Do either of the following statements sound familiar?
We will equip and develop students to effectively integrate Biblical truth and
learning into their daily lives and impact the culture for Christ.
We partner with parents to develop students with Christian character and a
biblical worldview, equipping them for life, learning, and leadership.
These statements are examples of the lofty mission statements that Christian schools promote. Claims like impacting culture and developing a biblical worldview are central to our calling as Christians (Matthew 26:19–20, Matthew 5:13–16). Therefore, it makes sense that Christian institutions designed to train the next generation would adopt such worthy mission statements.
But are the efforts of Christian school teachers aligned with our critical calling?
Maybe. But also, maybe not.
Our culture’s noise is loud, persistent, and persuasive. No better illustration of this exists than the Taylor Swift phenomenon. At each and every visit to a Christian school in the last two years, Taylor Swift has been there.
What began with a classroom observation to see evidence of biblical worldview immersion shifted to an awareness of a phenomenon. Eventually, it became a matter of concern. The mention of Taylor Swift by middle or high school students would be understandable. What has become so concerning is that each mention, celebration, and discussion of Taylor Swift has not been from students but from Christian school educators leading the learning process. Here are a few examples:
- A class playlist was being discussed. The teacher mentioned having to add
music from “Queen Taylor.” - An ELA teacher was reviewing the rules of capitalization. Each example was related to Taylor, her albums, or students’ favorite songs.
- At a recent Educators Conference, the mention of Taylor as a poor role model for our students prompted a young teacher to approach me afterward, ready for a passionate defense of Taylor’s character and beliefs.
The list could go on. The point of this article is not to convince you that Taylor should not be celebrated or held up as a role model (though we align with many others who wholeheartedly believe this). We believe any disagreement on the topic (and many others related to culture) should be approached through meaningful processing from a biblical worldview.
Few of us have engaged in distinctly Christian processing, nor have we capitalized on the opportunities to do so in the Christian school classroom.
Effective processing is underutilized and devalued in our culture. Group thinking and cultural peer pressure have become the dominant shaping influences on thinking. Yet, fostering our students’ biblical worldview formation is inextricably dependent upon helping them acquire and practice the skills to process their experiences, beliefs, or even pop icons in light of biblical truth.
The 5 Rs of processing help students navigate this type of distinctly Christian processing. As with all aspects of education, teachers should scaffold the process in age-appropriate ways, incrementally working towards an independence that will serve students well post-graduation. The framework is progressive, with each step building upon the previous step. Depending on students’ ages, teachers may spend more time at the beginning or end of the framework, given their students’ developmental abilities.
Restate – Have students reveal what they know about the topic. This initial step may feel reminiscent of the K (or know) part of the KWL tool. The key for us as teachers is to listen; there may be misconceptions or untruths, but listen actively and compassionately. Showing you are willing to listen without immediately jumping in to correct faulty perceptions establishes rapport with students, which will help in future parts of the conversation.
React – Discover the emotions underlying the topic. Emotions are a valid part of our DNA as beings made in God’s image; the Bible shows how even Christ expressed emotions while walking the earth. Understanding the emotions a student is feeling can help us better minister to our students and inform our approach to the topic. With the growing presence of social media and phones, the younger generation’s emotional response is further complicated by the threat of social disharmony and isolation. Ignoring the emotional aspects that arise can stunt our students’ processing of experiences and impact their well-being.
Revise – Next, we help revise students’ thinking to reflect the way things actually are. We want to teach our students how to hold up their perspectives and reactions against the authority of Scripture and assure them that doing so is fundamental to truth-seeking. Young people increasingly rely on unreliable news sources and tend to adopt a postmodern dependence on feelings. And although the internet can be helpful in this revision stage, students must learn to perform searches and filter out opinions disguised as truth. Teach students to dig into scripture and introduce godly, trustworthy Christian authors and speakers as they seek truth. The end goal of revising is to evaluate and adjust initial thoughts and perceptions by purposefully seeking objective truth that aligns with Scripture.
Recognize – Seek to recognize the issue’s importance. We ask: “Why does this matter?” “How is it significant?” ”How much time should we devote to this?” Up to this point, we’ve been disassembling ideas. However, during this stage, we begin to pull things back together. We consider the initial claims, the emotional response, and the truth, and then we help students draw conclusions about the issue. In some cases, we can guide students to put issues in their proper perspective in life.
Respond – Finally, we explore how we are to engage with the topic as Christians. Students see plenty of examples of non-biblical responses to all kinds of situations, which is why this stage is critical. We must guide our students’ responses to the topic, rooting that response in biblical truth.
In fairness to Taylor Swift (and any Swiftie reading this), she is one of the most recent pop culture phenomena. In fact, we debated focusing this article on the recent TikTok interruption and the strong reactions from Christians and non-Christians of all ages. As Christians tasked with building a biblical worldview in our students, we all benefit from effectively processing the ideas promoted by culture that capture the hearts and attention of many—young and old.
Renowned Christian author C. S. Lewis stated,
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I
see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
As Christian educators, his words remind us that in the same way that the sun illuminates everything around us, allowing us to see the world clearly, a Christian worldview provides the framework to see, interpret, and engage all aspects of life (even Taylor Swift) through the lens of faith. How powerful for Christian educators- after all, we are in the business of understanding and interpreting!
By Dr. Maggie Pope