Welcome to Teacher’s Talking for Term 4. Last term we explored how we can lead our students to live as disciples of Christ in the strange new world in which they find themselves. This term we will continue this journey. Who would have imagined that in the 21st Century modern world, where there have been giant leaps in scientific and technological advancements, that people would be asking one of the most fundamental questions of life, ‘What does it mean to be human?’. The way we, as Christian educators, answer this question is key to the effectiveness of how we educate our students. For our answer to this question defines our view of the purpose of education, how we design teaching and learning and the kind of school culture that we nurture, both in our class and the wider school community.
In our current culture, having rejected the God of the Bible, where the individual self, its desires and feelings are seen as authoritative, there is a rejection of the notion that human nature has an intrinsic value, significance or moral structure. Religious institutions, family and nations have been fixed anchor points for identity and stability. In answer to the question, ‘Who am I’, my response would be Helen Blanch, a Christian, who is the daughter of Percy and Diana and an Australian by birth. But, if my family, my church and my nation lose their God-given authority or become sources of shame, what replaces them as anchor points? Yuval Levin says, “We have moved ……. from thinking of institutions as moulds that shape people’s character and habits toward seeing them as platforms that allow people to be themselves and so display themselves before a wider world.”[1] This creates a vacuum filled with lots of competing voices about what constitutes being human and each seen as legitimate, for it is claimed that there is no objective way to say otherwise.
During Term 4, the Teacher’s Talking offerings will focus on “Being Human Really Matters.” We trust these talks will assist you to explore with the children and the young people you teach, the wonder of their creation and the joy of living in accord with the God-given order that defines what is good for their lives to flourish. We have the privilege of sharing in raising our students to embrace their purpose and dignity as the person God created them to be. As one teacher commented, “I would love for my kids to somehow have a little time capsule of their picture of God and start there and hope their picture is a bigger more beautiful picture at the end.”[2]
“For you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, your works are wonderful, I know full well.”
Psalm 139: 13 – 14
Grace and Peace
The TEC Team
Please note: All Biblical references used throughout Teachers Talking use the New International Version.
[1] Carl R. Trueman, Strange New World – How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution, (Illinois: Crossway, 2022), 100.
[2] Edited by Peter W. Kilgour & Beverly J. Christian, Revealing Jesus in the Learning Environment- Making a World of Difference, (Cooranbong: Avondale Academic Press, 2020), 88.