SPIRITED TEACHING: THE INTEGRATION OF FAITH AND LEARNING IN THE TEACHING OF BIBLE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS by JOHANNA CAMPBELL submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY in the subject of BIBLICAL STUDIES at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTER: PROF I G P GOUS JOINT PROMOTER: Dr. M Le Roux i November 2005 SPIRITED TEACHING: THE INTEGRATION OF FAITH AND LEARNING IN THE TEACHING OF BIBLE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS by J CAMPBELL DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY BIBLICAL STUDIES PROMOTER: Prof I G P GOUS JOINT PROMOTER: DR M LE ROUX The integration of faith and learning has been the object of study of men and women in the Canadian Calvinistic school movement ever since Dr. Abraham Kuyper pointed out that there could be no dichotomy between the sacred and the secular in the life of a Christian. Acting on the traditions, influences and beliefs these ‘Reformed’ Christians had imbibed in their homeland, the Dutch Calvinistic immigrants who came to British Columbia after WW II built Christian schools as soon as they arrived. As they became more established, they formed curriculum committees of teachers who wrote curriculum for each subject area from a Christian perspective, intentionally planning to integrate their faith and learning in all subject areas. By looking at the history and Bible textbooks of not only the Calvinistic (Reformed) Christian day schools in British Columbia and then branching out to the history and Bible textbooks of three other denominational schools, the Mennonite, the Pentecostal and the Lutheran, I have tried to discover how the faith beliefs of each of these groups are brought to bear on the teaching of Bible. In soliciting the strengths of each of these groups from their history, current practise and teacher comments, I have pitched my own proposal as to how the integration of faith and learning can be enhanced in the teaching of Bible. By blending goals, curricula and best practice, as well combining certain faith belief frameworks in interpreting God’s Word, by learning in community, and by listening to the Holy Spirit in the text, I believe the teaching of Bible can become ‘Spirited teaching’. KEY TERMS: Bible teaching; faith; learning; integration; Reformed; Mennonite; Pentecostal; Lutheran; curriculum; community; canon; storytelling; incarnate; transformation; Trinitarian, Holy Spirit. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to acknowledge the support and especially the encouragement of my promoter, Prof Ignatius G P Gous of the University of South Africa, Pretoria, in this project. I praise God that he continued to encourage me to keep going, improve, and refine and not lose my enthusiasm. Dr. Magdel LeRoux gave many valuable comments regarding technical details, encouragement regarding the overall picture and great oversight in helping me meet deadlines. I also want to thank my colleagues for their interest and encouragement in this project. RuthAnn Raycroft has given me some valuable suggestions in the formatting and proof reading process. I wish to thank my husband Neil, my son Malcolm and my daughters Elizabeth, Kathleen and Esther for their constant love, prodding and interest. Without their support I could not have continued. Thanks also goes to all the teachers in the trenches, whose insights, comments and help have given me valuable tools to continue my journey of investigation of how Bible is actually taught in our schools. Above all, I wish to thank my God for allowing me to integrate my faith and learning as I completed this thesis. Each time God brought me new ideas, insights and inspirations; often He brought people on my path to inspire or give suggestions; He let my eye fall on certain relevant books and articles and He prompted me to keep going by putting on my heart a passion for teaching and disseminating His Word. Soli Deo Gloria! JC iii PREFACE A Teacher’s Prayer Almighty Father, Redeemer, Son, Living Spirit, Three in One: Ignite our music Fill our chords, Your theme of love, Our transformation. Living Word, Our lamp, our light, Pluck our strings, That all our gifts May honour You, And we become Your instruments Of incarnation. God, the Spirit, Holy Flame, Your rushing wind Our taut-set harps In eager expectation: Unleash the melody Divine arpeggios Improvisation. We join our music, Lyre, strings and harp, An orchestra of love: Tho’ flawed in execution, Transpose our keys Lift up our hands In honoured stance Of coronation. JC iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION I. History of the Project … 1 II. Methodological Considerations … 3 1. Historical Investigations … 3 2. Research Questions … 5 3. Qualitative Investigations … 8 4. Data Collection and Interview Guide … 9 5. Data Analysis and Comparison …12 III. Purpose, Structure and Intent …15 1. Purpose …15 2. Structure and Progression …16 3. Paradigmatic Perspectives …18 4. Limitations and Delimitations …19 IV. Conclusion …20 CHAPTER 2 REFORMED CHRISTIAN DAY SCHOOLS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA II. Dutch Calvinists Start Christian Day Schools in BC …21 1. The Immigrant Experience …21 2. Roots of the Dutch Calvinist School Movement …26 of British Columbia 3. Historical Influences on the Dutch Calvinists that …31 gave Impetus to the Christian School Movement i. `Het Reveil’ and `De Afscheiding’ …31 ii. Abraham Kuyper …37 iii. The priesthood of all believers …41 iv. The Paedo Baptist position relating to Dutch …42 Reformed Christian schools v III. Christian Reformed Day Schools in BC, 1950-1960 …47 1. The Structure of the Early Dutch Calvinist Christian …47 Day Schools in BC 2. The Philosophy Behind Teaching Bible in the 1950s …56 and 1960s 3. The Christian Teachers’ Association …61 4. The Birth of District 12 of the National Union of …63 Christian Schools 5. Teaching Bible in the 1970s: Revelation Response …67 Series 6. Teaching Bible in the 1980s …73 7. The Interview Process: Implementing the Text …88 i. Bible 12: Knowing our Story, course outline …91 8. Teaching Bible, 1990-present …95 IV. Other `Reformed’ Day Schools …100 1. The Canadian Reformed Church Schools, 1950- …100 present i. History …100 ii. Teaching Bible at Canadian Reformed …103 schools, 1990-present 2. Netherlands Reformed Congregation Christian …111 Day School: Timothy Christian School, Rosedale, BC (TCS) 3. The Netherlands Reformed Church of North …120 America: Mt. Cheam Christian School, Chilliwack, BC V. Summary …125 CHAPTER 3 OTHER DENOMINATIONAL DAY SCHOOLS IN BC I. Mennonite Schools: The Mennonite Educational Institute (MEI) … 126 1. History of the Mennonite People in BC … 126 2. Establishment of MEI … 137 3. Teaching Bible at MEI . .. 138 i. Teacher Interviews at MEI Elementary … 140 ii. Intermediate Curriculum at MEI … 142 iii. Teaching Bible in High School … 147 vi iv. MEI Chilliwack-A Middle School Interview … 151 4. ACSI Bible Curriculum … 153 II. Pentecostal Schools … 181 1. An Interview … 181 2. History: Origins of the Pentecostal Movement … 184 3. Pentecostal Day Schools in BC … 192 III. Lutheran Schools … 198 1. History: Origins of Lutheranism … 198 i. Luther’s view of scripture … 200 ii. Luther’s view of the child … 202 iii. Luther’s view of the Holy Spirit’s work … 205 iv. Lutheranism in North America … 207 v. Lutheranism in BC … 211 2. Zion Lutheran School, Cloverdale, BC … 212 i. Bible curriculum at Zion Lutheran School … 215 CHAPTER 4 TOWARD A BLENDED IMPROVEMENT IN THE INTEGRATION OF FAITH AND LEARNING IN THE TEACHING OF BIBLE IN BC CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS I. Blending Process and Practice …234 1. Blending Roles of Church, Home and School …234 2. Blending Goals …239 3. Blending Curriculum and Best Practice …240 i. Overview of Interview Questions …240 ii. Blending Bible Curriculum …245 iii. Curriculum Coordinators …247 iv. Curriculum Frameworks …248 v. Classroom Learning Environment …253 4. Blending Pedagogy …254 i. Interview Question #3 …255 ii. Interview Question #4 …256 iii. Christian Pedagogy: How to Teach a Child …257 vii 5. Blending Methodology: How to Reach a Child …264 i. Storytelling …264 ii. Following the canon …269 iii. Group and Individual Work …271 6. Assessment …272 II. Blending Faith Beliefs to Improve Integration of Faith and Learning …277 1. Blending Faith Beliefs About the Bible …278 i. Introductory Comments …278 ii. Interpretive Frameworks …280 2. Blending Faith Beliefs About God’s Community …296 i. Making Decisions in Community …296 ii. The Trinitarian Model …299 iii. ‘One Anothering’ …302 iv. An Example …305 3. Blending Faith Beliefs About the Holy Spirit …311 i. Faith Beliefs About How the Spirit Works …312 ii. Special Gifts from the Spirit …315 iii. Varied Emphases …318 III. The Christian Teacher: Putting Faith Beliefs and Process into Practice …320 IV. Recommendations and Conclusion … 325 BIBLIOGRAPHY … 331 Appendix A …374 Appendix B …378 viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION I. History of the Project This study and investigation was born of affliction. When one of my daughters came home during her high school years, she would often comment how much she hated the subject “Bible”. This statement saddened me because one of the very reasons we were sending our children to a Christian school was to give them a more thorough knowledge of and appreciation for the Word of God, the Bible. During the elementary years we had been so pleased with the teaching of Bible; why did it have to be so different in high school? Later we discovered that this attitude was prevalent among the other students as well. It was just not cool to study Bible, as the interview with Ms. MP indicates.1 Why was this happening we wondered? Was it merely an attitude fostered by peer pressure? We knew the teachers were dedicated Christians and wanted to foster a love for God’s Word. There was another issue. Having grown up in the Free Reformed Church (the Christelijk Gereformeerde Kerk in Holland), I was given a certain perspective on (among other things) the sacrament of baptism: Yes, you are baptized, but you still need to be converted.