribute to their existence. It enables the learner to grapple with life’s big questions. The Theory of Knowledge course in the IBO can be used as a platform to connect the learner with their life’s philosophy and the educator to facilitate worldview development. The philosopher Pascal, in the seventeenth century, wrote the following:
“When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in the eternity that lies before and after it, when I consider the little space I fill and I see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I am ignorant, and which know me not, I rest frightened, and astonished, for there is no reason why I should be here rather than there. Why now rather than then? Who has put me here? By whose order and direction have this place and time, have been ascribed to me?”
This question has so aptly been answered by our Lord and Creator, in Psalm 8:3 - 5, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place. What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.”
From the authoress, Erma Bombeck we can see how easy it is to incorporate a Biblical Worldview into our philosophy of life – as she states: “ When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, I used everything you gave me."
Ultimately the concept of “the purpose of life” is interchangeable with one’s philosophy. Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life is an excellent tool for the IB educator to challenge your own worldview and bring one closer into understanding a Biblical Worldview.
Most great thinkers and poets would agree with Robert Byrne, who says “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.”
So in the classroom, encouraging learners to develop personal yearly goals and personal unit learning goals are all interesting ways to incorporate; integrate and develop the learner’s Philosophy of Life. The IB Learner Profile of Reflection encourages the learner to reflect and review their successes and should be used to evaluate their learning and life goals.
Key aspect 5: Religious choices and faith
What does religious choice mean? A religious choice is any decision that a person makes with respect to his / her religious practice. A learner’s world view is defined by their faith or lack thereof, as well as, the religious choices that they make. These choices are anything from how, where, when, why and to whom or in what they choose to believe. Faith is: best described by God’s Word.
Hebrews 11:1 is probably the most concise definition of faith found in the Bible. It is considered the classical definition of faith. “Faith is both the substance of things hoped for and the evidence that things exist that is not yet perceived with the senses.” (2)
This concept in itself is a perfect ToK essential question: What is faith? How do societies and I relate to faith? or Is faith still relevant? Look at my units on Questions of Faith and Imprisoned Lives for more ideas on how to incorporate Biblical Worldview into the essence of teaching literature.
Incorporating the IB Learner Profiles into a Christian school and daily lessons enables the educator to underpin Godly principles. This requires students to identify the profile characteristics that are revealed in the Bible in order to know and understand these essential profiles and transfer them into not only their work but also into their lives.
Citations:
1) http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/worlview.html
2) http://thegloryland.com/index.php?p=1_11_7-The-biblical-definition-of-faith-
Is an education holistic – if it ignores the learner’s soul – and spiritual being? The six areas of learning; CAS; EE; TOK and the Learner Profile in the IB DP program address the learner’s academic; intellectual; emotional and physical being but it does not directly address the learner’s spiritual needs. At no time does the program address the needs of the learner’s soul. However IBO do expect teachers to use “best practice”, thus it is on this premise that I justify incorporating Biblical Worldview not just into my units as a lens; but rather as a focus and ground motive or in fact the essence of how I teach.
Real life application leads to tangible transfer of knowledge and understanding; which is the focus of the IB and any other education programs of excellence. Ultimately education is the vehicle society uses to transport our beings from babyhood, through childhood, into young adulthood- and of cause, beyond this: creating lifelong learners. An education program that offers a holistic balanced approach to learning is admirable but what should be at the CORE of any learning is an identification of one’s world view. Our world view defines who we are, in fact it is the essence of who we are and who we want to become. An educator’s worldview shapes the way in which he / she conveys the content and under pins the instructional strategies used within the learning environment.
Worldview is what ties our background; culture; values; philosophy of life; religious choices and faith together, creating our identity. This being said, F.Heylighen, (1) ironically identifies that “What we need is a framework that ties everything together, that allows us to understand society, the world, and our place in it, and that could help us to make the critical decisions which will shape our future.” This is an ironic truth, how does one maintain a spiritually neutral education program, and still be educating effectively? This is the crux of education – can any education system be “worldview free”?
Biblical Worldview proponents identify this basic key aspect as the pivotal agreement for Biblical Worldview debate. Education needs to be authentic; real; relevant and value laden to truly effect change and transformation in the learner’s being. F.Heylighen, (1) also says the following “one of the biggest problems of present society is the effect of overall change and acceleration on human psychology. Neither individual minds nor collective culture seem able to cope with the unpredictable change and growing complexity. Stress, uncertainty and frustration increase, minds are overloaded with information, knowledge fragments, values erode, negative developments are consistently overemphasized, while positive ones are ignored. The resulting climate is one of nihilism, anxiety and despair. While the wisdom gathered in the past has lost much of its validity, we don't have a clear vision of the future either. As a result, there does not seem to be anything left to guide our actions.”
Yes there is profound truth to his statement, but I would argue that, change is actually not the cause of our concern but rather the lack thereof. Education for too long has separated the student’s spiritual life and the learner’s soul is neglected. Removing GOD from our classrooms has lead to our learners only being prepared for the here and now – not for their future: ETERNITY. Being unprepared or underprepared for eternity is a GRAVE mistake!
We are so desperate to educate students for the future such as: the 21 st. century learner; the lifelong learner; creating authentic assessments; bringing the real world into the classroom; preparing learners for adulthood and global citizenship. Why don’t we just educate our learners for eternity? We will all get there but do education systems prepare students for their real future?
So how do we incorporate a Biblical Worldview into our units, classroom and teaching?
Five key aspects that all learners share – no matter what their age – is where an inspired educator begins.
Key aspect 1: Milieu / Background
Every person taught or being taught comes from a milieu unique to them. It is important to acknowledge the learners differences of personal environment and encourage each learner to share their personal context, so that you as their educator can use these vital “nuggets” to help each student not only connect with the content to be learned, but also to connect with each other. Relationships in the classroom and in our own lives should reflect an understanding of each other and more importantly an interest in the ambient context of all backgrounds found within the classroom. We all have a background and we are all faced with eternity: this is a great place to start guiding your teaching: find commonalities and differences. Facilitate kingdom mindedness, by expecting the learners to ask questions about each other’s milieus.
Key aspect 2: Culture
Every face tells a story. As an African woman – who doesn’t look African, I have a story to tell. Each of us has an umbilical cord tying us to our heritage. In international schools we have many ethnicities, reminding us of the creativity of God. Culture and ethnicity are so closely intertwined that it can be a remarkably powerful learning tool. Do not be afraid to share; search for and use culture in your teaching. Using culture effectively in a Biblical Worldview classroom demands a praying teacher. Ask God to show you how and when to teach and reach a student through their culture. Create in your classroom a “God Culture” – “What Would Jesus Do?” WWJD, can be so much more than a catch phrase in your teaching. Teach from this premise – good ideas come from reading books but truly inspired ideas come from GOD. Invite Christ into your classroom everyday: you can do this privately or as a collective group of learners. Great books that helped me learn how to embrace culture and use it as a key factor in teaching from a Biblical Worldview, are "A Christian Approach to Education" by Harro Van Bruemelin; “Eternity in their Hearts” and “Peace Child” both by Don Richardson.
Key aspect 3: Values; Morals and Ethics
Values drive our behaviour and actions. These innate and learned environmental factors forge our responses to societal issues and concerns. Morals, values and ethics are difficult to identify when a groups of international learners meet in one classroom. This is because the nature of each concept is unique but all three concepts contribute to a fundamental aspect of our being which dictates our ground motive.
Dictionary.com defines values as:
n : beliefs of a person or social group in which they have an emotional investment (either for or against something).
Our values then can be identified as the notions which an individual holds dear, thus relating to the development of our intrinsic worldview. Often these values are driven by our familial environment. Within the classroom, it is safe to say that not everyone holds the same values but this is perfect soil for the growth of a Biblical Worldview foundation. Our Biblical Worldview stimulates the learning environment, as it is ideal to use as a values indicator. It allows our classrooms to become vibrant value laden spheres that create unity.
Dictionary.com defines morals as:
n : motivation based on ideas of right and wrong.
It is interesting that learner behaviours are often defined as moral or immoral; this denotes a value judgment being attached to our motives. Morals also lead to unity in our global classrooms’ diversity! We can all be from different places but the Biblical Worldview learning environment provides a framework of common language; similar terminology and ideas that produce a collective communal sense of justice. Right and Wrong have a solid place in the Biblical Worldview classroom and present an opportunity for learning through unified acceptance.
Dictionary.com defines ethics as:
A theory or a system of moral values.
The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession.
Every learning environment should have essential agreements, by which the learners expect to be treated and treat others, thus functioning as a symbiotic community. A Biblical Worldview learning environment uses the Word of God to determine its system of moral values and ethics and this learning environment is guided by Godly principles.
Values, morals and ethics are excellent areas of learning, where transfer of our Godly culture can take place. This key aspect of developing a Biblical Worldview potentially drives us to become principled educators; whom galvanize our learners to grow into principled Christians.
Key aspect 4: Philosophy of life
A philosophy of life relates to the learner’s meaning which they attribute to their existence. It enables the learner to grapple with life’s big questions. The Theory of Knowledge course in the IBO can be used as a platform to connect the learner with their life’s philosophy and the educator to facilitate worldview development. The philosopher Pascal, in the seventeenth century, wrote the following:
“When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in the eternity that lies before and after it, when I consider the little space I fill and I see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I am ignorant, and which know me not, I rest frightened, and astonished, for there is no reason why I should be here rather than there. Why now rather than then? Who has put me here? By whose order and direction have this place and time, have been ascribed to me?”
This question has so aptly been answered by our Lord and Creator, in Psalm 8:3 - 5, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place. What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.”
From the authoress, Erma Bombeck we can see how easy it is to incorporate a Biblical Worldview into our philosophy of life – as she states: “ When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, I used everything you gave me."
Ultimately the concept of “the purpose of life” is interchangeable with one’s philosophy. Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life is an excellent tool for the IB educator to challenge your own worldview and bring one closer into understanding a Biblical Worldview.
Most great thinkers and poets would agree with Robert Byrne, who says “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.”
So in the classroom, encouraging learners to develop personal yearly goals and personal unit learning goals are all interesting ways to incorporate; integrate and develop the learner’s Philosophy of Life. The IB Learner Profile of Reflection encourages the learner to reflect and review their successes and should be used to evaluate their learning and life goals.
Key aspect 5: Religious choices and faith
What does religious choice mean? A religious choice is any decision that a person makes with respect to his / her religious practice. A learner’s world view is defined by their faith or lack thereof, as well as, the religious choices that they make. These choices are anything from how, where, when, why and to whom or in what they choose to believe. Faith is: best described by God’s Word.
Hebrews 11:1 is probably the most concise definition of faith found in the Bible. It is considered the classical definition of faith. “Faith is both the substance of things hoped for and the evidence that things exist that is not yet perceived with the senses.” (2)
This concept in itself is a perfect ToK essential question: What is faith? How do societies and I relate to faith? or Is faith still relevant? Look at my units on Questions of Faith and Imprisoned Lives for more ideas on how to incorporate Biblical Worldview into the essence of teaching literature.
Incorporating the IB Learner Profiles into a Christian school and daily lessons enables the educator to underpin Godly principles. This requires students to identify the profile characteristics that are revealed in the Bible in order to know and understand these essential profiles and transfer them into not only their work but also into their lives.
Citations:
1) http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/worlview.html
2) http://thegloryland.com/index.php?p=1_11_7-The-biblical-definition-of-faith-
Activity Worksheet:
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