Kim Essenburg, English 10 teacher at Christian Academy in Japan, uses 5 questions to reflect on connecting a Christian philosophy of education with classroom practice.
 
(1) What kind of people do you want your students to be?

Kim: I want them to love Jesus. I want them to be joyful, inquisitive, thoughtful people who always connect what they learn with their lives.
 
(2) Broadly speaking, what do you want your students to understand about God and His creation through one of the subjects they study?

Kim: Through their study of English, I want my students to understand that God created a good world so that we could enjoy it and participate in developing its potential. I want my students to understand that in this fallen world, God calls us to join Him in working to restore peace and justice. Language helps us all understand God’s truth and communicate it to others.
 
(3) In one of your subjects, what are some of the Biblical principles you want your students to be grounded in?
 
Kim: Language is a good gift from God. Because people are in God’s image, they are creative, communicative truth-seekers. All truth is God’s truth. The Bible is God’s Word and is the filter we use to analyze all truth claims. Because people are in God’s image, they are to be respected and honored. The neighbor whom I am to love is anyone I am in a position to help.
 
(4) In terms of your students applying a Biblical perspective to what they study, what’s your vision?
 
Kim: Students delighting in the creative beauty of language, checking the things that strike them as true with the Bible, reading fiction to vicariously understand the neighbor they are to love, and using language effectively to understand themselves and serve others.
 
(5) Helping your students learn course content is a big challenge. Christian education targets a bigger challenge—helping students apply a Biblical perspective to the course content they have learned. Is the “Christian education challenge” worth it?
 
Kim: Definitely. If we don’t teach students that the Bible connects to what they study and to their lives, we by default are teaching them that the Bible doesn’t connect. We simply can’t afford to be teaching that to our children, to the next generation of the Church.