Worldview, the Bible, and Education: What Parents, Principals, and Pastors Should Know

Acknowledgments

To God, our Savior, for whom all earthly effort is made to bring glory and show honor. His ways are not our ways, and it is for the approximation to Him we labor.

My beloved Sheryl, thank you for your loving sacrifice, encouragement, and understanding, as so many hours at work became a shared sacrifice. Your confidence is my encouragement.

My children, Rawle and Noelle, you make it easy for me to want to be my best because you deserve a father who will give his best.

My dissertation committee, Dr. Watson, Dr. Lindsey, and Dr. Moore, I cannot say thank you enough for your sacrifice in getting me to this point. Dr. Watson, I owe you a debt of gratitude for your consistency in getting me to do and learn this work following the motto, clearly and concisely (APA, p. 61). You are a blessing!

I need to acknowledge the role of the Bible in my life. The Bible has been the greatest means of life and light. I thank God for His Word, the Lord for His sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit for His presence.

Chapter 1:

Veridical

The science teacher! My first encounter with the weakening of the role of the Bible in the Christian school came with an encounter with the middle school science teacher. Students in my Bible classes regularly commented to me, Mr. R, Miss. Blank (not her real name) says that the book of Genesis is not correct; it is just a story! Students were learning in my Bible classes the different views of Genesis analytically and critically (as deep as middle school students can mine) without rejection of the traditional literal view of Scripture, yet not avoiding any difficulty associated with a literal view. In science class, they were being told an emphatic tale of the evolutionary history of humans from the proverbial goo to the zoo to you without any critical reflection of that view of evolution or its implications for Christian thinking. It was simply indoctrination! It seems to come from both sides, that is, indoctrination does, because kiddie affirmation satisfies some need adults have that their students are in the right because they mouth what adults say, regardless of the truth. The Matthew 6:9 injunctions, ask…seek…knock, mean nothing in that world of teaching by telling, and affirmation by rote repetitions (cue card confession) and not by discovery. The truth is, as a journeyman teacher and untrained in psychology, I had no real knowledge of the students’ psychic or mental states attributable to the science teacher’s lessons. I did imagine that here is an occasion for shipwreck (1 Timothy 1:19). I wondered how this teacher got a teaching position at an evangelical Christian school! I have no questions here about well-meaning or motivation but a question about judgment.

The term veridical means to coincide with reality. And true to reality, this single encounter is not an isolated one at all. There are far too many similar cases where Christians supposedly committed to the Bible hold views wholly unusual to the Bible.

I have taught in the middle school for twenty-seven years, so my focus is usually on what Christian school students are taught and by whom! It would be comforting if a science lesson on evolution, taught from a naturalistic perspective by a teacher in a Christian school, was the only dilemma facing Christian school students, their parents, or Christians as a whole. A recent publication with an audacious title, Why Our Children Will Be Atheists: The Last 100 Years of Religion and the Dawn of a World Without Gods (Williams, 2014), is a reminder of what is at stake in what is described as the battle over worldviews. Williams (2014) predicts,

The new era is anticipated by many: a post-God era in which the human race will emerge from its religious past with a new understanding of the universe and humanity—a new model with which to face the next few thousand years on earth and elsewhere. It is a book that predicts the end of religion as we know it. The transformation has started. (p. 2)

This seemingly exaggerated prophecy is a common assertion of the Western naturalistic religion of atheism, skepticism, naturalism, secularism, or Darwinism, etc. Whichever of these nomenclatures you like fits the gamut of naturalism! The proclamation may be exaggerated, but it should not be treated lightly. To not give this the serious attention it deserves shows a serious neglect or ignorance of the power of ideas. Think of the impact Jesus’ statement, The truth will set you free, has on the countless lives and endless experiences of people. The opposite idea is also true—falsehoods will lead you into bondage (My go-to phrase is Shipwreck). In 1925, Darwinism was a small tide that washed into Dayton, Tennessee, in what is now known as the Scopes Trial. Today, Williams (2015) threatens a tidal wave that will wash (baptize) religion from the face of the earth. In the face of this, I can’t recall the last time I heard a teaching in church that addressed this concern. In my academic circle of influence, worldview is a prevalent concern. I wonder how wide that circle of concern is about this serious matter. My hope is that we are not drowning in the noise of praise and worship while the trains whistle by. This image, of course, is a reference to the Christian response to the mass deportation of Jews by trains to the concentration camps of the Third Reich. As the trains passed by the churches, the cries of the suffering were silenced by louder singing of hymns, recalled Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

The effect of schooling upon a child’s life is no minor matter (Overman, 1989, p. 163).

Recently, the administration asked the Bible department at our school to reexamine and amend, if necessary, the Bible curriculum for alignment to the school’s mission. Like many other Christian educational institutions, the topic of worldviews and worldview integration resurfaced as a primary concern (Brickhill, 2010; Schultz & Swezey, 2013; Thiessen, 2007; Wood, 2008). In recent decades, the Christian worldview has become a common concern for Christian schools (Schultz & Swezey, 2013) and the Christian community (Brickhill, 2010), as seen in the growing interest in empirical research into worldviews (Wood, 2008).

The importance of a Christian worldview in the Christian school, because of the eternal weight of value it bears upon the life of students, cannot be overemphasized. What students learn and who teaches them directly affect what students believe and how they live because worldviews provide the answers to the big questions of life (Sire, 2009). It is necessary for Christian teachers, especially considering the modern culture of competing worldviews (Barna, 2003b; Eckel, 2003), to respond to these critical issues of life reasonably, precisely, and honestly, with the full weight of knowledge, conviction, and understanding of the Scriptures. Overman (1989) correctly asserts that it is no minor matter.

According to the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), ACSI is the largest Protestant educational organization throughout the world, with a membership of nearly 24,000 schools from over one hundred countries, serving more than 5.5 million students worldwide (ACSI, 2015). On the ACSI website, under the section labeled, Why Christian Schooling? ACSI states,

The choice you make for your children’s education shapes them academically, spiritually, and in their worldview and skills…Christian educators help cultivate a worldview in which God has His rightful place, and they look to the Bible for guidance in answering life’s big questions. At Christian schools (ACSI), the faculty and staff are equipped to address each of these developing areas of a child’s life. These schools take seriously the responsibility to develop children’s minds, but they don’t distance God from academics. They know that developing skills in young people is essential to helping them reach their God-given potential (ACSI, 2015).

Under another section of the website, ACSI Overview, the second of two vision outcomes states that ACSI’s training and resources for Christian educators will result in educators who embody a biblical worldview, engage in transformational teaching and discipline, and embrace personal and professional growth (ACSI, 2015). Seven of ACSI’s twenty-five student outcomes discuss worldview (Schultz & Swezey, 2013). In these statements, ACSI makes four assertions about its organization, member schools, and worldview. These are:

ACSI has identified worldview as an important component of Christian schooling.

ACSI’s faculty and staff are equipped to address worldview in Christian schooling.

ACSI’s educators will embody a biblical worldview because of the training and resources provided by ACSI to its schools and educators.

ACSI educators look to the Bible to answer the big questions of life. (ACSI, 2015)

My Study

ACSI reflects the trend that worldview is a concern for Christian schools (Schultz & Swezey, 2013), and because most of my teaching career, certifications, and commitments were at ACSI schools, I centered my research on ACSI teachers. The technical question of my study was, Is there a difference between ACSI K–12 teachers’ worldview scores and the amount of biblical training they have received? That is, does biblical training as a part of a person’s life have any connection to his/her worldview? I am also certified by the Florida Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (FACCS) and taught at FAACS schools. My familiarity in Christian education is not limited to ACSI. However, what follows in chapters 2–5 is an analysis of claims and an examination of those claims from the literature and research findings conducted for the purpose of a doctoral requirement.

What does ACSI know about its teachers’ worldviews, and how does it collect this data? ACSI employs two data-collecting methods to gather information about schools and educators, certification, and accreditation. Through its certification process, ACSI knows five things about its teachers: (a) the level of education teachers have, (b) the teachers’ graduating institutions (regionally accredited, ACSI-recognized, secular, liberal arts Christian, or Bible), (c) the teachers’ concentration of study, (d) the number of Bible-related courses teachers had (a minimal number of six hours for a standard certification and ten hours for professional certification), and (e) that teachers have had (minimally) one course in philosophy of Christian education (ASCI, 2015). During school accreditation visits (initial or reaccreditation), ACSI accreditation team members have an opportunity to examine internally gathered data about member schools and teachers, visit classrooms, and observe the integration of the Bible in curricular and extracurricular activities during instruction and the school day. Additionally, ACSI member schools and individual members subscribe to the ACSI (n.d.) doctrinal statement of faith and, through the application process, declare faith in Christ and practice of Christian disciplines (Evans, 2015). Do these criteria and data provide the confidence that ACSI teachers hold to a distinctly Christian worldview?

As I Read, I Learned

The literature indicates that Christian teachers hold to worldviews that are not biblical views of the world, and they teach students, knowingly or unknowingly, these unusual views (Wood, 2008). Christian parents who send their students to Christian schools should reasonably expect that educators hold to and teach from a Christian perspective (Eckel, 2009).

Remember: This study sought to identify, Is there a difference between ACSI K–12 teachers’ worldview scores and the amount of biblical training they have received? The study used a professionally developed and scored worldview test from the Nehemiah Institute called the PEERS Worldview Test. This test identifies the teachers’ worldview score and the extent to which the amount of biblical training teachers received corresponds to the teachers’ defined worldview scores, as indicated by the PEERS Worldview Test, the catalyst of this research project. According to Smithwick (2013), the trend in the recent past is a secularization of young Christian people. He states, but when 90%+ of our youth (Christian homes) score in the 0–30 range, and with the proven validity work of the PEERS Worldview Test, with nearly 6,000,000 data points over a quarter of a century, we had better pay attention to what it is telling us (p. 33). The 0–30 range in the PEERS Worldview Test indicates participants’ hold to a secular humanist worldview. Researchers describe the impact of teachers’ worldviews and the worldviews of students.

Several studies have investigated worldview in Christian schools. Meyer (2003) researched factors that contribute to the worldview of students, concentrating on the length of time enrolled in a Christian school. Fyock (2008) investigated the change in students’ worldview when exposed to teachers and courses that reflected a strong Christian worldview. Wood (2008) compared the worldviews of ACSI’s and the Association of Classical Christian Schools’ (ACCS) teachers. Uecker (2010) researched students’ motivation when taught by modern and postmodern teaching styles. The study by Uecker (2010) is unique because it investigated worldview and pedagogy. Brickhill (2010) examined factors that influenced the worldview of middle school students. Barrows (2014) reviewed the effectiveness of a worldview curriculum called Summit Worldview Curriculum. Evans (2015) analyzed the worldview of high school teachers in ACSI schools related to doctrine and philosophy. Stoner (2014) analyzed teacher preparation programs for teachers in distinctly Evangelical Christian schools. His research focused on beliefs, knowledge, skills, and characteristics teachers should have that promote an Evangelical distinctive in schools. Stoner (2014) identified gaps in teacher preparation programs specifically related to biblical integration and worldview. Eckel (2009) researched the difference between teachers prepared in secular and Christian universities and their ability and knowledge of faith-learning integration.

Technical Purposes of the Research

The present research project had two purposes. The first purpose was to identify the worldview scores of ACSI teachers. Research reveals that Christian teachers do not necessarily hold a scriptural worldview because they attended a Christian college or university (Brickhill, 2010; Wood, 2008), come from Christian homes, or attend church (Brickhill, 2010). The second purpose was to identify if there is a difference between the teachers’ worldview scores and the amount of biblical training they receive.

A Glimpse at Christian Educators and Worldview

The most critical and formative relationship students have at school is with their teachers. Teachers play a primary role in teaching and modeling worldview (Fyock, 2010; Williams, 2014). In the Christian school, Christian teachers teach and model a Christian worldview for their students. Wood (2008) states, "There is a growing concern that