Educators' Self-Understanding of Their Roles as Christians in Public Schools

Abstract

A national sample of 389 educators who identify as Christian completed a questionnaire to determine their approaches to living out their faith in public schools. Participants considered 14 possible approaches. They reported modeling Christian virtue and providing “faithful presence” as most descriptive of their practice, but they were more reluctant about approaches that involve equipping students to address societal wrongs, incorporating biblical integration and worldview, and sharing the Christian message. Differences were found based on gender, age, race/ethnicity, and level/subject taught. Implications are drawn for teacher preparation programs to nurture future educators with a broader vision of community transformation.

Keywords:

• Christian faith
• religious teachers
• public schools
• living out faith
• church-state separation

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to express appreciation to the Christian Educators Association International for providing access to their database for distribution of the questionnaire.

ETHICAL APPROVAL

This manuscript was approved by the Biola University Protection of Human Rights in Research Committee under permit S21-012_SE.

CONSENT FORM

Informed consent required electronic approval by participants before proceeding with the questionnaire.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nicholas C. Block

Nicholas C. Block, PhD, began his teaching career in Bogotá, Colombia as a science teacher at both elementary and secondary level. Subsequently, he taught for 27 years in the United States, mainly at the elementary school level. Following several years as an adjunct at CSU Long Beach, he has been full-time associate professor at the Biola School of Education for 8 years, including a role in the program for the induction of new teachers. Previous research has been in the areas of dual language education and vocabulary development. In addition to the advanced degree in education, he has a Masters in Divinity and is interested in the spiritual development of public school teachers. [email protected]