Kim Essenburg, English 10 teacher at Christian Academy in Japan, Christian Reformed World Missions:

I’m sitting in the library between my 1st and 4th period classes. I’m reading essays on my students’ favorite song lyrics—everything from the hymn “Blessed Assurance” to “Breaking the Habit” by Linkin Park to “Mr. Feather” by ELLEGARDEN, a Japanese band.

I’m smiling.

They’re getting it—they’re applying a biblical perspective to their music:

• “It acknowledges that humans have an irresistible urge to establish relationships, and that they cannot live without one another. The Bible confirms this truth, that humans, by their very nature, are lonely creatures that seek company and detest isolation.”—boy from Japan
  
• “The basic truth that the writer of this song grasps is that the human heart is dark and evil…. It is a mad, confused world, but the Bible is the map.”—girl from US
  
• “God also seeks justice for humanity.”—boy from US/Japan
  
• “The Bible does have a lot to say on the topic of perseverance….So while we’re ‘driving and striving’ through life, we can rejoice in the hope of God. God uses both pleasures and hardships to help us develop character traits of endurance and determination.”—girl from the US

And to top it off, on the poetry unit test, a boy from Singapore wrote, “It [the paper] opened up a whole new meaning to music. In the future, I will probably think much more about the lyrics of favorite songs.”

I like teaching at Christian Academy in Japan. I get to assist missionary families and Christian business families with the education of their children. I get to help prepare the next generation of the Church—in Japan, the UK, Singapore, the Philippines, Norway, Korea, the US.

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How is Kim using the Biblical Perspective Framework?

First, she targets having students who apply a biblical perspective to the course content they have learned, not having students who learn course content.

Second, to achieve her target, she:

• Asks her students a question: What is the significance of words?
  
• Gives an assessment: “Song lyrics are poems. Using the poetry analysis skills we worked on and the biblical principles we talked about, write a 500-word critique of a favorite song from a biblical perspective. In your answer, explain the author’s meaning, the literary and poetic techniques the author uses to communicate the meaning, evaluate that meaning from a biblical perspective, and weave in your response to the lyrics. Be sure to quote the lyrics at least five times and the Bible at least three times.”
  
• Meets a student learning need: “To really get this, I need to connect the Bible with my life, not just with what I study in class.”